March Madness: How the NCAA Viewing Experience is Evolving

As we sit here on the eve of March Madness, I wanted to reflect at just how far the viewing experience has come, so quickly. Television networks like CBS don't get much accolades for evolving with technology. But the NCAA Tournament is proof that things really are advancing at a rapid clip.

CBS Announced that this year we will be able to watch the NCAA Tournament via a 3G iPhone App. (link here) At a cost of $9.99, this will revolutionize the viewing experience for many of us.



What does this mean?

Well, first of all, you now will have full access to every game on your iPhone. Seriously. As in you can watch every close finish, every buzzer beater, every moment of your team. That's amazing. I'll write more about this once I've actually been able to experience it but in reality that degree of access & control is pretty revolutionary.

Just last year, CBS allowed you to watch the games on your iPhone. But that required you to be connected to a wireless network. So you could go to your favorite wifi hot spot and catch the games. Nice, but limiting. This year, you can go anywhere you get a signal.

Two years ago, in the 2008 tournament, CBS unveiled March Madness on Demand. That service let you watch all the games from the comfort of your laptop. That was pretty insane. I remember how blown away I was that year. Oh how little I knew!

Before this, I remember the DirecTV NCAA Tournament package. I believe the year was around 2000, when we were first able to watch all of the NCAA games, from the comfort of our own living rooms. No longer were we forced to travel to a sports bar if we didn't want to watch the game for our local market.

I take us on this journey so we both can smile at where we are now, and look to the future.

Where could this be going? Here are a couple ways I think we could see an even more insane look at the tournament...

1. Multiple camera views. MLB introduced this in their World Series app last winter. You can choose the camera angle you want and get access to their live audio feed.
2. Custom audio. Rather than simply have the CBS announcers, we could be given the ability to choose either the underdog or the favorite in our audio feed. This is similar to what the NBA currently does in their iPhone app.
3. Access. What if we could actually get (perhaps on a tape delay if need be) a look into the pre-game, half time, and post-game speeches in the locker rooms? How insane would that be?
4. Real time participation with peers. I'd love to see this built in. Imagine if it's a time out, tie score, with 30 seconds left. Could CBS build in real-time polling with those who are in to see the opinions on what play should be drawn up?
5. Real-time expectations: Who will win the game, tracked throughout the game in real time... I've always dug the Fox NFL coverage where announcers choose who will win in pre game and half time. But why not open this up?

No doubt things will get even better. It's amazing how innovative CBS has become, and I look forward to next season already!!!

Game time is tomorrow!!!