In 2008, you can get madness on-demand—NCAA March Madness that is, as all 63 men’s basketball games will be available through NCAA March Madness on Demand (MMOD) on CBSSports.com with an assist from CBS Sports, The CBS College Sports Network (formerly CSTV) and the NCAA.
Since its inception in 2003, MMOD has traditionally provided live video of the first 56 games of the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship as they are broadcast by CBS Sports, with local broadcasts being subject to blackouts.
“Getting more people involved—in more ways—in March Madness is a central goal for the NCAA and March Madness on Demand continues to deliver,” said Greg Shaheen, senior vice president for basketball and business strategies at the NCAA. “Whether through broadcast coverage of the tournament on CBS Sports and CSTV, streaming live video from the Emmy award-winning March Madness on Demand on NCAA.com, mobile coverage and highlights on CBS Sports Mobile or the tournament brackets application on Facebook, more fans now have more ways to view, follow, debate and enjoy March Madness than ever before.”
As has been the case since it was first offered for free in 2006, NCAA March Madness on Demand will once again be the centerpiece of the CBSSports.com coverage of the tourney. Additional aspects of the multiplatform coverage of the championship include up-to-the-second scores and statistics for every game of the tournament through live scoreboards and GameCenters, expert analysis, commentary, game matchups, predictions and more, plus bracket games on CBSSports.com and the recently launched “CBSSports.com Tournament Brackets” application on Facebook.
The 2008 MMOD video player will showcase a wider screen (640x360).
In 2006, MMOD was presented free of charge for the first time since its debut in 2003, In 2007, more than 1.3 million unique views streamed nearly 2.6 million hours (155 million minutes) of March Madness.
Read more about March Madness in the March 5 issue of TV Technology.
