You'll recall that in this space a couple of weeks ago, Len DeLuca, CBS Sports vice-president in charge of programming, was saying not to worry about the network's college basketball ratings, that soon enough they would bounce back to normal, or at least higher than they've been.
For DeLuca's sake, one would have to hope sooner comes, well, soon, for CBS' college basketball numbers are still in a slump.
Overall, the network's season-to-date ratings are a 2.9, down slightly from last year. However, what should have been a marquee game Saturday -- then No. 1 Connecticut playing host to Villanova, out of Philadelphia, a top-five market -- did only a 2.4 rating and 6 share in the latest national overnight ratings, released yesterday.
The game lost out to both of ABC's Saturday's offerings, the Pro Bowlers Tour (3.3/9) and "Wide World of Sports" (4.0/10), as well as a taped track meet (2.5/8) and golf(3.5/9) on NBC.
Here's a theory for CBS' lesser numbers: too many other games. Think about it. There are at least two college games on just about every night of the week from ESPN alone, much less the regional channels. The glut of games simply has diluted the market by the time CBS gets on the air Saturdays and Sundays. But don't expect the number to go down anytime soon.
A curious move
The Pacific-10 and Liberty Sports have hooked up on a three-year deal for men's basketball that is, to be frank, a little bizarre.
Under terms of the deal, announced late Monday, Liberty Sports -- the parent of Prime Network, of which Home Team Sports is an affiliate -- will arrange for up to 16 network appearances for men's basketball, as well as 32 to 36 cable games. Liberty Sports also gets the right to provide Pac-10 games to other distributors for national telecasts.
This deal serves as an addendum to a June contract in which Liberty snapped up the rights to a host of other conference sports, including 18 football games not carried by ABC.
That all sounds fine and dandy, except the conference apparently turned down ESPN because the network wanted to air games at 12 midnight in the East as a part of its "Big Monday" package, rather than the 10:30 or 11 p.m. start times that Liberty has offered.
In a prepared statement, Pac-10 commissioner Tom Hansen cited "preferred starting times" as a reason for joining up with Liberty, which is available in 53 million homes across the country, while ESPN, the largest cable network, is seen in 63 million.
It's admirable that Hansen and the conference took the smaller distribution and what is likely to be the lesser dollars that Liberty offered for the chance to get athletes in their dorms and in classes at respectable hours. Whether it was the right move financially remains to be seen.
Bo knows unemployment
Nike has given the promotional boot to Bo Jackson and Dennis Hopper, casting both aside for new ad campaigns.
Though Jackson's contract with the Portland, Ore., athletic shoe giant had expired last summer, the two sides continued to negotiate until talks broke off recently, ending the two-sport star's nine-year relationship with the firm.
Hopper, who played a wigged-out former football referee who gave a 90-second speech extolling the virtues of football during the Super Bowl, has been cut adrift after two years of service for Nike, though the severance is said to be voluntary, according to Keith Peters, a Nike spokesman.
Peters said Nike is going back to its "Just Do It" theme with ordinary people, but fear not, for the company will not abandon those celebrities you love so much. Indeed, Peters said, Nike will soon unveil new spots directed by Spike Lee and featuring Michael Jordan's minor-league baseball efforts, with other ads to feature baseball's Ken Griffey, hockey's Cam Neely and the U.S. women's soccer team.