Reaching a maximum audience of several hundred thousand at a time hardly seems like nirvana for mass marketers. But 18 major advertisers–including Pontiac, Dell and Marriott–have shrewdly embraced that opportunity when it was offered by CBS.
The eye network is making the early round games of the National Collegiate Athletic Association’s (NCAA) basketball championship tournament available on the Web for free. The games, which have spawned bracketology “science” and office betting pools throughout the country, represent a hot ticket. And it’s safe to say that college basketball fans, as well as office worker “Final Four” pool players, will have a keen interest in accessing the action–via CBS’ national telecasts (available in HD), and over the Internet.
In fact for the initial weekday morning and afternoon round of games, look for office productivity to go down as workers keep an eye peeled on their computer screens for live, Web-delivered games. Further aiding and abetting this down time at the office is a button that Web viewers can click to instantly replace the games with a fake spreadsheet–that way the boss will be none the wiser about employees slacking off to keep tabs on the NCAA tournament.
All the available ad slots have been sold in this precedent-setting Web event, which marks the first time that a mainstay national broadcaster has shifted such a valuable, exclusive program franchise onto the Web without charging a fee. The college basketball tournament has long been known as March Madness–hence the Internet service name of March Madness On Demand for the CBS initiative.
Ads will be removed from the TV broadcast and replaced with Web-only commercials sold by CBS Sportsline, which is a unit of CBS Digital Media. The Web service will not feature the Elite Eight, Final Four or championship rounds when there’s only one game at a time. Additionally, Web users won’t be able to access local games even in the early rounds when multiple games are being played simultaneously. This is all designed to protect the core TV broadcast business.
It’s estimated that broadband capacity will limit the Web audience to a few hundred thousand viewers at a given time. The service is available at ncaasports.com/mmod and could pave the way for other Web broadcasts.
The March Madness on Demand for no charge underscores how mainstream entertainment companies are grappling with ways to leverage emerging media, while creating desirable outlets for their audience constituencies and advertisers. It’s believed that the companies advertising on the Web games will for the most part make their spots interactive as they attempt to engage prospective consumers and gauge how much interest those commercials generate.
In a Los Angeles Times article about March Madness on Demand, Deborah S. Fell, a Marriott senior VP is quoted as saying, “It’s a cluttered landscape out there in terms of getting information to consumers. This is the type of venue we’re looking for.”
Michelle Satter To Be Honored At Sundance Film Festival Gala
The nonprofit Sundance Institute today announced details for the 2025 Sundance Film Festival’s gala fundraiser, Celebrating Sundance Institute, which will take place on Friday, January 24, 2025 at the Grand Hyatt Deer Valley in Utah. The event will be an evening in celebration of Michelle Satter, founding sr. director of artist programs at Sundance Institute, for her longstanding commitment to nurturing artists and cultivating independent film through the Sundance Labs, where visionary artists convene to develop groundbreaking projects through an in-depth creative process, for the past four decades. The annual Vanguard Awards will be presented during the evening to Sean Wang, writer and director of Dìdi, and Julian Brave NoiseCat and Emily Kassie, co-directors of Sugarcane, who premiered their films at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival.
The annual gala enables the nonprofit to raise funds to support independent artists year-round through labs, grants, and public programming that nurture artists from all over the world. The 2025 event is made possible with the generous support of Google TV. The Festival will take place from January 23–February 2, 2025, in person in Park City and Salt Lake City, with a selection of titles available online from January 30–February 2, 2025 for audiences across the country to discover bold independent storytelling.
“For over four decades Michelle has been devoted to truly championing independent storytellers,” said Amanda Kelso, acting CEO of Sundance Institute. “She has encouraged artists to own their voice, learn their craft, become fierce leaders, and develop their resilience in our changing ecosystem. Her life-long commitment to supporting artists, especially in underrepresented... Read More