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PostPosted: Mon Apr 08, 2013 4:26 pm 
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It already feels a little odd hearing Turner Sports' lead NBA voice Marv Albert calling NCAA Tournament games. With speculation that TBS might supplant CBS Sports as the possible new home of the NCAA Final Four as soon as next year, you might be seeing Marv calling the NCAA's signature event.

According to the New York Daily News, if TBS exercises an option that would allow the network to broadcast the Final Four as soon as next year when Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, TX hosts them & the National Championship Game for the very first time, it could mean the 70+ year-old Marv might be behind the mic to call them.

In the first 3 seasons of the Turner/CBS NCAA deal, the Final Four & the National Championship have been made up of mainly CBS Sports talent calling the games. That means Jim Nantz, Clark Kellogg & Steve Kerr, on loan from Turner, have called the games at courtside with Tracy Wolfson on the sidelines. If Turner uses this option, Nantz, Kellogg & Wolfson might not be calling the Final Four & the NCAA Championship as soon as next year. It could pave the way for Marv, Steve & sideline reporter Craig Sager calling the games instead.

If that's not enough, the always outspoken Charles Barkley has complained to the New York Daily News that the first 2 full days of the NCAA Tournament, the first Thursday & Friday of the event, is "too much." Barkley feels that a separate crew should work the afternoon session of the first 2 days of the tourney with a separate crew calling the games from 6P-Midnight. Barkley feels "you can't stay enthusiastic for 12 straight hours." Barkley's referring to the Noon-Midnight (ET) shift that the studio crew works the first 2 days of the event in both New York & Atlanta.

It should be pointed out that neither CBS nor Turner have formally indicated that the Final Four will relocate to TBS next year instead of 2016 under original terms of the long term deal. In plain English, stay tuned.


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PostPosted: Tue May 07, 2013 1:08 pm 
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An update on this story. Contrary to what Sports Business Journal originally reported in March, Turner Sports won't be replacing CBS Sports as the new TV home of the Final Four & NCAA Men's Championship Game just yet.

CBS/Turner Sports announced today that TBS will broadcast next year's National Semifinals at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, TX next year & the following year at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, sites of the next 2 Final Fours. CBS will continue to broadcast the National Championship game each of the next 2 years before TBS & CBS start to alternate broadcasting the NCAA's final basketball weekend starting in 2016.

Something else of note. TBS will also broadcast part of the Elite Eight, another provision of the Turner/CBS NCAA contract that wasn't supposed to kick in until 2016 as well.


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PostPosted: Tue May 07, 2013 1:24 pm 
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Too bad he's not doing the final for at least a while longer. Albert is probably still the best play-by-play guy in the country, and at this point it sounds like Nantz only calls the tournament so he can wax poetic about the Masters during timeouts.


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PostPosted: Tue May 07, 2013 1:31 pm 
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ZephMarshack wrote:
Too bad he's not doing the final for at least a while longer. Albert is probably still the best play-by-play guy in the country, and at this point it sounds like Nantz only calls the tournament so he can wax poetic about the Masters during timeouts.

Is it just me or does Jim Nantz do more with less? He calls more PGA Tour & NFL on CBS Sports than calling NCAA Basketball. While Clark Kellogg has made everyone forget the name Billy Packer, until they get to the Big Ten Tournament, I've noticed that Clark is paired with a different PBP voice when CBS digs deep into college basketball. Kellogg's paired with the likes of Verne Lundquist, Ian Eagle, Spero Dedes & even Kevin Harlan more than he is with Nantz.


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PostPosted: Wed May 08, 2013 8:30 am 
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I think it is a bad idea for leagues to put their playoffs and championships on cable.

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PostPosted: Wed May 08, 2013 8:35 am 
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I read this yesterday and cannot figure out why CBS wants to share with TNT the final weekend/champ game? CBS certainly can pay for that on its own. Is this a bone to keep TNT happy in order to keep all the other games on?

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PostPosted: Wed May 08, 2013 12:38 pm 
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pittmike wrote:
I read this yesterday and cannot figure out why CBS wants to share with TNT the final weekend/champ game? CBS certainly can pay for that on its own. Is this a bone to keep TNT happy in order to keep all the other games on?

It's actually TBS, not TNT, that will carry the National Semifinals each of the next 2 seasons, yet CBS will continue to air the Championship Game before TBS & CBS alternate the Final Four & the NCAA Championship Game starting in 2016.

What's still to be determined is who will call the games. There's a pretty good chance that Marv Albert, Steve Kerr & Reggie Miller will call the National Semifinals on TBS, while Kerr, Jim Nantz & Clark Kellogg would call the title game on CBS. Once TBS televises the Final Four & Championship Game starting in 2016, there's a chance Nantz might not call the games at all.

It seems hard to believe, but Jim has been the voice of the Final Four for some 25 years, even before CBS & Turner Sports joined forces to keep the NCAA on their air for many years to come. This is just an educated guess on my part, but I've gotta think CBS Sports has lost money in recent years covering the "Road to the Final Four", and I wonder if other networks such as ESPN & FOX Sports wanted a piece of that pie to a point where CBS needed a partner to continue broadcasting these games.


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PostPosted: Wed May 08, 2013 12:40 pm 
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SHARK wrote:
It's actually TBS, not TNT, that will carry the National Semifinals each of the next 2 seasons

Very funny...

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PostPosted: Wed May 08, 2013 12:42 pm 
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Douchebag wrote:
SHARK wrote:
It's actually TBS, not TNT, that will carry the National Semifinals each of the next 2 seasons

Very funny...

Truth be told, that is TBS' motto. :lol:


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PostPosted: Wed May 08, 2013 7:19 pm 
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I thought that March Madness was second to Super Bowl how can CBS lose money?

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