CBS Forecasts Another Profitable Year For “MMOD”

CBS Believes “March Madness On Demand” Will Turn Profit For Second Straight Year

CBS Interactive COO Steve Snyder said that March Madness On Demand (MMOD), the network’s free online offering of NCAA men’s basketball tournament games, “was profitable last year and will be this year as well,” according to Larry Stewart of the L.A. TIMES. Snyder: “It will become even more so as the cost of bandwidth space comes down and capacity for advertising, particularly local advertising, increases.” Through Tuesday, VIP registration for the service at CBS, NCAA and CSTV Web sites reached 400,000, which was “originally set as the cutoff point,” but CBS SportsLine.com “has extended the signup deadline” to 3:00pm ET today (L.A. TIMES, 3/14). Snyder: “As the current registration numbers would indicate, our users are definitely starting to recognize the significance of obtaining VIP status for MMOD” (DAILYNEWS.com, 3/13). Meanwhile, DirecTV Dir of PR Robert Mercer said that the subscriber base for its Mega March Madness out-of-market package “continues to grow, despite competition” from MMOD (L.A. TIMES, 3/14).

MEET ME HALFWAY: MMOD this year will program its own halftime content. CBS SportsLine.com VP/Programming Joe Ferreira: “We used CBS’ halftime stuff in the past, and that was OK, but we needed to take it to the next level with our own live halftime show with Jason Horowitz along with multiple coaches helping out like Norm Roberts and Bobby Gonzalez. We’re looking to have conversation about [the] games that are going on. It won’t be like TV, but more of a discussion about what’s going on in the locker room, things like that” (DAILYNEWS.com, 3/13).

DON’T FEEL LIKE DANCING: In Columbus, Monique Curet reports “several central Ohio companies are blocking streaming video, during the NCAA Tournament and at other times, because of its potential to ... drain network capacity.” Tracy Johnson, Account Manager for computer consultancy Data Processing Sciences Corp., said, “March Madness is a big concern because it could take a network straight down” (COLUMBUS DISPATCH, 3/14).