Release

CBS Sports and Turner Sports Announce 2016 NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship Commentator Team

Jim Nantz, Grant Hill, Bill Raftery and Tracy Wolfson to Call National Championship and Final Four National Semifinals on TBS                   

Brian Anderson and Steve Smith to Announce Games Regional Weekend

Wally Szczerbiak Joins Atlanta Studio Team

          Turner Sports and CBS Sports will once again feature a marquee lineup of announcers for their sixth year of combined coverage of the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship.  All 67 games from the 2016 NCAA Tournament will be televised across four national television networks – TBS, CBS, TNT and truTV – and via NCAA March Madness Live, beginning Tuesday, March 15 with the NCAA First Four on truTV presented by Northwestern Mutual.

          This year’s NCAA Final Four National Semifinals on Saturday, April 2 and National Championship on Monday, April 4 from Houston will be televised on TBS with team-specific “Team Stream by Bleacher Report” coverage available via TNT and truTV.

             Jim Nantz, Grant Hill, Bill Raftery and reporter Tracy Wolfson will call the Final Four National Semifinals and National Championship for the second consecutive year.

          New roles for this year’s coverage include:

  • Brian Anderson, Steve Smith and Dana Jacobson teaming together to call games through the Regional Finals;
  • Carter Blackburn providing play-by-play for the first two rounds;
  • Wally Szczerbiak joining the Atlanta studio team from the First Four through the Regional Semifinals;
  • Ros Gold-Onwude joining as reporter;
  • Swin Cash serving as a studio analyst for the First Four games.

 

            Ernie Johnson and Greg Gumbel will again host studio coverage from the CBS Broadcast Center in New York City during the first full week of the tournament, joined by Charles Barkley, Clark Kellogg and Kenny Smith.  Johnson will host studio coverage from Atlanta during the second week of tournament action, while Doug Gottlieb joins studio coverage from New York.  Studio coverage originating from Turner Studios in Atlanta, hosted by Matt Winer during the first week, will feature analysts Szczerbiak, Seth Davis and college coaches.

         Johnson will host studio coverage from the Final Four National Semifinals on Saturday, April 2 and National Championship on Monday, April 4 from NRG Stadium in Houston with analysts Barkley, Kellogg and Smith. They will be joined by Gumbel along with analyst Reggie Miller and insider Seth Davis.

 

Following is the complete list of announcer pairings:

 

Play-by-Play / Analyst // Reporter

* Regional Weekend Announce Teams

 

Jim Nantz / Bill Raftery / Grant Hill // Tracy Wolfson*

Brian Anderson / Steve Smith // Dana Jacobson*

Verne Lundquist / Jim Spanarkel // Allie LaForce*

Kevin Harlan / Reggie Miller / Dan Bonner // Lewis Johnson*

Ian Eagle / Chris Webber / Len Elmore // Evan Washburn

Spero Dedes / Doug Gottlieb // Ros Gold-Onwude

Andrew Catalon / Steve Lappas // Jamie Erdahl

Carter Blackburn / Mike Gminski // Jaime Maggio

 

The tournament will tip off Tuesday, March 15 and Wednesday, March 16 with the NCAA First Four on truTV presented by Northwestern MutualAndrew Catalon will call Tuesday’s games with analyst Steve Lappas and reporter Jamie ErdahlCarter Blackburn will handle play-by-play on Wednesday alongside analyst Mike Gminski and reporter Jaime Maggio.  Studio coverage for the First Four will originate from Atlanta with Matt Winer and analysts Szczerbiak, Davis and Swin Cash.

 

Accompanying the live television presentation, NCAA March Madness Live will once again be the ultimate digital destination for direct access to all 67 games of the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship. 

 

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Media Contacts:

 

Dan Sabreen, CBS Sports, 212-975-5936, dsabreen@cbs.com

Jay Moskowitz, Turner Sports, 404-885-2469, jay.moskowitz@turner.com