Turner’s “MMOD” Feed Delivers On iPad, Has Its Hiccups On iPhone

Turner Sports added the iPad as a platform for the popular March Madness on Demand this year, and it delivered terrific picture quality for today’s early games and a bevy of fun features on the tablet device. The free iPad app downloaded and loaded without trouble, opening to the main screen highlighted by a center video console. The main page also features a scoreboard header, team and player statistics synched with the selected game and a handful of permanent on-screen advertisements. NCAA sponsors AT&T, Coca-Cola and Capital One have logo placement in the upper right corner of the screen, while a fourth rotating ad sits directly under the video. Buick and HP, among others, activated in that space.

Meanwhile, the MMOD experience on the iPhone, greatly expanded this year from a more limited pay model last year to a free application, was very much a mixed bag in the tournament's early going. With solid, strong 3G or Wi-Fi connections, video flowed well and in near real-time. But anything less than an optimal connection quickly prompted video dropouts, lags in score updates and a general loss of fluidity within the app, not unlike a dynamic seen for other mobile distributions of live sports.

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