March 19, 2003

NEW YORK (AP) - CBS has reached an agreement to move NCAA tournament games to cable networks if it goes to full-time news coverage of a war with Iraq.

CBS would not detail where the games would be moving, but network spokeswoman LeslieAnne Wade said viewers will be informed if contingency plans are needed.

"They will not be on their own," Wade said Wednesday.

ESPN said it would be ready to air all of the first-round games on the main network or ESPN2. ESPN has not shown the NCAA tournament since 1990.

"We have reached an agreement with CBS to televise NCAA games they may shift due to potential war coverage," ESPN spokesman Josh Krulewitz said. "Should it be necessary, we could accommodate all windows on Thursday and Friday and some over the weekend."

On Saturday and Sunday, CBS would shift some games to a cable network owned by parent company, Viacom - possibly TNN, TV Land, Nickelodeon, VH1 or MTV.

ESPN is committed to the NCAA women's tournament and an LPGA tournament on Saturday and must also make room for ABC's NHL coverage if a war breaks out. ABC and ESPN are both owned by The Walt Disney Co.

ESPN would probably be able to show games in three of the four windows on Saturday, with two games beginning at about 3:20 p.m. EST shifting to a Viacom cable network.

On Sunday, ESPN has more women's basketball and the LPGA tournament and also must make room for ABC's coverage of the IRL and NBA. ESPN would probably only be able to show a game in the 5 p.m. window, with the first two windows going to a Viacom network.

Since the cable networks that would show the games are only available in about 80 percent of homes, CBS would likely have to compensate advertisers for the lower ratings.

CBS is in the first year of a $6 billion, 11-year deal with the NCAA.