CBS Intreractive's March Madness On Demand



March Madness on Demand Online is the brainchild of our former media "Mancrush" -- purely intellectual, mind you -- the visionary Larry Kramer. Pure digital satisfaction; since it is impossible to catch the NCAA games on TV, Kramer bundled them into CBS Interactive's overall media strategy. It was, of course, a great success (although The Corsair at the time dissented; now we are more optimistic) and an unexpected revenue stream. The sports bundling reverberated into even the hallowed newsroom at the fabled Black Rock, as CBS tries to skew younger in their viewership. The fates of CBS Sports and CBS News are, for the moment, inexorably tied in the form of Sean McManus (dual prexy of both CBS divisions). From Staci D. Kramer at the entirely necessary Paidcontent:

"The countdown clock to 'Selection Sunday' is ticking down, bringing us closer to the second go round for ad-supported March Madness on Demand—broadband for college basketball gluttons. Last year, MMOD turned out to be a success for CBS in part, because expectations were well managed and traffic snarls were kept to a minimum by limiting access. This year, CBS wants more of everything, especially more ad money, although the coverage still is limited to 56 games in total and 37 games for most due to local blackout rules. Once the tournament hits the upper brackets, no live streaming. The online event is produced by CBS Sportsline. A few changes are being touted by the network: a 50 percent increase in the size of the video player to 480 x 360 pixels; live radio broadcasts of the first 56 games via Westwood One; a live half-time show. Dell and Marriott Courtyard are sponsors.

"We’ll have more on this (I have to justify my addiction somehow) but for now a few details from ClickZ:

"-- Video feed capacity has been doubled through deals with Content Data Networks and Akamai; the bit rate has been improved.

"-- The site expects to deliver more impressions so has raised rates."

For the full list here.