Ken Foote's Radio/TV Files: 30 Years Of March Madness

Time flies so fast the older we get! And I cannot believe that it was 30 years ago this month when CBS Sports started carrying the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament.

For the better part of that time, the name "March Madness" has been so appropriately applied to this tournament. Not just because of the vast amount of team eliminations over the first four days, but also because of the logistics of broadcasting this event. Until last year, CBS had the rights to ALL games and would assign those games to various regions around the country, like they do with the NFL, during various time periods or what we call "windows". The "madness" came with all of the switching from one game to another or being assigned a game that no one cared about. The early rounds are not always very competitive but that doesn't stop a viewer from complaining about anything and everything ! This tournament remains today as the single most technically difficult event for a broadcast or cable network to cover due to the number of games being covered and the multiple remote sites where games are being played.

One of the signature announcers in the 80's and 90's for this tournament was Brent Musburger who now covers college football and basketball for ESPN and ABC. Gary Bender was also one of the early March Madness announcers. Billy Packer was hired and so was Jim Nantz. Jim is really the face and voice of CBS Sports across the board. For a short period of time, Tom Brookshier, a NFL football analyst paired with Pat Summerall on the NFL on CBS, was part of the broadcast for a few years but was suspended for remarks made about the University Of Louisville. Today CBS's announce team is headed by Nantz and Clark Kellogg, with Tracy Wolfson on courtside. Verne Lundquist, Kevin Harlan, Leslie Vissar, and their fine team of analysts will also be covering the action as well. Greg Gumbel anchors the studio pre and post game shows as well as the half time shows or shows that "bridge" one game to another.

As was the case last year, the games are shared with Turner Sports with three of their networks: TBS, TNT, and truTV. CBS will have the Final Four on Saturday, March 31st, and the Championship Game on Monday, April 2nd this year.

Now the biggest questions or concerns we get are: WHERE ARE MY SOAP OPERAS?  The answer is simple: the CBS Daytime Dramas this Thursday and Friday will not be seen nationally because of the daytime March Madness schedule but will return next Monday. Since they are not being shown anywhere in the country, you aren't missing any of the drama! Jeopardy, Wheel Of Fortune, and Dr. Phil will be rescheduled overnight this Thursday and Friday as well.

I am taking off a couple of days from the Files to spend time with my family during this Spring Break but I will be back next Monday. Have a great week. See you next time.