march madness
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Cox, Verizon adding TruTV HD in time for the NCAA Basketball Tournament
The good news is, all of the March Madness basketball games will be viewable in HD, the bad news is some of them will be relegated to TruTV HD. If you're like us, you may not have even known that channel existed (unless of course you, like our podcast guest Chris Ziegler, are a fan of reality TV) but a few more of you will have access now that it's been added to Cox and Verizon FiOS channel lineups. Check out the press release after the break for more details on where to catch it, or check out HDSportsGuide for info on how to find the channel on other providers.
CBS & Turner Sports are streaming all the March Madness games to PCs, iPhones & iPads for free
Every year CBS has enhanced its March Madness On Demand experience, from HD VOD on cable boxes to HD streaming on PCs before adding PiP and paid mobile access last year. For 2011, a new deal has brought in Turner Sports to not only provide enough channels to air all the games in high definition (we figure you'll find CBS, TNT and TBS on the channel guide with no problem, but with some of the games diverted to lesser known TruTV HD check the HDSportsGuide link below to see if it's in your area yet) but also expand the streaming experience by promising higher quality video, personalized channel lineup and social tie ins. If you're on the go, the mobile client for iOS devices (sorry, no Android or other mobile OSes) is free this year so you can keep that fiver in your pocket this time. There's another pic of the iPad client, a video trailer and all sorts of details waiting after the break, so click through to find out more or just wait for the free apps to hit iTunes March 10th.
March Madness to stream to the iPad and iPhone for free
CBS, Turner Sports and the NCAA announced this week that streaming content from the March Madness basketball tournament will be made available to iOS users for free. In the past, CBS has streamed the content for free over the internet and to iPhone owners via a paid application. Last year, the iPhone March Madness On demand application cost sport fans $10. An iPad version was not available as the iPad was not yet on sale. With the subsequent debut and explosion of the iPad, the trio of companies coordinating the March Madness broadcast have decided to extend their reach to Apple's popular tablet. They also dropped the $10 price tag and made the app available for free. The tournament will kick off March 15, and the iOS app will be made available soon (watch here for updates). I know I will be watching on my iPad, anyone going to join me?
CBS Sports March Madness app will stream your games live
I'm much more of a baseball fan (go Cubs!), but of course it is now March, and that means college basketball is about to heat up. CBS Sports has now released an official March Madness On Demand app, and just like the great MLB iPhone app, this one also offers streaming video on demand of 63 March Madness games. Video even comes over 3G and EDGE, so no matter where you are, you'll be able to keep up to date on what's happening in the big tournament. The app also offers scores and bracket updates (so you can see how your picks are playing out), as well as connections to Facebook and Twitter, so you can do a little trash-talking, too. There is a lite version that offers up just scores and news, but the US$9.99 premium version gives you live video of all the games, and/or audio broadcasts as they happen from Westwood One (and the press release says CBS worked in conjunction with MLB Advanced Media, so I'd guess the quality is pretty good). If you're planning on watching the tournament at all, and think you might spend at least a game or two away from the television, the app will probably be worth it. It's up for download right now on the App Store -- play ball! No wait. What do they say for basketball? Tip off?
CBS announces new PiP, stat overlay features for 2010 March Madness On Demand
The much loved (to the tune of 6.5 million hours of video or so streamed last year) March Madness On Demand Player on CBSSports.com is returning for 2010 with enough new features to make another run at the championship. Still powered by Microsoft's Silverlight for the high quality video stream (Adobe Flash for the low bandwidth version), this year viewers can also see picture-in-picture highlights of other games without leaving the one they're watching, and pull up stats in realtime over the video, including tourney and game leaders in various categories. If you're watching at work, CBS is also promising an improved "Boss button," but you'll have to wait for March 14 for that to be unveiled... and hope the folks you work with don't see it.
Blizzard vs. Relic Entertainment in The Escapist's March Mayhem
The good folks over at the Escapist are giving March Madness a little game developer spin -- they've pitted 64 different videogame developers up against each other in an NCAA Basketball-style showdown, with readers voting for which dev moves on to the next match. And our favorite developer, Activision-Blizzard, is still in the running after a few rounds: they've beaten Wideload Games and Crytek, and are currently facing Relic Entertainment (makers of the Dawn of War RTS series, as well as the classic Homeworld). Unfortunately, Escapist had to list them as "Activision-Blizzard," though what we're really voting for here is Blizzard, since companies who make Activision's other hits (like Infinity Ward, who make the best Call of Duty games, as well as Neversoft, who've overseen most of the Guitar Hero games lately) have their own places in the showdown.Blizzard's got a tough road ahead, though -- if they win, they're likely facing fan favorite Harmonix (heck, I love Harmonix), and then will probably show down against either Bioware or Rockstar, both extremely popular developers. The other side of the bracket will likely have heavyweights like Nintendo and Valve coming out of it, too, so it'll be a tough road if Blizzard wants to make it to the top.To vote, you just have to head over to The Escapist's forums -- the next round starts tomorrow morning, and every few days they're moving the developers on to the next matchup. The final round will be decided on April 8th, and while of course winning means nothing at all, this is a nice chance to show off your developer pride. Say what you want about the recent class changes, but Blizzard has given you Starcraft, Diablo, and World of Warcraft -- how can you not vote for them?
