*CBS* Sports will keep the NCAA mens’ basketball championships in its lineup with a deal that marks the end of an era on the air and online. CBS (NYSE: CBS) and new partner Turner Broadcasting will pay the NCAA $10.8 billion over the course of a 14-year deal that starts…

The final March Madness stats are in for CBS (NYSE: CBS), CBBSports.com and the NCAA. As is usually the case, the bulk of the viewing—roughly 75 percent—happens in the first round and drops off from there as the field narrows. I’m still parsing the numbers but here are a few…

The number of upsets kept me checking in through the first two rounds and it looks like the same was true for other March Madness followers: NCAA March Madness on Demand has already outpaced 2009 multimedia delivery by 35 percent, with more than 8.7 million hours of streaming live video…

Initial stats are in for NCAA March Madness on Demand and it looks like CBSSports.com will be able to declare victory again (unlike fans of Georgetown or Vanderbilt). Unlike NBC Universal (NYSE: GE) and the Olympics, CBS (NYSE: CBS) goes for maximum exposure online—offering full, free access to all 63…

Palm (NSDQ: PALM) is finally ditching their creepy ad campaign in favor of something more hip that demonstrates the capabilities of its new WebOS devices. The new commercials, which will hopefully reinvigorate lagging sales, are set to run during March Madness later this week. The ads much more closely resemble…

No need to duck out of work early, now you can watch March Madness games live over your iPhone, and for the first time—anywhere over AT&T’s 3G network. The application, which is expected to be available Monday on iTunes, will cost $9.99—twice as much as last year’s version that was…

It didn’t take long for *CBS* to issue a statement after Time Warner (NYSE: TWX) and Comcast (NSDQ: CMCSA) announced the upcoming national trial of TV Everywhere, expressing interest in anything “to help extend our business in such a way that is open and non-exclusive; consumer friendly; and responsible to…

CBS (NYSE: CBS) has the rights to two of the next five Super Bowls but the network that offers up every minute of March Madness live online has some decisions to make about how to handle that other iconic sporting event. Oh, and the NFL still holds the streaming rights.…

The final tally is in—CBSSports.com’s internal numbers show that 7.52 million unique visitors used the NCAA March Madness on Demand video player during the 2009 men’s basketball tournament, up 58 percent over the 4.76 million counted last year. Last year’s total was eclipsed at the end of the first four…

The second round of the NCAA Div. I Mens’ Basketball tournament is on its final games and, aided by increased cross-platform marketing, CBSSports.com has already broken last year’s streaming media totals for its March Madness on Demand video player. paidContent has obtained the numbers for the first three days: —4.8…

CBSSports.com’s Jason Kint told us the online numbers were well ahead of last year and now CBS (NYSE: CBS) has released the internal stats to back that up: NCAA March Madness On Demand drew more than 2.7 million unique users during the first day of the men’s basketball tournament, up…

*Google* is pretty open with content providers on YouTube—the one exception is that it requires them to use the YouTube player and hosting service, which limits its negotiating power with media companies that have existing deals with other tech providers. But NewTeeVee notes that Google (NSDQ: GOOG) has finally relented…

Updated with comments from CBS: This isn’t one of those days when I can drop everything just to watch basketball; then again, it isn’t just any basketball day. It’s the first games of the first round of the NCAA Men’s Div.1 Basketball tournament and after all the warm-up writing, it’s…

Turns out CBSSports.com isn’t offering all NCAA March Madness On Demand video for free this year. Online video remains completely ad supported but mobile is getting a new twist: a $4.99 iPhone/iTouch app with live streaming video and audio of all 63 games in the 2009 NCAA Division I Men’s…

Our own version of March Madness—post after post about making money/trying to make money off of college basketball. Today’s installment: the 30 percent increase CBSSports.com expects in ad revenues for NCAA March Madness On Demand. Last season, ad-supported MMOD included all of the games for the first time and revenue…

If it’s March, it’s madness. Between now and the NCAA Men’s Division I National Championship on April 6, fans will be served an all-you-can-eat, ad-supported buffet of college hoops online served up primarily by CBSSports.com and ESPN.com/ESPN360. The video philosophies couldn’t be more different: the Disney (NYSE: DIS) broadband sports…

—Hulu’s 2009 resolutions : Hulu’s plans for 2009 don’t include fundraising or downloads, CEO Jason Kilar told Mediapost. Instead, the NBCU-News Corp (NYSE: NWS) JV will focus on developing better video search and ad targeting technology, personalization features like recommendation apps, and global expansion. Why skip downloads? Kilar explains: “The…

The final stats are in for CBSSports.com’s most-open March Madness on Demand ... it’s hard to do perfect comps to previous years given the way the offering has evolved to include all the games this year, no online blackouts and social media outreach. Some of the numbers to be announced…

It took a little longer than expected but here are some updated March Madness on Demand stats for the first four days from CBSSports.com: Total hours of live streaming video & audio: 3,705,092 total hours. The 2007 total was 2,716,236 hours. Uniques: 3,318,844; the comparable number for 2007 was 1,448,546.…