Digital March Madness
March is a month known for many great things: the official start of spring, St. Patrick’s Day and that special time of year referred to as March Madness. In case you can’t remember what March Madness is; it’s when the NCAA College basketball tournament takes over America’s attention span. During the last couple weeks of March a total of 64 teams compete in a single elimination tournament to decide who the best college basketball team in the country is. CBS, the broadcaster of March Madness, has made a number of digital partnerships allowing advertisers unique opportunities to get their products in front of American eyes.
Since 2003, CBS has offered March Madness On Demand (MMOD), an online service allowing consumers with an Internet connection to view live games on their computer screen. In 2003, MMOD cost an individual $19.95 to have access to the Webcast; however, today the service is free as advertisers are footing the bill. Last year CBS had over 4.8 million unique viewers to MMOD, a 164% growth from 2007, and they are predicting even stronger numbers this year. So far AT&T, Coke and Pontiac have signed up to be presenting sponsors of MMOD while 30 other brands have inked smaller advertising deals. One of the most unique MMOD advertising partnerships is between CBS and Comcast, the cable provider has signed up to become the first-ever sponsor of the “boss button.” The “boss button” allows consumers who are watching the game at work to cover up their computer screen with a fake spreadsheet in order to not get into trouble at the office. CBS is hoping to bring in more than $30 million dollars in online advertising revenue from MMOD, a substantial amount of online video advertising dollars.
For the consumer who is consistently on the go, CBS and the NCAA announced a unique partnership with MobiTV. The partnership will bring live games of next week’s NCAA tournament to Apple’s iPhone and iTouch. Consumers who own the popular devices can download the application at the Apple store for $4.99. The app will allow consumers to watch live games as well as provide tournament-related content, bracket updates, live box score information and game previews from CBS Sports. When purchasing the application, make sure that your iPhone or iTouch device has a current WiFi connection in order to work the MobiTV technology. Apple and CBS are both hoping that this will provide consumers another way to stay digitally connected to the madness.
The final partnership that CBS established to deliver all games of March Madness directly to consumers is with DirecTV. Individuals who already have their television hooked up to DirecTV can order access to 64 games of the tournament for only $69. This allows consumers the ability to view all out-of-market games or to watch four games going on at the same time.
With CBS providing so many ways for consumers to watch the games, it is easy to see why the broadcaster had no problem selling out their commercial ad space. Over the past couple of years, traditional television has started to lose it overall reach. CBS has scored a winning idea by offering as many digital viewing options for consumers as possible. CBS understands that we live in an on-demand world and the companies who are able to provide consumers with instant access will take advantage of this trend and become profitable.
Tags: CBS, Digital, March Madness
