NCAA(R) March Madness(R) on Demand Traffic up 122%

NCAA(R) March Madness(R) on Demand Traffic up 122%

Total unique visitors through the first day eclipses unique visitors for entire tournament in 2007

One-click access to a network of more than 200 sites fuels explosive growth

FT. LAUDERDALE, Fla., March 21 /PRNewswire/ -- CBSSports.com, in partnership with CBS Sports, CBS College Sports Network and the NCAA, today released traffic figures for NCAA March Madness on Demand for the first day of the first round of the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship. In total, there were 1,751,956 unique visitors to the NCAA March Madness on Demand video player, a 122% increase over 2007 figures.

"Our decision to open up NCAA March Madness on Demand to other major sports, video and social networks across the web has not only proven a great formula for tremendous growth but also proves the mission of CBS Interactive to distribute our content in an open, non-exclusive manner using many great partners," said Jason Kint, Senior Vice President and General Manager, CBSSports.com. "Fans have clearly indicated that NCAA March Madness on Demand has become the most significant sports event online and, in turn a tremendous success story for our advertising partners that is complementary to the CBS Television Network."

2008 NCAA March Madness on Demand traffic figures through Thursday, March 20

-- 1,751,956 unique visitors to the NCAA March Madness on Demand video
player (2007 figure was 789,045 - 122% growth)
-- 571,297 VIP registrants (2007 figure was 468,720 - 22% growth)
-- 1,225,089 clicks of the "Boss Button" (figure not available for 2007)

A large factor in the year-over-year traffic escalation with NCAA March Madness on Demand is the decision CBSSports.com made to drop registration requirements for the product, giving fans immediate admission to the video player. This one-click access gives CBSSports.com the ability to distribute links to NCAA March Madness on Demand to a network of more than 200 sites across the Internet, including major sports websites such as ESPN.com, Yahoo! Sports and SI.com, leading social sites like Facebook, online video leader YouTube as well as the CBS Audience Network, including sites for CBS television and radio affiliates.

2008 marks the first time that NCAA March Madness on Demand gives users the ability to view all 63 games of the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship, from the first round of the tournament through the Men's Final Four(R) in San Antonio, including the Championship game. NCAA March Madness on Demand also gives users the option to listen to live play-by-play audio from Westwood One Radio for all games of the tournament.

Since its inception in 2003, NCAA March Madness on Demand has traditionally provided live video of 56 games from the first round through the regional semifinals of the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship as they are broadcast by CBS Sports, with local broadcasts being subject to blackouts.

Full game video and audio archives and highlight packages will be available on demand for all games of the tournament via the NCAA March Madness on Demand player. Additionally, highlight packages are available on the CBS Interactive Audience Network as well as YouTube. The NCAA March Madness on Demand player and archival footage are accessible through April 21.

Free access to 2008 NCAA March Madness on Demand is made possible by presenting sponsors and NCAA Corporate Champions AT&T, Coca-Cola, and Pontiac.

Click here to access the official logo for 2008 March Madness on Demand: http://images.sportsline.com/images/info/ir/press/2008/08MMODlogo.jpg

Click here to see a mockup of the 2008 March Madness on Demand video player: http://images.sportsline.com/images/info/ir/press/2008/08MMODplayer.jpg

CBSSports.com and CBS Sports production of NCAA March Madness on Demand was awarded an Emmy at the 59th Annual Technology & Engineering Emmy Awards on January 7th of this year for Outstanding Achievement in Advanced Media Technology for Synchronous Enhancement of Original Television Content For Interactive Use.

Availability of NCAA March Madness on Demand is subject to capacity restrictions. Certain terms and restrictions apply. Full terms at http://www.ncaasports.com/info/tos/mmod/

About CBSSports.com

CBSSports.com is at the leading edge of media companies providing Internet sports content, Fantasy sports and e-commerce. CBSSports.com is a member of the CBS family and a part of CBS Interactive. Formerly known as CBS SportsLine.com, in August of 2007 the company changed its name to CBSSports.com. The change marked the evolution of the company into a multi- platform brand offering premier broadcast, online and mobile sports content. The change to CBSSports.com gives advertisers the ability to associate with the CBS Sports brand and reach sports fans no matter where they are, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

For more information about CBSSports.com and for the latest sports news, scores and expert analysis, please visit cbssports.com.

More information about CBS and its businesses is available at www.cbscorporation.com.

About the NCAA

The NCAA is a membership-led nonprofit association of colleges and universities committed to supporting academic and athletics opportunities for more than 380,000 student-athletes at more than 1,000 member colleges and universities. Each year, more than 54,000 student-athletes compete in NCAA championships in Divisions I, II and III sports. Visit www.ncaa.org and www.ncaa.com for more details about the Association, its goals and members and corporate partnerships that help support programs for student-athletes.

The NCAA is proud to have the following elite companies as official Corporate Champions -- AT&T, Coca-Cola and Pontiac -- and the following elite companies as official Corporate Partners-DiGiorno, Enterprise, The Hartford, Lowe's, Sheraton and State Farm.

NCAA, Final Four, and March Madness are trademarks owned or licensed by the National Collegiate Athletic Association.

Source: CBSSports.com

CONTACT: LeslieAnne Wade of CBS Sports & CBS College Sports Network,
+1-212-975-5171, lwade@cbs.com; Shannon Jacobs of CBS Corporation,
+1-212-975-3161, sljacobs@cbs.com; Alex Riethmiller of CBSSports.com,
+1-954-489-4235, ariethmiller@cbs.com; Gail Dent of NCAA, +1-317-917-6119,
gdent@ncaa.org

Web site:

http://www.cbs.sportsline.com/
http://www.cbscorporation.com/
http://www.ncaa.com/
http://www.ncaa.org/
http://www.ncaasports.com/info/tos/mmod

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