[SIZE=+0]March Madness on Demand proving recession-proof[/SIZE]
March 11, 2009 | 10:53 AM
Had enough bad news about the economy? College basketball and March Madness provide one shining moment of some good stuff this month. No bailout needed.
Less than two weeks before the start of the men's basketball tournament, CBS reported last week that it had nearly sold out of TV advertising inventory, while March Madness on Demand (MMOD) had attracted nearly $30 million in advertising.
Total revenue for MMOD, which allows fans to stream all tournament games to their computer, is expected to be about 20 — maybe as much as 30 — percent more than last year.
AT&T, Coke and Pontiac will be presenting sponsors, and nearly 35 other brands have also signed on.
So, what does all of this ad support mean to you?
Free basketball, that's what!
The beauty of MMOD is that it allows you to watch the tournament at your desk while you work — not that I would ever condone something like that.
However, if one would be so inclined to keep track of those afternoon games next Thursday and Friday, MMOD provides a "boss button" that allows one to display a fake spreadsheet with a simple mouse-click if one's supervisor approaches their desk while one is watching games.
As if one's supervisor isn't at his/her work station doing the same thing!
Turns out some of them aren't. The boss button was used no less than 2.5 million times during last year's tournament, and this year Comcast has opted to sponsor it.
Fans will have the option of watching games in standard quality with Windows Media Player or in high quality — SWEET! — with Microsoft's Silverlight media player, which NBC used to stream the Olympics online last summer.
More than 4.8 million unique users watched MMOD in 2008, and CBS expects to exceed that this year. They have expanded distribution to recent CBS acquisitions CNET and GameSpot.
With added capacity, CBS does not expect any extended waiting periods for MMOD viewers this season and has removed the "waiting room" feature which used to park users during heavy-demand periods with a time-estimate of how long they would have to wait.
To learn more or sign up for this free service, visit http://mmod.ncaa.com, and enjoy the games!
March 11, 2009 | 10:53 AM
Had enough bad news about the economy? College basketball and March Madness provide one shining moment of some good stuff this month. No bailout needed.
Less than two weeks before the start of the men's basketball tournament, CBS reported last week that it had nearly sold out of TV advertising inventory, while March Madness on Demand (MMOD) had attracted nearly $30 million in advertising.
Total revenue for MMOD, which allows fans to stream all tournament games to their computer, is expected to be about 20 — maybe as much as 30 — percent more than last year.
AT&T, Coke and Pontiac will be presenting sponsors, and nearly 35 other brands have also signed on.
So, what does all of this ad support mean to you?
Free basketball, that's what!
The beauty of MMOD is that it allows you to watch the tournament at your desk while you work — not that I would ever condone something like that.
However, if one would be so inclined to keep track of those afternoon games next Thursday and Friday, MMOD provides a "boss button" that allows one to display a fake spreadsheet with a simple mouse-click if one's supervisor approaches their desk while one is watching games.
As if one's supervisor isn't at his/her work station doing the same thing!
Turns out some of them aren't. The boss button was used no less than 2.5 million times during last year's tournament, and this year Comcast has opted to sponsor it.
Fans will have the option of watching games in standard quality with Windows Media Player or in high quality — SWEET! — with Microsoft's Silverlight media player, which NBC used to stream the Olympics online last summer.
More than 4.8 million unique users watched MMOD in 2008, and CBS expects to exceed that this year. They have expanded distribution to recent CBS acquisitions CNET and GameSpot.
With added capacity, CBS does not expect any extended waiting periods for MMOD viewers this season and has removed the "waiting room" feature which used to park users during heavy-demand periods with a time-estimate of how long they would have to wait.
To learn more or sign up for this free service, visit http://mmod.ncaa.com, and enjoy the games!
