Basketball Media

The NBA and College Basketball are very popular especially in the postseason.  The networks that broadcast March Madness are TBS, CBS, TNT, and TruTV.  In 2010, the NCAA and CBS reached a 14-year agreement worth $10.8 billion dollars to receive joint broadcasting rights for March Madness.  The agreement with the CBS Corporation which runs through 2024, allows all tournament games to be broadcast on national television.  All of the first four games will air on TruTV.  A featured second or third round game in each time window will be broadcast exclusively on CBS, while all other games will be shown either on TBS, TNT or TruTV. Sweet 16 (regional semifinal) games would be broadcast on CBS and TBS, while all games from the Elite Eight (regional final) onwards would be shown on CBS exclusively until 2016, when the CBS/TBS sharing of the Elite Eight and Final Four rounds begin.  The CBS/Turner coverage formally begins with The Selection Show, the official unveiling of the teams participating in the tournament, which follows CBS's coverage of the final game on Selection Sunday. Since 2013, however, CBS began using the March Madness presentation during coverage of conference championship games being broadcast by CBS, although still branded as NCAA on CBS telecasts. During the tournament itself, TruTV broadcasts pre-game coverage, Infiniti NCAA Tip-Off, while TBS and TruTV also air the post-game show Inside March Madness presented by Buick.  By broadcasting The Selection Show opens up more popularity to main tournament and gives the network more views and a better chance to advertise their own shows.  The NBA's popularity and viewers have gone up and down throughout the years.  The NBA Nielsen ratings have risen and fallen over the decades. The National Basketball Association achieved a rapid rise and fall in television ratings from the 1997-1998 season, when ratings for the NBA Finals achieved a record high, to the 2002-2003 season, when ratings for the NBA Finals hit a record low. Blame for this rise and fall has been pinned on the destructive NBA lockout which occurred right after the 1998 season. The lockout wiped out thirty-two games of the 1998-1999 season and caused fan apathy. Other blame has been put on the retirement of Chicago Bulls star Michael Jordan, also on backlash against the "hip-hop" culture of the league and as well as heavy competition from prime time programming such as American Idol, the CSI Shows, and Dancing with the Stars.



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Basketball_Association_Nielsen_ratings