The marriage between CBS and Turner when March comes around hasn’t gone as smooth as both sides have hoped. Just a year ago, Turner was pilloried for their production of the Selection Show on TBS. The inaugural Selection Show to air on TBS was too long, presented shoddily (with the teams being revealed in alphabetical order, rather than by where they fell on the bracket), and paced terribly.

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The tournament itself on CBS and a trio of Turner networks (TNT, TBS, truTV) was better received, but that was mostly because of the CBS talent featured on coverage. Turner NBA analysts Kenny Smith and Charles Barkley were lampooned when they appeared on the screen because it seemed like they had no idea what exactly they were talking about.

This year, at least through the first weekend, the relationship between CBS and Turner is in a much better place. The Selection Show, back to its traditional home on CBS, was a dream compared to last year’s edition. Perhaps not coincidentally, viewership for the show increased to a five-year high. It’s amazing what getting a full bracket out in about 40 minutes will do, compared to dragging it to over an hour.

The studio coverage for the NCAA Tournament this season is also much improved, because it seems like Smith and Barkley aren’t on set at the same time too often. When they were on set together in previous years, along with an exasperated Clark Kellogg and either Greg Gumbel or Ernie Johnson, viewers wouldn’t get the insight they deserved. This year, Wally Szczerbiak is getting much more screen time on the main set, and he’s impressing in his expanded role, and is also giving us a much-needed breather from the joke-laden analysis of Barkley and Smith.

A second studio in Atlanta is also being used during NCAA Tournament coverage, and that second studio crew is also making the most of their opportunities. Casey Stern anchors the coverage, and is joined by The Athletic’s Seth Davis, Candace Parker, and Brendan Haywood. Haywood and Parker are both promising younger analysts that have great chemistry together, and Davis serves as the glue that brings them together with Stern and the guest analyst coaches they’ve had in studio (Pitt’s Jeff Capel and Loyola’s Porter Moser) this week.

CBS and Turner brought back nearly the same collection of game broadcasters this year. The only new face is Fox’s Jim Jackson, who teamed with the returning Brad Nessler and Fox colleague Steve Lavin to form a trio. Three sideline reporters, Jamie Erdahl, Allie LaForce, and Lisa Byington, changed the broadcast team they were working with this season because of LaForce leaving CBS for Turner last spring.

There’s nothing wrong with not mixing up the broadcast crews, because this is quite a deep stable. The Jim Nantz/Grant Hill/Bill Raftery trio has been one of my favorites since they debuted together in 2015, and they deserve to be the tournament’s top team. Turner’s Brian Anderson teams with Chris Webber as the #2 team, and while they’re not great together, they’re certainly serviceable – especially Anderson, who is Turner’s rumored choice to succeed Marv Albert as the network’s voice of the NBA. Ian Eagle got the promotion to the #3 team last year following Verne Lundquist’s retirement from CBS, and his pairing with Jim Spanarkel has been one of highlights of the tournament over the last two years. The fourth and final second weekend team is Kevin Harlan, Dan Bonner, and Reggie Miller, and there isn’t much you can say about them that hasn’t been said over the years. They work incredibly well together, and arguably deserve a more prominent role during March Madness.

Even the four teams who only work the first weekend have their strong points. The Nessler/Jackson/Lavin trio was an entertaining listen, and Nessler is fitting in quite well at CBS. Spero Dedes calls a good game, and did well in a three man booth with Steve Smith elder statesman Len Elmore. Dedes, Carter Blackburn, and Andrew Catalon are all younger broadcasters that CBS seems to be high on and could be part of the network’s short and long term future, given the growing profile of their assignments.

Many of the names have changed over the years (Lundquist, Gus Johnson, and Tim Brando all gave us memorable calls over the years), but the more recent years of the March Madness partnership between Turner and CBS have been a quest to get the tournament right and for each network to be able to put their own stamp on it without devaluing the quality of the tournament itself. In 2019, it appears that both networks have finally achieved that goal, and hopefully, they’ll continue improving their tournament coverage by trying to tweak around the margins instead of trying to re-invent the wheel.

Joe Lucia
Joe Lucia

Sports Media Analyst

Joe Lucia has been covering sports media since 2011, and is a fan of the Ravens, Braves, and Manchester City. He was born and raised in Harrisburg, PA, but now makes his home in southern California with his wife.

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