NCAA REACHES DEAL WITH CBS/TURNER FOR MEN'S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT

The NCAA has reached a 14-year, multi-billion-dollar agreement with CBS and Turner Sports for the TV rights to an expanded Division I men's basketball tournament, according to multiple sources with knowledge of the negotiations.

The new-look tournament would start next year.

CBS in a press release confirmed a 12:30 ET teleconference to discuss a "future NCAA multi-media rights agreement."

The deal means interim NCAA President Jim Isch has decided to opt out of the final three years of the assocation's current 11-year, $6 billion contract with CBS. The new agreement would expand the men's tournament from 65 teams to anywhere from 68 to 96.

The NCAA has until July 31 to formally opt out of the existing CBS contract.

Terms of the anticipated new deal with CBS and Turner weren't immediately available, though they presumably would exceed the $710 million-per-year average due the NCAA in the final three years of the current agreement.

BRANDS THAT RECIEVED THE MOST ATTENTION MARCH MADNESS?

Who were the Dukes and Butlers of March Madness brand consumer perception this year? YouGov's BrandIndex report examined the buzz scores of men 18-34 of all the corporate sponsors of the NCAA Men's Division Basketball Championship, from tip-off on March 18 to the final buzzer on April 5. Here are the brands that took the biggest jump.

The Brandweek Buzz Report by YouGov is a weekly consumer perception report that analyzes the most talked about brands based on buzz: The scores are based on weighing positive and negative perceptions of a brand. A +100 score is positive, a -100 score is negative, and a rating of zero means that the score is neutral.

YouGov interviews 5,000 people each weekday from a representative U.S. population sample. Respondents are drawn from an online panel of 1.5 million individuals.

The report spotlights:

• Toyota

• Lowe's

• State Farm

Toyota Gets a Jump Start

General Motors may have cut its March Madness support by half, but Toyota has not skipped a marketing beat and it’s lifting the company's reputation. Still traveling through the depths of negative perception, Toyota slowly moved upwards over the tournament’s duration from a buzz score of -53 to -37.4. One of the "Sweet 16" games was held at Houston’s Toyota Center, ensuring the brand name resonated with consumers and the media. In fact, Toyota had the most improved buzz score overall for the month of March when it comes to adults over 18.

MERCEDES BENZ, MICROSOFT RUN ADS VIA CBS SPORTS’ NCAA MARCH MADNESS APPS

During the best time of year for college basketball fans, Mercedes Benz is sponsoring the CBS Sports BlackBerry application while Microsoft is advertising within one of the television network’s new iPhone applications.

CBS Sports Mobile, in partnership with CBSSports.com, CBS Sports and the NCAA, has launched new mobile products for the 2010 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship. Following up on last year's NCAA March Madness on Demand (MMOD) application, CBS is distributing both a premium, live-video application for $9.99 and a free "lite" version that is ad-supported, both for Apple’s iPhone and iPod touch.

“The lite version of NCAA MMOD is ad-supported, and Microsoft is our partner that will be serving ads as part of a cross-channel campaign,” said Rob Gelick, senior vice president and general manager at CBS Mobile, San Francisco, CA. “Rich-media ad units are integrated, including full page ads, both interstitials and launch screens.

“We’re offering a number of expandable ad units that start as banners and expand, and they’re actionable, because users can tap to visit a brand’s microsite,” he said. “We also have a CBS Sports-branded application for the BlackBerry covering the college basketball content for the tournament itself in partnership with Mercedes-Benz.

“There is also the core all-sports offering that is already out there, the CBS Sports iPhone app, which also has NCAA tournament coverage, and Audi is advertising within that.”

Microsoft advertised within the free lite version of CBS Sports' NCAA MMOD app

CBS Interactive, a division of CBS Corp., is an online content network for information and entertainment.

With 200 million people visiting its properties each month, it is a top 10 Web property globally and a top five Web property in the U.S. in terms of unique video viewers.

The company's portfolio of leading brands, which include CNET, CBS.com, CBSSports.com, GameSpot, TV.com, BNET, CBS Radio and Last.fm, span categories such as technology, entertainment, sports, news and business.

