Posted on 03/16/2006 4:29:49 AM PST by abb
Live Webcasts of NCAA tournament is 'watershed' moment
By David B. Wilkerson, MarketWatch Last Update: 12:57 AM ET Mar 16, 2006
CHICAGO (MarketWatch) -- CBS Corp.'s move to stream live telecasts of the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship free of charge on the Web, beginning with this year's tournament, is a "watershed event" with vast implications for the television landscape, according to a former president of CBS Sports.
Beginning Thursday, CBS (CBS) will offer live out-of-market broadcasts of "March Madness" games at NCAAsports.com. See related column by Bambi Francisco. "This is a watershed event," said Neal Pilson, president of the television-programming consulting firm Pilson Associates and a former head of CBS Sports.
"This is a watershed event," said Neal Pilson, president of the television-programming consulting firm Pilson Associates and a former head of CBS Sports.
"There have been a lot of events available on a subscription basis, priced modestly, but this is the first time that a significant national event -- which is also covered on television -- is being made available free, with the revenue stream coming from advertisers," Pilson said.
The games deemed to be of greatest local interest will be seen on local CBS affiliates. A game seen locally on TV will not be streamed for that area's online audience.
Only the beginning
In the future, other sporting events could be streamed using an advertising model rather than subscriptions. Two that spring to mind are the Olympics and the U.S. Open Tennis Championship, Pilson said.
"They are both content-rich, similar to the NCAA championship," said Pilson. "There is actually more video from those events than can be presented on television. And, also, much of what happens takes place during non-peak television-viewing hours.
"You could have as much as 15 hours of available television each day."
NBC holds exclusive broadcast rights to the Olympics through 2012, while U.S. Open rights are shared by CBS and USA Network. USA is owned by NBC Universal (GE).
CBS clearly aims to reach the large numbers of office workers who would like to but previously could not watch tournament games during the workday. 'We're still in Phase 1 of broadband video, and we're not likely to see any near-term impact on cable or satellite.'
Sean Badding, Carmel Group
"We know for a fact, from various research, that the amount of video that is viewed online is soaring," says Brent Magid, chief executive of broadcast consulting firm Frank N. Magid Associates in Marion, Iowa. "And the group of people who are the most frequent users are young men. One of the peak viewing times is actually lunch hour, early afternoon at work."
Young men are a key demographic for advertisers because they are thought to be among the most willing to change brands, and to be free spenders of disposable income.
Anytime, anywhere
No one is sure in which ways an increasingly demanding consumer audience will prefer to enjoy its entertainment over the next 10 years. Everyone in the media business does, however, carry the lesson learned from Napster's disruption of the music business: It is better to be too early in embracing new platforms and technologies than too late.
Bearing this in mind, CBS has worked at a feverish pace in recent months to make sure that people can access its content in on-demand platforms, including cable video-on-demand, through a deal with Comcast Corp. (CMCSK) ; cell phones; the Web, including searchable video of various CBS programs via the Google (GOOG) search engine; and the iPod.
CBS and Apple Computer (AAPL) said Tuesday that they would team to sell condensed versions of all 63 NCAA tournament games on iTunes. Apple will make condensed versions of all the games available the day after they air for $1.99 a game, or $19.99 for a full-tournament pass.
Digital TV will be a godsend for them.
When they can put up 3 channels on their digital bandwidth their execution runs a stay.
The current business model is dead within 15 years. However the bandwidth they were given for digital TV isn't being used at all.
No need ti hire JOn Stewart, CBS is already a joke!
I would really like to know how CBS can determine the area's online audience.
5.56mm
When they can put up 3 channels on their digital bandwidth their execution runs a stay.
The current business model is dead within 15 years. However the bandwidth they were given for digital TV isn't being used at all.
Our CBS affiliate here in Kansas City is using their digital signal to broadcast all four regional sites simultaneously. All you need is a digital receiver, and my DirecTV receiver happens to also be an over-the-air digital receiver as well.
So while I signed up for the NCAA webcast, I probably won't use it. Also, I'm glad I didn't sign up for DirecTV's March Madness package (which gives me basically the same thing that the CBS affiliate is giving away for free). Life is, for the moment, good.
1) Live 24 hr news is here to stay along with live sport events.
2) All pre-recorded media will be on-demand
3) RIP...copper is dead, and light-guide cable is too expensive to compete. Wireless is the future... Someone tell the new AT&T...
That's a good question. I live about 80 miles West of Chicago and 30 miles South of Rockford, IL. Both Rockford & Chicago televise the basketball playoffs during the spring. I'll bet that we'll be blocked online from both areas.
That's all well fine and good that the KC CBS is doing all 4 games but only one, if that, will be in 720P or above.
Great use of space though.
I was at my GF's in Richmond for two weeks and was disgusted with how the affiliates there use their digital space. The ABC, NBC and CBS affiliates have a ten minute weather loop they run 24/7, the CBS station has a video jukebox, the Fox station airs the same program on 3 different digital channels, why run a 720p or 1080i on one channel and then put a 480i signal on a slot that's only available with a digital set???? DUH! HELLO!
This is the proper use of digital space, 4 different regional feeds. If they did that for the NFL they'd cut the legs off of DirecTV's Sunday Ticket.
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