Skip to content
Entertainment
Link copied to clipboard

Not into hoops? Good luck TV fans

This is a particularly trying time of year if you're not a sports fan. Your TV options? Basketball or reruns

Over the weekend, a reader wrote to complain that if you weren't into basketball, there were very entertainment options available on TV. All the network series seemed to be showing reruns.

Sad but true. (Well, not so sad for me because I love the NCAA tournament.)

There are actually two issues involved here.

College basketball is in fact ubiquitous this time of year. Not long ago, CBS showed the games exclusively. They would broadcast a single matchup and cut away occasionally to other games going simultaneously.

Now the tournament is being shown on CBS, TBS, TNT, and truTV, with tripleheaders the norm on each.  That's a whole lotta hoops.

The other facet of the reader's complaint should concern all TV fans. The sweeps period is that month when the networks effusively try to seduce and entertain us. The more eyeballs they draw, the more they can charge for commercials.

The moment sweeps is over, they trot out the dusty inventory that they can't even give away. This practice reflects a callous disregard for viewers. We will serve you. But only if it improves our bottom line.

The good news is that the tournament field has now been winnowed down to 16 teams. That means less of the schedule given over to sports.

And, after a few weeks when the networks might as well have been on hiatus or showing a test pattern, most series return to original programming this week.

Look on the bright side: at least now you know what channel truTV can be found on.

Read more Dave on Demand or follow him on Twitter @DaveOnDemand_TV