If you love March Madness -- and who doesn't? -- this year, you're going to be in heaven. Because unlike past years, when you could have received TV whiplash from the network whiparounds between games, or had to wait for one game to end before another would begin, or missed one buzzer-beater because another one was finishing on CBS, this year every game is going to be televised in its entirety on one of four networks: CBS, TBS, TNT or truTV. Crain's Chicago Business explains:
↵↵Gone are the days of waiting for the announcement of which games will air on WBBM-Ch. 2. Now if you don't like game A on Ch. 2, you can flip to game B on TNT. Make sure [your] remotes are fully charged.↵↵↵
↵"(The viewer) is going to play the role CBS used to," said CBS Sports President Sean McManus. "He's going to have the controller in his hand. He's not going to have to rely on some CBS executive deciding what game to put on. We've empowered the viewer."↵
↵The unique part of this partnership will have CBS and Turner announcers actually encouraging viewers to flip from game-to-game.↵
↵"There might be a game (on TNT) where there's a 20-point deficit and the announcer will say, 'On CBS, there's a two-point game between Duke and Syracuse,'" said Turner's David Levy. "We're going to tell viewers to go from one network to another. You won't see this anywhere else."
I'll believe that when I hear it. The 68-team field actually gets things under way tomorrow night -- unlike past years, with one play-in game, this year there are four. Two games will air tomorrow night on truTV, and two on Wednesday night, before the real Big Dance begins on Thursday. As always, we'll have complete TV listings here at SB Nation Chicago, and here's the complete first-week schedule from SBNation.com.