As it has in previous years, the NCAA division I men's basketball tournament -- also known as March Madness -- will be streamed both online and to iPhones and iPads. Unlike previous years, iPad and iPhone users will need to pay a $3.99 to watch the Big Dance. CBS and Turner are sharing the NCAA broadcast duties across four television stations. Here's how it breaks down:
Mac users will be able to watch all the CBS-broadcast games for free on CBSSports.com. Games aired on TBS, TNT and TruTV will be available to authenticated watchers of certain pay-tv providers.
For iPad and iPhone viewers, everyone will be required to pay a $3.99 fee to watch the entire tournament. That fee covers all devices, so no mucking about with authentication to watch tournament games on the Mac. Once the fee is paid, all 67 games will be streamable on iOS via Wi-Fi or 3G.
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NCAA(r) March Madness(r) Live will offer higher quality live video streams across platforms; video highlights for every game of the Tournament on the iPhone and Android phones; live game alerts for Android phones, as well as iPhones and iPads; an updated design; and live radio broadcast courtesy of Westwood One/Dial Global Radio Network, for all 67 games across the suite of digital products. In addition to the new offerings, NCAA(r) March Madness(r) Live will again provide the same fan-favorite features from last year including: schedules and live game scoring, live tournament brackets, personal channel lineup features, live stats, and live social companion views.
The NCAA March Madness apps for iPhone and iPad will go live on March 7, in time for the tournament to begin on March 13. Sign up on the NCAA's March Madness website to be notified when the apps go live.
Top Rated Comments
(View all)$3.99! That sucks. Not this year...
Dude you would be paying $.06 a game, how is that not a deal
I have no issue with the $4, I just think this will be a test to eventually charge $19.95 in the coming years.
Zero new features worth $4.
I think being able to watch the 67 games of the 2012 tournament qualifies as a "new feature", and a ton of people are going to pay it.Reminds me of this... http://theoatmeal.com/blog/apps
Paying for ads? That went out with my cable subscription two years ago...(don't worry macrumors.com I sometimes give yours a click ;) - but I choose)
It's not like college kids are paid to play anyway:confused:
I'd probably pay $9.99 for the app, if it has Airplay I'd be willing to pay $14.99. The thing is at $10, $15, or $20 it is no longer an impulse buy for me, and I'll think about if I really, really "need" it. At $5, it is an impulse buy and whether I watch games all weekend long on it or two games the entire tourney I feel like I got my monies worth.
AirPlay support would certainly influence my decision. That's a very good point, it's also a feature absent from last years version.
I guess part of me feels hesitant about CBS, too. I remember watching several games last year that froze up or switched to "Audio Only" at crucial moments in a game. No big deal, cause it was free but if I'd paid for it? I'd have been soooo ticked. Anybody who plays Fantasy Football with CBS knows how crappy their app was for that this season. It was virtually unusable.