CBS, NCAA end "blackout" of tournament games streamed via March Madness on Demand

ncaa march madness on demandOne of my favorite times of the year are the first two days of the annual NCAA Men’s Basketball Championships, better known as March Madness. I sit on the sofa in a stupor, watching games from morning till midnight.

This year, not only can I watch the games on television but I can also sit with my laptop and watch any game on the ad-supported March Madness on Demand — with no blackouts, according to paidcontent.org. (FAQ.)

Until now, CBS Sports has protected local affiliates by maintaining similar blackout rules online as it has on air, keeping the “local” games TV-only. It also stopped coverage after the first 56 games, focusing all attention on the TV broadcast.

It’s refreshing to see a major network embrace the Internet and streaming content, rather than fear it. As Jason Kint, senior vice president and general manager of CBSSports.com, told paidcontent, “It’s an across-the-board decision by all the parnters that this is additive — not cannibalistic.”

March Madness on Demand streamed 2,598,889 total hours live to 1,381,875 total unique users, many of whom were believed to have watched the tournament at work. More than 132 million viewers tuned in at some point to watch games on CBS.

Kint said this year’s March Madness on Demand will be a better viewing experience, as there is a revamped media player at 640 x 360 pixels and a 16:9 aspect ratio. There will be no high definition streaming.

last100 is edited by Steve O'Hear. Aside from founding last100, Steve is co-founder and CEO of Beepl and a freelance journalist who has written for numerous publications, including TechCrunch, The Guardian, ZDNet, ReadWriteWeb and Macworld, and also wrote and directed the Silicon Valley documentary, In Search of the Valley. See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations.

2 Responses to “CBS, NCAA end "blackout" of tournament games streamed via March Madness on Demand”

  1. Faisal Riaz says:

    Ad Supported Games are getting famous

  2. Jimmy says:

    The NCAA March madness series are on the doors and sport lovers, as I’m one of them, are waiting without patience to live these hot events. No doubt, that there are hundreds if I don’t say thousands who like these series and will do the possible to be on time. Me too unpatient and I’ll attend. This time ,not as I already used to, I won’t buy any tickets. I’ll look for the cheapest ones,especially after a friend has recommended me a website where to compare tickts prices fo free. In case you need this comparison here is the link:
    http://www.ticketwood.com/ncaa/
    March Madness Tickets
    If ou don’t practice sport enjoy it!!!

Leave a Reply to Jimmy