• Multichannel News, Monday, March 16, 2009 9:30 AM

With the NCAA Men's Division Basketball Tournament, known as "March Madness," rights-holder CBS has gone a little mad. The network is offering the tournament's 63 games on more screens and in more formats than ever before.

It is extending its traditional TV and radio game coverage to tourney highlights on CBS College Sports Network and out-of-market pay-per-view packages in HD on DirecTV. An on-demand "highlights and memories" package is accessible to video customers from 20 distributors. There are also mobile offerings on iPhone and iPod, plus AT&T and Verizon Wireless video products.

By offering varied means to the Madness, Sean McManus, CBS Sports president, believes his network can capitalize on the current demand for heroics. "With the tough economic times, I think Americans are ready to jump up out of their chairs and cheer for something," he says. And perhaps more importantly, there are now "myriad new ways that we're can maximize revenue," he says.

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