NCAA Tournament will be March Madness on Demand

David Levy summed up the new NCAA Tournament viewing experience perfectly.

"The viewer becomes the producer," said Levy, the president of Sales, Distribution and Sports, Turner Broadcasting System Inc.

Two weeks ago, I was sitting in Levy's corner office in the Time Warner Building overlooking Columbus Circle in midtown Manhattan talking about the 2011 tournament. It was impossible to contain his enthusiasm. And who would want to?

If you are at home watching the tournament, you will no longer have to agonize over whether CBS will leave the game you want to see for a game you don't care about. Or whether CBS will mistime a cut-in to a game going down to the wire. Or whether CBS will delay going to the start of the game your favorite team is playing so it can show 5 minutes of advertising.

All 67 games in the expanded, 68-team tournament are going to be live on CBS, TNT, TBS or truTV. Each game will have graphics that show updated scores and time remaining. So, if you are watching CBS and a one-point game on TBS is in the final seconds, just point your remote and click.

It will be like the March Madness on Demand (MMOD) that has been available on computers for a few years, but without the annoyances, including "buffering" delays. Point, click, watch.

"I don't think the consumer has ever had anything like this," Levy said.

No question. If you love the tournament - and is there anybody who does not love the tournament? - you finally have what you want. Control.

Turner and CBS signed a $10.8 billion, 14-year contract with the NCAA in April.

"We have not looked back at the contract," Levy said. "Everything's good."

The networks are not out pursuing advertisers.

"Everything is already sold out," Levy said.

There was never a lot of pregame and postgame on CBS. That will change with Turner. And you also will get Chuck.

Yes, Charles Barkley and the NBA TNT crew will be a key part of the coverage.

"Charles typically wouldn't fit CBS' brand," Levy said.

No, he would not. So, we will get Chuck delivering his unique brand of studio analysis during the tournament. Who doesn't want that?

There will be studio teams in New York and Atlanta. We will get Kenny Smith and Ernie Johnson, in addition to the regular CBS voices that include the wonderful zaniness of Gus Johnson. TNT's Marv Albert will be back calling the NCAA for the first time since the 1980s.

It will sometimes get chaotic as the tournament is supposed to be, but it will be organized chaos.

So, who gets what games?