Broadcasting the NCAAs

[Bluedog]

Really, who was the doofus who decided to have the games involving two teams, Duke & NC State, who share the same TV market should tip-off less than an hour & a half apart???

Duke is really a national draw - although people in the Raleigh-Durham area certainly have a higher concentration of Duke fans than other places, it's not like NC State where the network relies more heavily on those individuals to watch the game. I'm sure there are more people interested in watching the Duke game in NYC than RD.

[subzero02]

I think the point of putting the games on the 4 networks was to avoid the switching to other games. There is no need for CBS to switch to a closer game when it is already being broadcast on another channel. They may give you a live look in or something, but for the most part, they will show all the games in their entirety.

In an ideal world they would do this but since CBS is the "base channel" I think they have dropped blowouts in the past for more competitive games($$$)... If the game were a blowout on one of the subchannels( spike or trutv) they would be much less likely to switch and might have the policy of not switching at all

[UrinalCake]

Not sure if this has been mentioned already, but last year CBS charged $5 to watch the games online if you don't also have a cable TV subscription with your ISP. It was a horrendously complicated pricing structure that made little sense. I assume they'll do the same this year. Still, five bucks is not a bad deal to get all of the games, including mobile access.

[NashvilleDevil]

Not sure if this has been mentioned already, but last year CBS charged $5 to watch the games online if you don't also have a cable TV subscription with your ISP. It was a horrendously complicated pricing structure that made little sense. I assume they'll do the same this year. Still, five bucks is not a bad deal to get all of the games, including mobile access.

This year to watch games on the apps for tablets and phones you have to have your login for your cable provider.

[UrinalCake]

This year to watch games on the apps for tablets and phones you have to have your login for your cable provider.

Wow, it looks like they are not offering ANY online access at all to non-TV subscribers, either via mobile or desktop. I guess the cable companies want them to put pressure on people to pay for cable TV. What a ripoff.

http://www.ncaa.com/march-madness-live/help

[NashvilleDevil]

Wow, it looks like they are not offering ANY online access at all to non-TV subscribers, either via mobile or desktop. I guess the cable companies want them to put pressure on people to pay for cable TV. What a ripoff.

http://www.ncaa.com/march-madness-live/help

Cable trying to hold on. I believe more and more people are doing away with cable and there are other ways to access the games on your computer. Honestly I would pay $20 for the app to watch the games. They should just keep raising the price of the app.

[TNDukeFan]

Cable trying to hold on. I believe more and more people are doing away with cable and there are other ways to access the games on your computer. Honestly I would pay $20 for the app to watch the games. They should just keep raising the price of the app.

I think -- think -- that according to the link, the CBS feed will be free even without cable. For any other station's feed, you have four hours free, then you're out of luck if you don't have cable. So you could save your four hours for Duke games, and for the rest, it'll be like the old days when we were stuck with whatever CBS decided to show.

Of course, then there's a new problem once Duke gets to the Sweet Sixteen...

[TNDukeFan]

I think -- think -- that according to the link, the CBS feed will be free even without cable. For any other station's feed, you have four hours free, then you're out of luck if you don't have cable. So you could save your four hours for Duke games, and for the rest, it'll be like the old days when we were stuck with whatever CBS decided to show.

Of course, then there's a new problem once Duke gets to the Sweet Sixteen...

Just thought I'd follow up. I spent some time Googling and surfing and I think what I said above is true. CBS will stream what they're showing without asking for authentication. The other channels, not so much. Other than four free hours, you'll need cable or a pirated stream.

To quote one of many articles -

"For the first time, March Madness is going to require authentication for any game that’s shown on cable. This means that you’ll have to log in with your cable TV subscription account if the game you want to watch is airing on TBS, TNT or truTV. Games that are available on CBS will still be available without logging in."

[nocilla]

In an ideal world they would do this but since CBS is the "base channel" I think they have dropped blowouts in the past for more competitive games($$$)... If the game were a blowout on one of the subchannels( spike or trutv) they would be much less likely to switch and might have the policy of not switching at all

Well last year was the first year of them using 4 channels, so most of the past doesn't apply. I only get the local CBS and I seem to remember them not switching to a more competitive game last year when I wanted them to. The purpose of the 4 channels is to show all the games in their entirety.

[HaveFunExpectToWin]

Just thought I'd follow up. I spent some time Googling and surfing and I think what I said above is true. CBS will stream what they're showing without asking for authentication. The other channels, not so much. Other than four free hours, you'll need cable or a pirated stream.

To quote one of many articles -

"For the first time, March Madness is going to require authentication for any game that’s shown on cable. This means that you’ll have to log in with your cable TV subscription account if the game you want to watch is airing on TBS, TNT or truTV. Games that are available on CBS will still be available without logging in."

The pricing model makes sense. You can get your CBS over the air for free, but you have to pay to watch a cable network. Why shoud the app be any different?

I'm now just trying to figure out if I take a long lunch or go ahead with a half day vacation on Friday.