TMCnet News
You can watch NCAA Tournament on computer, cell phoneMar 18, 2010 (Sun Sentinel - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- It used to be if you wanted to catch the first round of the NCAA men's basketball tournament, you would need to come down with the "basketball flu" or take an extended lunch hour. These days, you don't have to miss work or even a lunch appointment. You can watch the tournament's 63 games, which start Thursday, on your computer. You can catch games, get highlights and check your bracket on your iPhone. Bracket pools draw even non-sports fans' attention to the tournament, which will open with two days of games during work hours. "The more access we have, we believe, the better," said Jason Kint, senior vice president and general manager of Fort Lauderdale-based CBSSports.com. That's why CBS and its mobile and interactive divisions keep expanding tournament coverage. CBSSports.com introduced its " March Madness on Demand" online streaming video of the first 56 games in 2003 and expanded it to the full tournament in 2008. Last year, 7.52 million unique visitors watched some of the tournament for free online, up 58 percent from 2008. The number of online viewers is expected to grow -- the MMOD player can be accessed from Facebook and competing websites such as ESPN.com and CNN.com -- and new options include picture-in-picture highlights for fans who download a higher-quality video player. There also is a newly designed "Boss Button" -- which office workers clicked more than 2.77 million times last year to mute and hide the video on their work computers. CBS Mobile offered a limited $4.99 application for the iPhone and iPod Touch last year. The application costs $9.99 this year, and there's also a free "lite" version offering on-demand video highlights and live scores. Fans who subscribe to Flo TV on other types of cell phones also can watch the tournament on their phones. BlackBerry, too, offers scores and updates. DirecTV's Mega March Madness package shows all tournament games, including those unavailable in certain regions. And if you're thinking your TV just isn't quite large or sharp enough for the Final Four -- CBS plans to broadcast the April 3 semifinals and April 5 championship game in 3D at 100 movie theaters across the country, though not in Florida. Rather than taking away from their network coverage of the tournament, CBS officials see the increased opportunities as enhancing it. "This is another way around what clearly is a marquee flagship event," said Rob Gelick, CBS Mobile senior vice president and general manager. "It's a complementary experience, if you don't have the opportunity to be in front of your PC or TV." CBS' 11-year $6 billion contract to broadcast the NCAA tournament is to run through 2013, but the NCAA can opt out of the last three years by July 31. Joe Bonner, a securities analyst covering media for the Argus Research in New York, said CBS' decision to expand coverage of the tournament to new platforms has increased interest among viewers. "Even if it was a negative for CBS, which I don't think it is, but if it were, basically media companies have to go where the consumers are," Bonner said. "Media companies have to follow that trend, they have to satisfy that consumer need." Mitchell Nathan is grateful he can get the tournament on his iPhone. "I'm a student, I'm on the go, I have school, I have work," said Nathan, 24, a Nova Southeastern University law student, from Cooper City. "I basicaly have a TV in my hand." Sarah Talalay can be reached at [email protected] or 954-356-4173. To see more of the Sun Sentinel or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.sun-sentinel.com/. Copyright (c) 2010, Sun Sentinel, Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email [email protected], call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA. |