CBS Opens the NCAA(R) March Madness(R) on Demand Platform to Over 200 Sites Across the Web

FT. LAUDERDALE, Fla., March 11 /PRNewswire/ -- CBSSports.com, in partnership with CBS Sports, CBS College Sports Network and the NCAA, today announced that the Company has dropped its registration requirements for NCAA March Madness on Demand, giving immediate access to the video player to a large network of sites across the Internet. CBSSports.com has created a Developer Platform, located at http://www.ncaa.com/mmod/developer, giving sites all the necessary tools and information to link directly to live streaming video from one of the world's most popular sporting events.

NCAA March Madness on Demand will be available at NCAA.com (mmod.ncaa.com) as well as links on CBSSports.com, the CBS Audience Network, sites for CBS television and radio affiliates, online video leader YouTube, other major sports websites such as ESPN.com, Yahoo! Sports and SI.com and leading social sites like Facebook.

The NCAA March Madness on Demand promotion on Facebook is part of the recently launched "CBSSports.com Tournament Brackets" application on Facebook Platform. Located at www.facebook.com/brackets, CBSSports.com Tournament Brackets is available to the site's more than 67 million active users both online and via CBS Sports Mobile, creating a cross platform experience for all NCAA basketball fans that should drive tremendous traffic to NCAA March Madness on Demand.

"By allowing major sports, video and social communities across the Internet a direct connection to our NCAA March Madness on Demand video we are giving millions of sports fans around the world access to the tournament when they want it and where they want it," said Jason Kint, Senior Vice President and General Manager, CBSSports.com. "This immediate, one-click access to the video player should greatly increase viewership, offering tremendous value to the over 30 advertisers associated with this product in 2008, including presenting sponsors and NCAA Corporate Champions AT&T, Coca-Cola and Pontiac."

"Getting as many people involved in March Madness as possible is obviously an important goal for the NCAA," said Greg Shaheen, the Association's senior vice president for basketball and business strategies. "The more fans that have direct access to March Madness on Demand through the web site of their choice expands our reach exponentially and continues to grow the impact of the championship in ways never before possible."

2008 marks the first year that CBSSports.com will allow users to view the live streaming video of the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship without having to register for the product. Previously, all fans wanting to view NCAA March Madness on Demand had to be registered users of CBSSports.com.

With expectations that open access to NCAA March Madness on Demand will create record demand for the product, CBSSports.com is again urging fans to sign up to obtain VIP status. Fans that don't have VIP status will be placed in the General Admission area where they will experience longer wait times to get into the NCAA March Madness on Demand player if it is full on game day(s). At present, over half of the 500,000 VIP passes have been taken.

While supplies last, fans can obtain VIP access at NCAA.com (mmod.ncaa.com).

As was previously announced, 2008 will also mark the first time that NCAA March Madness on Demand will give users the ability to view all 63 games of the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship, from the first round of the tournament through the Men's Final Four(R) inSan Antonio, including the Championship game. NCAA March Madness on Demand also will give users the option to listen to live play-by-play audio from Westwood One Radio for all games of the tournament, including the Opening Round game on March 18.

Since its inception in 2003, NCAA March Madness on Demand has traditionally provided live video of 56 games from the first round through the regional semifinals of the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship as they are broadcast by CBS Sports, with local broadcasts being subject to blackouts.

Now available at NCAA.com, The NCAA March Madness on Demand video player currently features highlights from the past 25 years of CBS Sports' presentation of the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship. Full game archives and highlight packages will be available on demand for 63 games of the tournament via the NCAA March Madness on Demand player. Additionally, highlight packages also will be made available on the CBS Interactive Audience Network as well as YouTube. The NCAA March Madness on Demand player and archival footage will be accessible through April 21.

The 2008 NCAA March Madness on Demand video player will showcase a new wide screen (640 X 360 pixels) format along with additional features such as live scoreboards and the infamous "Boss Button". CBSSports.com again will produce a live halftime show for NCAA March Madness on Demand featuring CBSSports.com original video host Jason Horowitz along with men's basketball head coaches Norm Roberts (St. John's) and Fred Hill (Rutgers). "At The Half" will start when the first game goes to halftime and continues all the way until the last game in that window returns to second-half action.

Free access to 2008 NCAA March Madness on Demand is made possible by presenting sponsors and NCAA Corporate Champions AT&T, Coca-Cola, and Pontiac.

    Final 2007 NCAA March Madness on Demand Traffic Numbers:
    1. Minutes of Live Streaming video viewed
       -- 2,598,889 total hours of Live Video (155,933,340 minutes)
    2. Unique users
       -- 1,381,875 total unique users
    3. VIP Registrations
       -- 468,720 VIP Registrations

Click here to access the official logo for 2008 March Madness on Demand: http://images.sportsline.com/images/info/ir/press/2008/08MMODlogo.jpg

Click here to see a mockup of the 2008 March Madness on Demand video player: http://images.sportsline.com/images/info/ir/press/2008/08MMODplayer.jpg

CBSSports.com and CBS Sports production of NCAA March Madness on Demand was awarded an Emmy at the 59th Annual Technology & Engineering Emmy Awards on January 7th of this year for Outstanding Achievement in Advanced Media Technology for Synchronous Enhancement of Original Television Content For Interactive Use.

Availability of NCAA March Madness on Demand is subject to capacity restrictions. Certain terms and restrictions apply. Full terms at http://www.ncaasports.com/info/tos/mmod/

About CBSSports.com

CBSSports.com is at the leading edge of media companies providing Internet sports content, Fantasy sports and e-commerce. CBSSports.com is a member of the CBS family and a part of CBS Interactive. Formerly known as CBS SportsLine.com, in August of 2007 the company changed its name to CBSSports.com. The change marked the evolution of the company into a multi- platform brand offering premier broadcast, online and mobile sports content. The change to CBSSports.com gives advertisers the ability to associate with the CBS Sports brand and reach sports fans no matter where they are, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

For more information about CBSSports.com and for the latest sports news, scores and expert analysis, please visit cbssports.com.

More information about CBS and its businesses is available at www.cbscorporation.com.

About the NCAA

The NCAA is a membership-led nonprofit association of colleges and universities committed to supporting academic and athletics opportunities for more than 380,000 student-athletes at more than 1,000 member colleges and universities. Each year, more than 54,000 student-athletes compete in NCAA championships in Divisions I, II and III sports. Visit www.ncaa.org and www.ncaa.com for more details about the Association, its goals and members and corporate partnerships that help support programs for student-athletes.

The NCAA is proud to have the following elite companies as official Corporate Champions-AT&T, Coca-Cola and Pontiac-and the following elite companies as official Corporate Partners-DiGiorno, Enterprise, TheHartford, Lowe's, Sheraton and State Farm.

NCAA, Final Four, and March Madness are trademarks owned or licensed by the National Collegiate Athletic Association.

SOURCE CBSSports.com

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