CBS control room not as pressure-packed

In fairness, it would be an exaggeration to say CBS and Turner executives watched the first full day of March Madness sitting in Barcaloungers, sipping beverages topped with paper umbrellas and fretting over busted brackets.

But it also would be fair to say the scene in the control room deep within the CBS Broadcast Center in Manhattan Thursday was unlike anything NCAA Tournament veterans had experienced before.

By partnering with Turner and expanding the event to four channels from one, CBS eliminated what had been the most thankless job in sports television: Deciding when and where to send viewers during the frenzied early days of the tournament.

Now every game is available in its entirety, and the vibe in what CBS calls its MP Room (for multi-purpose) was noticeably, mercifully calmer.

"There is infinitely less pressure in doing this, absolutely,'' CBS Sports chairman Sean McManus said during a break. "I think we're still earning our salary. We're just not earning any overtime.''

Michael Aresco, the network's executive vice president for programming, said: "It's night and day. We probably would have gotten half the country riled up in the first 20 minutes in the old days.''

CBS and Turner officials were not primarily interested in a cushy work day, of course. They stressed that the best thing about the revised setup is its consumer-friendliness.

For the vast majority of homes that get TNT, TBS and truTV, the particulars of the new 14-year, $10.8-billion deal with the NCAA meant viewers controlled their own clickers, not CBS.

The primary mission on Day One was education, especially for fans unfamiliar with truTV, which is available in about 92 million homes but was not previously known for carrying live sports.

Turner Sports president David Levy said the encouraging ratings for the truTV doubleheaders Tuesday and Wednesday nights proved viewers would figure it out.

"I never thought it was going to be a problem,'' he said. "I kept saying it, and everybody kept saying the opposite.''

Announcers were instructed Thursday to remind viewers of good games on other channels, and late in a close game, the logo of the relevant network began to flash on the live scoreboard.

But there also was some flexibility to show brief, late-game action from elsewhere. Three of the four channels showed Butler's buzzer-beating game-winner live.

The fact that the Butler game was shown primarily on truTV had Levy "almost pinching myself,'' he said.

By late afternoon, all four networks had carried a game decided by two or fewer points.

Even though game logistics were easier than in the past, the studio operation became more complex.

There were two sets in New York -- one on camera, another for audio updates -- and a third in Atlanta. Also, analysts had much more time to talk before and after games and at halftime; in the past, that time would have been used for live action.

"It could be halftime for one audience, an open on another network and a postgame simultaneously,'' producer Eric Mann said. "Also, we used to have analysts providing little snippets. Now we're doing 12 straight hours on camera . . . They will have more time to talk and get out their opinions.''

That was important given that Charles Barkley and Kenny Smith, TNT's NBA studio stars, joined Greg Anthony in New York. It didn't take long for Barkley to be Barkley.

During an early break, he said Tennessee athletic director Mike Hamilton's lack of support for coach Bruce Pearl this week "was a disgrace'' and added Hamilton should be fired . . . for hiring Lane Kiffin as football coach.

Does McManus sometimes cringe when Barkley is in front of a live CBS camera?

"I don't cringe; I listen carefully,'' he said, then added jokingly, "I am prepared to perhaps cringe. But I haven't yet.''