The premium version of CBS Sports' NCAA MMOD features live streaming mobile video of the NCAA tournament

The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a membership-led nonprofit association of colleges and universities committed to supporting academic and athletic opportunities for more than 400,000 student-athletes at more than 1,000 member colleges and universities.

Ad campaigns

In the instance of Mercedes Benz and Microsoft, the ads click through to the companies’ mobile-optimized Web sites, which contain both video and photographic gallery elements that let users interact with various products that these brands offer.

With Microsoft, the company's microsite opens within the iPhone application.

With the BlackBerry applications, the Mercedes-Benz microsite opens within a newly launched mobile Web browser.

In both cases, the user who is on the microsite can easily get back to the full application experience, according to CBS.

Mobile madness

The NCAA March Madness on Demand (MMOD) premium application offers live streaming video and video highlights of the 2010 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship, a.k.a. the Big Dance.

The premium application has a one-time download fee of $9.99.

Coverage begins with the NCAA Basketball Championship Selection Show on March 14 and continues with every game from the first round of the tournament through the semifinals and championship of the Men's Final Four.

New this year, in collaboration with AT&T, the live video will be delivered over 3G, EDGE and Wi-Fi connections.

Premium application users can also receive score alerts and listen to live game radio broadcasts from Westwood One throughout the entire tournament, starting with the Opening Round game on March 16.

In addition to the premium application, CBS Sports Mobile has also produced a free, "lite" version that is the perfect companion for any March Madness fan, which has Microsoft as the launch sponsor.

Microsoft is running expandable banner ads within the application promoting Windows 7 with the tagline “Simplify your PC. Fast.”

When users tap the banner, a landing page opens within the application and a seven-second Windows 7 demonstration video plays.

The lite application provides on-demand video highlights from every game, live scores and comprehensive news coverage of both the 2010 conference tournaments and NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship.

Both the free and premium NCAA MMOD applications feature an interactive tournament bracket that updates with real-time scores, plus news headlines and the ability for users to log into Facebook and Twitter and connect with their friends.

Fans can follow the Road to the Final Four with exclusive CBSSports.com Edge Matchup game previews, including team breakdowns and matchup comparisons.

Users can also make their CBSSports.com bracket selections directly from the application, and track their progress throughout the 2010 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship.

Developed by CBS Sports Mobile with partner MLB Advanced Media, both the NCAA March Madness on Demand applications are now available from Apple's App Store on iPhone and iPod touch at http://www.itunes.com/appstore.

NCAA March Madness on Demand's standard video player launched on March 10 with historical highlights from past NCAA tournaments and is available at http://mmod.ncaa.com, as well as via MMOD links on CBSSports.com.

The NCAA March Madness on Demand application for iPhone and iPod touch users will expire at the end of the 2010 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship, on April 5, 2010.

Feeling the Flo

CBS Mobile is also offering live video of the 2010 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship, through the CBS Mobile Channel on Flo TV.

AT&T subscribers of the Flo TV service can watch live video of 63 games from the 2010 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship, from the first round of the tournament through the semifinals and championship of the Men's Final Four.

The Flo TV service is currently available through AT&T, the exclusive wireless partner of the NCAA, and other wireless providers to more than 200 million consumers across more than 100 markets.

The Flo TV service can be viewed on several handsets from LG, the official mobile device of the NCAA and other manufacturers.

Spreading the word

While CBS expects that word of mouth is helping its applications spread virally, the company is also running a marketing campaign to actively drive downloads of its applications.

“The CBS Mobile group’s perspective is active outreach, and we’re heavily working with our own internal network, a number of different brands and 40-plus applications that we actively manage, using inventory across all of our properties to promote the apps,” Mr. Gelick said.

“The GameSpot iPhone app and the TV.com iPhone app are two primary places you’ll see it,” he said. “We’re also working with select external partners to run CPC ad units, display ad units, custom video ad units and a paid search campaign with select mobile keywords.”