From APM, American Public Media, and WNYC.

This is Freakonomics Radio on Marketplace.

Here's the host of Marketplace, Kyra's Doll.

Time now for a little bit of Freakonomics Radio that moment in the broadcast every couple of weeks

where we talk to Steven Dubner, the co-author of the books and the blog of the same name.

It is...

Yes, yes, it is the hidden side of everything Dubner, good to have you back.

Hey Kyra, to be back.

Are you a big college basketball fan?

Medium-ish.

I tune in for the tournament.

Okay, so the tournament is just underway.

That's March Madness.

NCAA basketball tournament for those who don't know, runs three weeks.

And every single game now is televised on either CBS or one of the Turner Networks.

It's remarkably popular, millions and millions of viewers.

So I thought it might be fun to just see how good these networks are at turning those millions of viewers into dollars.

And how good are they?

Well, before we even get into the actual money, one striking thing is ownership.

So CBS and Turner have locked up March Madness in a 14-year contract,

which is in direct contrast to that other marquee sporting event, which is the Super Bowl.

That rotates each year between one of three networks.

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