AT&T adding four temporary Mobile TV channels to show every March Madness game
It turns out that MediaFLO's US network might not be as close to operating capacity as we'd thought, because AT&T wants to bring you live broadcasts of every single game of the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship this month on its Mobile TV system -- and in order to do so, "up to four additional seasonal channels" will spring out of thin air to pick up the load. For non-basketball lovers, it's great news because no other programming will be killed off to accommodate it, and for basketball lovers, it's good news because... well, it's a lot of basketball we're talking about here. The special channels should spring to life on March 19 when the first round of the tournament kicks off.
NCAA Basketball 09: March Madness Edition coming to XBLA
If you're like many of us on staff, you don't get interested in college basketball until the tail end of the season, when we get the opportunity to play in an office pool and willingly give our money to the ones who have been paying attention. This year, that entry fee might be better spent on EA's NCAA Basketball 09: March Madness Edition, which takes the full version of EA's hoops game and pares it down to just 65 teams and the tourney.While it does preclude our annual NCAA Basketball tradition of leading St. Zeppo's Clown College to virtual glory, at least this scaled-down title is available for a very attractive 1200 ($15). Look for it on Xbox Live -- and only Xbox Live -- right around the beginning of the March 19 madness.
Microsoft's Silverlight to deliver NCAA March Madness on Demand in HD
Fantastic news, cube dwellers -- you can finally put that office T1 to use this year, as CBSSports.com has inked an agreement with Microsoft that will enable it to provide a 1.5 megabits per second stream of March Madness. In other words, you'll be able to watch the 64 most deserved teams scrap it out online in HD for that all important National Championship. Employers, hear this: just go ahead and give your folks a few days off. It's not like they'll be even remotely productive with MMoD coming at 'em in high-def.[Via ZatzNotFunny]
March Madness to drum up demand for nearly one million HDTVs
Sure, this year's Super Bowl was said to be responsible for some two million HDTV purchases, but driving another million just a month later isn't anything to sneeze at. According to a new release from the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA), the 2008 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament "will help inspire the purchase of nearly 1 million HDTVs (934,000), which represents slightly more than $1 billion in retail sales." Beyond that, the data also found that over half of existing HDTV-owning sports fans would end up turning their attention to the internet in order to fetch highlights and statistics. Of course, it also discovered that the amount of fans viewing whole games online is on the rise, and considering that The Man will likely have you right where he wants you tomorrow (read: nowhere near a TV), we don't find that surprising at all.
Time Warner Cable signs up for March Madness VOD
Following Comcast's footsteps, Time Warner Cable has just made it official: it will also be offering its subscribers CBS Sports' March Madness on demand content free of charge. In case you weren't already aware, this will allow customers to access game highlights and historical NCAA March Madness vignettes via video-on-demand, but unfortunately, only users in North Texas will see said programming in high-definition. Now, more than ever, the rest of the TWC nation could really use HD VOD, eh? [Disclosure: Engadget is part of the Time Warner family]
Phoenix's KPHO multicasting NCAA Men's Tournament over-the-air
Granted, many CBS affiliates -- Raleigh's WRAL and Indianapolis' WISH, just to name a couple -- have been multicasting the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament OTA for years now, but after seeing a breakdown of the schedule over at KPHO, we felt it prudent to remind sports fanatics that busting out the antenna may not be such a bad idea tomorrow. Phoenix -- which just had seven HD channels flipped on by Cox -- is one area in which the local CBS affiliate is multicasting every remaining March Madness game on its array of digital OTA channels, and five other carriers in the heart of Arizona are also providing ways to see every matchup. Granted, we doubt each of these will be seen everywhere in high-def, but feel free to check with your local CBS affiliate to see if you'll be left out of any of the Madness.[Thanks, Steven]
March Madness queues up HDTV / projector rentals
Buy a new HDTV / projector for the big game(s)? Pssh. Why do that when you can just rent your way to impressing those fair-weather friends of yours? Hot on the heels of Selection Sunday comes fresh PR from Projector123, which is hopping on the rental bandwagon in hopes that jazzed up fans will want something more than they've got right now in order to enjoy the upcoming March Madness. Best of all, the bulk of these games will be broadcast in HD over the air, so picking up an HDTV with a built-in tuner or a projector with a standalone tuner would enable you to catch most of the action without forking out for HD service (or going into debt for a swank new display). 'Course, we'd suggest putting the cash you'd spend on a rental into an entirely new set -- after all, how will you honestly ever look at that 19-inch CRT after watching the Final Four on an 82-inch projection screen?
