Sane "Madness"
By Robert Goldrich
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.”
TikTok and the U.S. Face Off In Court Over Law That Could Lead To A Ban Of The Popular Platform
TikTok faced off with the U.S. government in federal court on Monday, arguing a law that could ban the platform in a few short months was unconstitutional while the Justice Department said the measure is critical to eliminate a national security risk posed by the popular social media company.
Attorneys for the two sides - and content creators - appeared before a panel of three judges at a federal appeals court in Washington, where TikTok and its China-based parent company, ByteDance, are challenging the law that is forcing them to break ties by mid-January or lose one of their biggest markets in the world.
Andrew Pincus, a veteran attorney representing the two companies, argued in court that the law unfairly targets the company and runs afoul of the First Amendment because TikTok Inc. - the U.S. arm of TikTok - is an American entity. Another attorney representing creators who are also challenging the law also argued it violates the rights of U.S. speakers and is akin to prohibiting Americans from publishing on foreign-owned media outlets, such as Politico, Al Jazeera or Spotify.
"The law before this court is unprecedented and its effect would be staggering," Pincus said, adding the act would impose speech limitations based on future risks.
The law, signed by President Joe Biden in April, was the culmination of a years-long saga in Washington over the short-form video-sharing app, which the government sees as a national security threat due to its connections to China.
The U.S. has said it's concerned about TikTok collecting vast swaths of user data, including sensitive information on viewing habits, that could fall into the hands of the Chinese government through coercion. The U.S. also says the proprietary algorithm that fuels... Read More