CBS's Slow and Painful Death to March Madness

I love March Madness, so much that when I was working during the 1st and second round games on the opening Thursday and Friday I was upset. There is something about the special feeling of attachment you get to the team you picked in your bracket to go all the way.

However, I'll have to admit, Turner Sports has ruined it for me. CBS is dying a slow and painful death that seems to be getting worse by the year. In fact, the games yesterday weren't even on CBS. They were on TBS.

In my childhood, CBS had the whole tournament. Most of the games regionally but like look ins were common which created less commercial action. At the end of the day, CBS did a great job getting to the amazing finishes that captivated the tournament.

I'm Canadian so I don't have a answer to my next thought but how many households in America have all four channels and a standard cable package? If you break down other playoff TV deals in North America, the majority or all are held by a major TV network The Super Bowl rotates between NBC, CBS and FOX. NBA Finals are on ABC, the World Series is on FOX and the College Football Playoff is on ESPN. The only one that is borderline is the Stanley Cup Finals that is on NBCSN with the odd game on NBC.

So why is Turner Monopolizing this tournament. Money talks, I completely get that but to me they are leaving the average to low income household in the dark if they don't get TruTV or TBS.

I would like to know what the future holds. Will CBS always have a piece of the pie of March Madness? On my side of the border in a similar compassion, CBC is losing more and more sports coverage that was wrecked by Rogers who paid Billions for NHL's last TV deal.

It's a sad reality that ia tearing apart my childhood. Stations are WGN are becoming rare and with less and less young people getting cable subscriptions, the future for TV deals is going to be interesting.