NCAA(R) March Madness(R) on Demand caps off record growth with live web cast of semifinal and final games of the Men's Final Four(R)
DETROIT, April 3 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- CBSSports.com, in partnership with CBS Sports, CBS College Sports Network and the NCAA will provide a live online broadcast of the Men's Final Four semifinal and championship games of the 2009 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship via NCAA March Madness on Demand (ncaa.com/mmod). It will be just the second time ever that a major U.S. sporting event has been shown live and in its entirety on the Internet.
The continued success of NCAA March Madness on Demand builds on the growth of the broadcast of the tournament on the CBS Television Network. CBS Sports' coverage through the first four rounds of the 2009 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship is up +7% in the metered markets from 2008.
The 2009 Men's Final Four features the University of Connecticut (uconnhuskies.com), Michigan State University (msuspartans.com), the University of North Carolina (tarheelblue.com) and Villanova University (villanova.com). For the second consecutive year, the official web sites for all four schools participating in the Men's Final Four are managed and produced by CBS College Sports.
NCAA March Madness on Demand traffic figures through Sunday, March 29
- 6.92 million unique visitors to the NCAA March Madness on Demand video player (2008 figure was 4.43 million -- 56% growth)
- 8.04 million total hours of live streaming video and audio consumed (2008 figure was 4.69 million - 71% growth)
- 2.7 million clicks of the 'Boss Button' (2008 figure was 2.5 million for entire tournament)
This year's record growth was driven by an extensive promotional campaign across all CBS platforms that helped drive awareness and excitement for this year's tournament. NCAA March Madness on Demand (MMOD) is the Emmy award-winning video player that provides live streaming video and audio of the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship.
