March Madness On Demand Sets Record For Online Sports Event

March Madness On Demand Surpasses 1.2 Million Streams On First Day

CBS SportsLine’s NCAA March Madness On Demand (MMOD), which is streaming the first 56 games of the NCAA men’s basketball tournament live for free, on Thursday set what CBS says is an Internet record for a scheduled live entertainment or sports event with over 268,000 simultaneous streams. In total, MMOD has already surpassed 1.2 million video streams (CBS). The events that have attracted the previous largest online audiences “include Yahoo’s coverage of Howard Stern's final day in terrestrial radio, which, according to Yahoo, pulled 214,000 simultaneous viewers, and the Live 8 concert shown on Time Warner's AOL.com site, during which 175,000 simultaneous viewers were said to have logged on” (MARKETWATCH.com, 3/15). CBS SportsLine spokesperson Alex Riethmiller said of the opening day of the tournament, “Some people saw significant waits, especially early in the day. In the beginning, there were more than 100,000 users in the general admission queue waiting to get in.” Riethmiller added that MMOD “started cautiously, using only a portion of its bandwidth in the early games and then adding capacity as the day went on.” Riethmiller: “We steadily increased bandwidth, and people got in, including the general admission people” (HOUSTON CHRONICLE, 3/17).

SMOOTH SURFING: Two SBD Staff Writers had generally smooth experiences with MMOD Thursday. Those accounts — one from a staffer with VIP status, one without — are available in Thursday's Closing Bell.

OTHER REVIEWS: USA TODAY’s Jon Swartz writes of MMOD, “My viewing experience went well. The picture and sound were clear, and switching between games was easy. I surfed the Web, and exchanged e-mail and instant messages while the game ran in the background” (USA TODAY, 3/17). In L.A., Larry Stewart writes MMOD “was kind of neat — for a minute or two. You’d have to be a real fan of one of the participating teams to stick with it.” Stewart, who registered early enough to garner VIP status, “didn’t have any trouble getting online.” But a colleague with general admission access “finally gave up and went back to work” (L.A. TIMES, 3/17). In California, Jim Carlisle writes “about six minutes into my look at the Wisconsin-Milwaukee game against Oklahoma, the feed cut out for about three minutes” (VENTURA COUNTY STAR, 3/17).

DID YOU WATCH? Tell us about your experience with MMOD at editorial@sportsbusinessdaily.com.
ONLINE PROGNOSTICATORS: ESPN.com’s annual “Men’s Tournament Challenge” bracket contest drew 1.5 million fans and over 3 million submissions, its most ever (ESPN).