Tuesday, March 6, 2007
Alex Riethmiller
CBS SportsLine
954/489-4000 ext. 7535
ariethmiller@cbs.com
LeslieAnne Wade
CBS Sports
212/975-5171
lwade@cbs.com
Shannon Jacobs
CBS Corporation
212/975-3161
sljacobs@cbs.com
Keith Marder
CSTV
212/342-8743
kmarder@cstv.com
Gail Dent
NCAA
317/917-6117
gdent@ncaa.org
FT. LAUDERDALE, FL, March 6th, 2007 - CBS SportsLine, a leading Internet sports
media organization and part of CBS Interactive, in partnership with CBS Sports, CSTV and the NCAA® today launched their NCAA® March Madness® on Demand (MMOD) service. MMOD is the online player that provides live streaming video from 56 games* beginning with the first round of the NCAA® Division I Men's Basketball Championship as they are broadcast by CBS Sports (game action only) and is offered completely free of charge.
NCAA® March Madness® on Demand is available at NCAAsports.com (www.ncaasports.com/mmod) as well as via MMOD links on CBS SportsLine.com and CSTV.com. In 2006, MMOD was presented free of charge for the first time since its debut in 2003, producing tremendous traffic results with over 19 million video streams and five million visits, resulting in one of the largest live Internet events ever and one many experts called a watershed moment in media history.
To accommodate an even greater audience in 2007, CBS SportsLine has doubled the bandwidth capacity for MMOD. However, in order to effectively control a massive anticipated peak in demand during Thursday and Friday, March 15 and 16, access to the MMOD video player will be carefully managed using a "virtual waiting room." If demand exceeds peak capacity on the 15th, 16th or at any other point of the tournament virtual lines will form.
To have the best opportunity to view live streaming video from the NCAA® Division I Men's Basketball Championship, fans are urged to pre-register for MMOD to obtain VIP status. Fans that don't have VIP status will be placed in the General Admission area where they will experience longer wait times to get into the MMOD player if it is full on game day(s). At present time, roughly half of MMOD’s 2007 VIP inventory has been reserved and demand will only increase as the tournament approaches.
While supplies last, fans can obtain VIP access to MMOD at CBS SportsLine.com (cbs.sportsline.com/mmod) as well as NCAAsports.com (www.ncaasports.com/mmod).
"March Madness on Demand maximizes the Network's NCAA bundled rights and the full range of assets of the CBS Corporation," said Sean McManus, President, CBS News and Sports. "This new distribution of CBS Sports' game coverage, promoted by CSTV and available via CBS SportsLine.com and NCAAsports.com, has proven to build on the total NCAA championship experience for NCAA basketball fans everywhere."
"March Madness on Demand is one of the most successful initiatives that the NCAA and the CBS Corporation has implemented when you couple evolving technology and the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship," said Greg Shaheen, senior vice president for basketball and business strategies at the NCAA. “We continue to pursue new ways of growing the championship and our fan base. March Madness on Demand allows the NCAA and CBS to deliver the championship to a new technologically-savvy audience that previously may not have had the opportunity to view the championship."
"Coming off a record success with MMOD in 2006, we’re excited about the upgrades to the product this year that will not only deliver a superior experience to our consumers but also provide tremendous value for our advertisers," said Steve Snyder, Chief Operating Officer, CBS Interactive. "Our goal is for MMOD to be year-in and year-out the bellwether online video event by which all others are judged."
Features of the 2007 NCAA® March Madness® on Demand video player:
Free access to NCAA® March Madness® on Demand is made possible by presenting sponsors Courtyard by Marriott® and Dell as well as a host of other sponsors, including AT&T, State Farm and Kraft.
CBS SportsLine has partnered with Akamai Technologies, Inc., the leading global service provider for accelerating content and business processes online, to provide video bandwidth support for NCAA® March Madness® on Demand.
Final 2006 NCAA® March Madness® on Demand (MMOD) Traffic Numbers:
To review the minimum system requirements for computers running the MMOD product, please visit the following page: www.ncaasports.com/mmod/faq
* NCAA® March Madness® on Demand will offer live and on demand streaming video of 56 games of NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship games on an out-of-market basis, beginning with the first round through the regional semi-finals. Webcasts of games broadcast by CBS Sports in fans' local markets will be subject to blackouts. Local blackout rules will limit availability to 37 games for most people. MMOD will not show the Opening Round Game on March 13th.
NCAA® March Madness® on Demand is only available to registered users of a CBS Interactive network Web site thirteen (13) years of age or older. There is no cost to register for any of the CBS Interactive network sites. Availability of NCAA® March Madness® on Demand is subject to capacity restrictions. Certain terms and restrictions apply.
About CBS SportsLine
CBS SportsLine is at the leading edge of media companies providing Internet sports content, Fantasy sports and e-commerce. In addition to its flagship service, the company publishes the official sports site of the NCAA, ncaasports.com. CBS SportsLine is a member of the CBS family and a part of CBS Interactive. For more information about CBS SportsLine and for the latest sports news, scores and expert analysis, please visit cbs.sportsline.com.
More information about CBS and its businesses is available at www.cbscorporation.com.
About the NCAA
The NCAA is a membership-led nonprofit association of colleges and universities committed to supporting academic and athletic opportunities for more than 380,000 student-athletes at more than 1,000 member colleges and universities. Each year, more than 49,000 student-athletes compete in NCAA Championships in Division I, II and III sports. Visit www.ncaa.org for more details about the Association, its goals and members and corporate partnerships that help support programs for student-athletes. The NCAA is proud to have the following elite companies as official Corporate Champions-AT&T/Cingular, Coca-Cola and Pontiac-and the following elite companies as official Corporate Partners-DiGiorno, Enterprise, The Hartford, Lowe's and State Farm.