• by Gavin O'Malley  @mp_gavin, February 28, 2006

CBS has lined up a host of blue-chip marketers to support streams of the March Madness basketball games, a spokesman told OnlineMediaDaily Monday.

Presenting sponsors will include Courtyard by Marriott and computer manufacturer Dell, while an additional 17 brands--including home renovation retailer Lowe's, car manufacturer Pontiac, and insurance company State Farm--will appear throughout the games, a CBS spokesman said. Live games streamed online will be interrupted by commercial breaks the same length as those that occur on television.

Last year, consumers who wanted to watch March Madness on the Web had to pay $19.99 to view the tournament. But this year, with online advertising surging, CBS is offering ad-supported streams of the games for free.

At least half of the advertisers on March Madness On Demand have bought both TV and online, said the spokesman. "That said, these deals were not necessarily bought unilaterally, via one package. Meaning, TV did their deal and we did ours," he said.

Beginning March 16--when the tournament kicks off--CBS SportsLine.com will produce the "out-of-market" games, so called because only games that are not being broadcast live on consumers' local television markets will be available to stream on NCAAsports.com. NCAA March Madness on Demand will feature the out-of-market games being played concurrently.

The deal required cooperation between CBS's television division, CBS Sports; CBS Digital's main sports property, CBS SportsLine.com; the college sports site CSTV, which CBS just agreed to acquire for $325 million; and obviously, the NCAA.

"This is our Live 8," CBS Digital President Larry Kramer told OnlineMediaDaily late last year, in reference to America Online's hugely successful streamed music event this past summer, seen by many as proof that broadband as a medium had achieved mass consumer acceptance. "We believe there will be huge viewership." Kramer added that ad revenue generated from the free offering should easily exceed that from subscriptions.

CBS and CSTV have worked together since 2004, when CSTV launched March Madness on Demand, allowing consumers to watch live CBS Sports NCAA Tournament broadcasts for the subscription $20 fee.

Tournament views can also expect various interactive features including polls, personalization tools, and scoreboards to keep track of several live games going on at once.