TV Answer Man, will CBS and TBS and TNT have March Madness in 4K? The Big East and Big 10 tournaments were in 4K and March Madness is bigger than they are, right? — Jamika, Jackson, Mississippi.
Jamika, the 68-team college basketball championship tournament, known best as March Madness, begins with two ‘First Four’ games each on March 14 and 15 (broadcast by truTV and the March Madness Live app). Then, on March 16, the entire field begins play on CBS and the Turner networks (TNT, truTV and TBS) as well as the NCAA March Madness Live app.
The tournament winds up on April 3 in Houston with the championship game at 9:20 p.m. ET.
But will the March Madness games be available in 4K, you ask?
Answer: No.
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The decision is not terribly surprising. CBS and Turner, which have had the TV rights to the college basketball championship tournament for years, have only offered March Madness in 4K once, in 2019. CBS also chose not to produce the 2021 Super Bowl in 4K while Turner has not done any 4K except for the 2019 March Madness.
It is true that Fox produced this year’s Big East and Big 10 college basketball tournaments in 4K and ESPN did the ACC tournament final in the format. But both those networks are far more bullish on 4K than the networks doing the March Madness games.
Jamika, sorry about the news, but happy viewing and stay safe.
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— Phillip Swann
@tvanswerman