DirecTV's Mega March Madness to be entirely in HD
Not like it really needed to be said or anything, but DirecTV's looking to keep NCAA basketball fans glued to their sets once again this year with its exclusive Mega March Madness package. What's notable, however, is that all 37 games included in the package will be aired in high-definition this year with access to scores and statistics via the interactive, on-screen L-wrap, and of course, you'll also have access to a Game Mix channel (four broadcasts shown at once) and an on-screen tournament bracket. Start saving up that $69 now -- the madness starts on March 20th.
Hyatt Place bringing March Madness to traveling fans
For those who have already shed tears seeing that their upcoming business trip will take them away from their home during March Madness, we've excellent news. If there just so happens to be a Hyatt Place -- which is known for keeping sports fan on-the-go in the loop -- wherever you're headed, you (probably) won't miss a minute of the always unpredictable action. Announced today, college hoops fans staying at over 90 select hotels from March 20th - 23rd and 27th - 28th can book the March Basketball Package, which will give them a one-day subscription to DirecTV's Mega March Madness, early check-in on game day and a game-day snack pack including a pizza and drinks. Better still, the complimentary WiFi will enable you to stay connected to real-time stats, but we know your eyes aren't going to glance away from the 42-inch HDTV for long.
Comcast to offer up NCAA March Madness, more films on HD VOD
Comcast isn't messing around with its HD VOD initiative, as just a under a month after it promised to deliver a slew of upcoming films to its on-demand library the same day they arrived on DVD, the cable company is hitting back with even more goodness for March. As expected, Comcast will be offering up NCAA March Madness Memories and Highlights via HD VOD, and if that wasn't enough, you can also catch sport-themed movie highlights this month as well. For those not exactly into hoops, you can check out Nancy Drew and August Rush at your convenience on March 11th, and your kids will certainly dig the exclusive HD replay of Nickelodeon's Kids' Choice Awards on March 30th. For the full rundown on Comcast's March HD VOD plans, check out the release waiting after the jump.
Bring it: CBS to offer March Madness HD VOD
Not to be outdone by the ACC's deal with Raycom and ESPN, CBS has announced that it's teaming up with cable co's to bring viewers HD VOD (video on demand) segments from the NCAA Division 1 Men's Basketball Tournament (aka March Madness). Right out of the blocks from round 1, the CBS College Sports Network will assemble highlight reels from 63 tournament games, daily tournament recaps and historical pieces. Comcast and Bresnan are the first to carry this programming, but we're seriously hoping that this catches on with a lot more carriers real quick-like. Price to get these VOD segments: free. Watching your friends' brackets go up in smoke, HD-style: priceless.
HDTV Listings for March 23, 2007
What we're watching: The NCAA Tournament marches on, but we're most interested to Six Degrees see back on ABC.Our traditional high definition listings continue below.
HDTV Listings for March 22, 2007
What we're watching: March Madness is here, the Sweet Sixteen is on CBS tonight and your favorite team should always be in HD. An Inconvenient Truth is also on Showtime tonight, but we can always wait until the day after tomorrow to learn about global warming.Our traditional high definition listings continue below.
Want to see your local team's tourney game in HD? Not this week
Despite many commenters complaining about extended SD-only periods of NCAA Tournament action, we've gotten a lot of HD action on our CBS feed. As it turns out, the home team (University of Michigan) being NIT-bound might have guaranteed us more HDTV action than say, North Carolina residents. A CBS spokeswoman explained to The Mercury News that a lack of capacity causes the network to ensure the local market gets its preferred game, by only sending an SD feed. Otherwise, you'll get a "flex" feed, that switches to the best action, and in high definition. Next week, once some teams have been eliminated, there will be enough capacity to get every game, to every market in HD. CBS says it's "likely" their capabilities will change for next year, but if they don't, HDTV owners might be rooting against their alma mater next winter.
