The final numbers are in for "March Madness on Demand," and to the surprise of no one it was a huge, record-breaking hit.
Click below for the full news release because I'm too lazy to rewrite it in more digestible form.
Mario Chalmers was born in Anchorage about a year-and-a-half after I moved away.
My first assignment for the Anchorage Times was to stop in Las Vegas en route from East Northport to Anchorage to cover a high school tournament in December of 1982.
East High was the big Anchorage powerhouse at that time. Chalmers went to Bartlett High.
But I digress.
From March 20th (opening day of the First Round) through April 7th (Championship game) there were 4,759,306 total unique visitors to the NCAA March Madness on Demand video player.
By comparison, in 2007, from March 15th (opening day of the First Round) through April 2nd (Championship game) there were 1,800,383 total unique visitors* to the NCAA March Madness on Demand video player.
Total hours of live streaming video and audio consumed from March 20th (opening day of the First Round) through April 7th (Championship game): 4,925,566 total hours (295,533,960 minutes). 2007 total number of hours of live video and audio consumed were 2,716,236 hours* (162,974,160 minutes)
*NOTE: 2008 was the first year that NCAA March Madness on Demand gave users the ability to view all 63 games of the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship. Previously, NCAA March Madness on Demand provided live video of 56 games from the first round through the regional semifinals (Sweet 16), with local broadcasts being subject to blackout. In 2008 there were 4,003,241 total unique visitors to the NCAA March Madness on Demand video player through March 28th (conclusion of Sweet 16) compared 1,701,532 total unique visitors during that same time period in 2007 (135% year-over-year growth). Additionally, in 2008 there were 4,294,400 total hours (257,664,000 minutes) of live streaming video and audio consumed through March 28th (conclusion of Sweet 16) compared with 2,716,236 hours (162,974,160 minutes) over that same time period in 2007 (58% year-over-year growth).
Other NCAA March Madness on Demand figures:
571,297 VIP registrants (2007 figure was 468,720 - 22% growth)
2,534,988 clicks of the "Boss Button" (figure not available for 2007)
Nearly 3.7 million fans participated in CBSSports.com bracket games across the web, including the largest bracket application on Facebook. The total number CBSSports.com brackets participants in 2008 was up 65% from 2007.
Comments (2)
HS Hoops in Anchorage in 1982???
Huh?
I was there and I don't even remember anything the least bit noteworthy about HS hoops in Anchorage in 1982.
How was your stopover in Las Vegas?
Sorry Neil but this just might be the leader for inane digression of the month. (And I know A LITTLE BIT about inane digressions).
I would spend 45 minutes a night dictating my longhand game stories to editor J.R. Baldwin back in Anchorage . . . on a collect call!