Ch. 12's NCAA Tournament Game Plan

As expected, Ch 12 will carry the Xavier-BYU game at 9:30 p.m. Thursday, instead of the Wright State or Indiana games. Chs 12 & t also will have the Miami game at 4:55 p.m. Friday, blowing off early local news.

Local 12 news on CinCW: For the first time, the Local 12 news will air on the digital CinCW channel at 11 p.m. on tournament nights, and 5-6:30 p.m. Friday during the Miami game. Ch 12 also will do a full late news after basketball (often about midnight or so).

HDTV: HDTV owners won't be happy, but don't blame Ch. 12. The XU, OSU and Wright State games will not be HDTV. The good news is that Chs. 12 and 7 are promised the entire game, not CBS' around-the-horn coverage cutting away to games everywhere. Stations requesting "constant" coverage will get the game -- but not in HDTV. Only CBS' national "flex" games (cutting in-and-out to various venues) will be in HDTV, says Rick Wagar, Ch 12 program director. It's a CBS technical issue due to lack of transponder space, he says.
UPDATE: CBS says Miami game Friday WILL be in HDTV.

Digital multicast: None this year here. CBS says only a handful of stations not doing the games in HDTV will put alternative games on its digital channels. If you want to see a particular game, you can sign up for free on-demand games on the web:
http://www.ncaasports.com/mmod?refcode=gacbshf
However, CBS says Cinci area folks will be blocked from watching the XU game by alternative means (web, dish) if it is exclusively on Ch 12, the local affiliate.

Here's Ch. 12's game plan:
Thursday: CBS pregame coverage starts at noon.
12:30: Louisville-Stanford
2:40: Butler-Old Dominion
7 pm: OSU-Central Connecticut (no HDTV)
9:30: Xavier-BYU (no HDTV)
Dayton's Ch 12 will air Wright State-Pittsburgh instead. No local coverage of Indiana-Gonzaga.

Friday's local TV schedule is not confirmed yet, except for Miami-Oregon at 4:55 p.m. That means Chs 12 & 7 will broadcast games noon to midnight. Woohoo!