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.”
Oscar Nominees Delve Into The Art Of Editing At ACE Session
You couldn’t miss Sean Baker at this past Sunday’s Oscar ceremony where he won for Best Picture, Directing, Original Screenplay and Editing on the strength of Anora. However, earlier that weekend he was in transit from the Cesar Awards in Paris and thus couldn’t attend the American Cinema Editors (ACE) 25th annual panel of Academy Award-nominated film editors held at the Regal LA Live Auditorium on Saturday (3/1) in Los Angeles. While the eventual Oscar winner in the editing category was missed by those who turned out for the ACE “Invisible Art, Visible Artists” session, three of Baker’s fellow nominees were on hand--Dávid Jancsó, HSE for The Brutalist; Nick Emerson for Conclave; and Myron Kerstein, ACE for Wicked. Additionally, Juliette Welfling, who couldn’t appear in person due to the Cesar Awards, was present via an earlier recorded video interview to discuss her work on Emilia Pérez. The interview was conducted by ACE president and editor Sabrina Plisco, ACE who also moderated the live panel discussion. Kerstein said that he was the beneficiary of brilliant and generous collaborators, citing, among others, director Jon M. Chu, cinematographer Alice Brooks, and visual effects supervisor Pablo Helman. The editor added it always helps to have stellar acting performances, noting that hearing Cynthia Erivo, for example, sing live was a revelation. Kerstein recalled meeting Chu some eight years ago on a “blind Skype date” and it was an instant “bromance”--which began on Crazy Rich Asians, and then continued on such projects as the streaming series Home Before Dark and the feature In The Heights. Kerstein observed that Chu is expert in providing collaborators with... Read More