CBS Sports programming head Michael Aresco told USA Today the network does not plan to utilize split screens for coverage of games during the NCAA Tournament, and that it has instituted an approach that will allow more flexibility to switch between games if they become lopsided.Switches are something that inevitably bring excitement and interest to the event, so that's a good thing. Let's hope the network leans toward the upper range of his stated 10- to 15-point window when a teams is leading to make a switch, though. After all, a 10-point lead requires just two or three possessions before it could become a slight, single-digit advantage.
Also, what's interesting, is that at a time when TV screens keep getting bigger and bigger -- a seemingly perfect match for split screen or picture-in-picture presentation -- the network does not plan to follow a path that would match that potential technology. Aresco said CBS would not use side-by-side or split-screen views for games.
Another reason for that move might eventually be 3D technology. That approach seems set to emerge, or at least be pushed, as the next big thing in sports TV programming and viewing and watching a game on 3D by itself probably represents the preferred method, as opposed to a split-screen approach.