NCAA Semifinals Moving To Cable

The Associated Press

http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/9250418/ncaa-men-basketball-semifinals-moving-tbs-14

The Final Four’s first two games are moving to cable next year.

The national semifinals will air on TBS in 2014 and 2015, with the title game remaining on CBS, the companies said Tuesday.

Under the 14-year deal that CBS and Turner Sports signed with the NCAA in 2010, CBS and TBS were scheduled to start alternating broadcasts of the entire Final Four starting in 2016, but Turner had the option to move that up to 2014.

Network executives decided in recent months that the best approach for both companies was to split the coverage for the next two years before beginning to take turns. TBS will televise the entire Final Four in 2016 and CBS in 2017.

“It was a nice opportunity to have a transition, Turner Sports chief David Levy said during a conference call.

The two companies recently completed the third year of their contract, which televised every game in the tournament for the first time using CBS and three Turner channels — TBS, TNT and truTV. The new model has drawn strong ratings and proved viewers are comfortable finding the games on cable.

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NCAA Semifinals Moving To Cable

The Associated Press

http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/9250418/ncaa-men-basketball-semifinals-moving-tbs-14

The Final Four’s first two games are moving to cable next year.

The national semifinals will air on TBS in 2014 and 2015, with the title game remaining on CBS, the companies said Tuesday.

Under the 14-year deal that CBS and Turner Sports signed with the NCAA in 2010, CBS and TBS were scheduled to start alternating broadcasts of the entire Final Four starting in 2016, but Turner had the option to move that up to 2014.

Network executives decided in recent months that the best approach for both companies was to split the coverage for the next two years before beginning to take turns. TBS will televise the entire Final Four in 2016 and CBS in 2017.

It was a nice opportunity to have a transition, ” Turner Sports chief David Levy said during a conference call.

The two companies recently completed the third year of their contract, which televised every game in the tournament for the first time using CBS and three Turner channels — TBS, TNT and truTV. The new model has drawn strong ratings and proved viewers are comfortable finding the games on cable.