If war coverage pre-empts CBS’ NCAA Tournament telecasts, the network’s sports president, Sean McManus, said yesterday it is unlikely the games will end up on ESPN.

“Our strong preference is that we will work within the Viacom family,” McManus said of CBS’ home company.

ESPN is owned by Disney, which would make this arrangement very unusual. Josh Krulewitz, ESPN’s director of media relations, did confirm that talks have taken place.

McManus said ESPN’s commitments to the NBA, ABC and women’s basketball tournament are some of the problems that make the arrangement a long shot. CBS and ESPN are working together in terms of promotion and the sharing of some announcers.

The more likely option for the men’s tournament, which begins a week from Thursday, is for CBS to use its Viacom cable networks, like TNN and Nickelodeon.

The problem for sports viewers is that not everyone has cable or the Viacom networks. Secondly, the cable networks don’t own the ability to regionalize their coverage. Each can show a game to the entire nation.