NCAA March Madness Live App Available on Amazon Alexa Devices and Xbox for First Time
Turner’s iStreamPlanet to Provide Live Streaming Infrastructure for All Games on March Madness Live
Enhanced Experience to Include New Interactive Bracket via Apple TV
NCAA March Madness Live – the exclusive live streaming suite of products developed by Turner Sports in partnership with CBS and the NCAA– will provide fans with live streaming coverage for the 2017 NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship through immersive content that extends to a record 15 platforms this year. NCAA March Madness Live will now be available through Amazon Alexa devices and Xbox. Additionally, NCAA March Madness Live will offer fans an enhanced experience with redesigned desktop features, enriched real-time notifications and more.
For the first time, Turner’s iStreamPlanet will provide the live streaming infrastructure for all games made available through NCAA March Madness Live. iStreamPlanet is an industry leader in live video streaming with more than 15 years of experience and a history of supporting live sporting events.
The NCAA March Madness Live App will be available Saturday, March 11 – leading up to Selection Sunday – via www.ncaa.com/marchmadness, www.bleacherreport.com, www.CBSSports.com, Bleacher Report’s Team Stream App, CBS Sports App, Amazon Alexa devices, the App Store, Roku Channel Store, Windows Store and Google Play.
New NCAA March Madness Live Features:
- § New Platforms – NCAA March Madness Live has expanded to 15 platforms including the Amazon Alexa devices and Xbox for the first time, as well as desktop, Amazon Fire tablets, Amazon Fire TV, iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, Apple Watch, Android handset, Android tablet, Chromecast, Windows 10 mobile and desktop, Roku players and Roku TV models.
§ Apple TV Interactive Bracket – Fans will be able to watch previews, highlights and receive direct access to live games through a newly formatted, interactive bracket made available exclusively through Apple TV.
§ March Madness Alexa Skill – Available through Amazon Alexa devices, the March Madness Alexa skill will allow fans to ask “March Madness” questions related to scores and game results, along with direct access to play-by-play for all games provided by Westwood One.
§ iStreamPlanet –Turner’s iStreamPlanet will provide the live streaming infrastructure for all games made available through NCAA March Madness Live for the first time this year.
§ Capital One NCAA March Madness Bracket Challenge – This year, the official bracket game of March Madness (available via desktop, smartphones and tablets) is upgrading with new Commissioner tools and scoring options to help fans make their bracket selections. Bracket Challenge is the only tournament game to integrate access to the live video stream of every match-up throughout the tournament.
§ Enhanced Desktop Experience – Fans accessing via desktop will have an enhanced experience including a new responsive layout with an HTML5 player, access to a real-time shot chart to follow the action and more.
§ Expanded Highlights & Alerts – GameCenter, the core of NCAA March Madness Live, has been expanded to offer access to real-time highlights and a live blog that provides digital color commentary for each game. Additionally, NCAA March Madness Live will offer enhanced real-time notifications across mobile for fans to access the latest March Madness news and information any way they choose.
NCAA March Madness Live will also continue to feature “excitement” alerts for big moments throughout the tournament, as well as fan-favorite features including live game scoring, the official bracket, real-time game alerts for their favorite school. Fans will also have direct access to live radio broadcasts, courtesy of Westwood One, for all 67 games across the collection of digital products.
As part of the industry-wide TV Everywhere initiative, pay-tv subscribers will have unlimited live streaming coverage and on-the-go access throughout the entire championship across online, mobile, tablets, set-top boxes and smart TVs. NCAA March Madness Live will once again offer a temporary preview period giving users access to live game streaming before login is required.
Fans can access all games broadcast on CBS on desktop, mobile and tablets. Additionally, fans can watch games via live streaming on TBS, CBS, TNT and truTV’s digital platforms, as well as participating TV provider websites and apps.
NCAA March Madness Live Sponsors
Tri-presenting sponsors for NCAA March Madness Live are NCAA Corporate Champions AT&T, Capital One and Coca-Cola. On mobile, Coca-Cola, Capital One and Buick will sponsor the NCAA March Madness Live App for iOS, AT&T, Infiniti and Capital One will sponsor the Android app and AT&T will sponsor the Windows 10 app. On connected streaming devices, Capital One will sponsor the Roku app, Lowe's and Wendy’s will sponsor the Xbox app, and AT&T will serve as a sponsor for the Apple TV app. Buick, Infiniti, Lowe's and Wendy's are NCAA Corporate Partners.
About Turner Sports
Turner Sports, a division of Turner, is an industry leader in the delivery of premium sports content across all multimedia screens. Turner Sports’ television coverage includes the NBA, Major League Baseball, NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship, ELEAGUE and professional golf. The company also manages some of the most popular sports destinations across broadband and mobile platforms including Bleacher Report and its top-rated Team Stream app, NCAA.com and the critically acclaimed NCAA March Madness Live suite of products, PGA.com and the Sports Emmy Award-winning PGA Championship LIVE, as well as an accompanying collection of mobile sites and connected device apps. Turner Sports and the NBA also jointly manage NBA Digital, a robust collection of offerings including NBA TV, NBA.com, NBA LEAGUE PASS, NBA Mobile, the NBA App, NBADLEAGUE.com andWNBA.com.
About CBS Sports
CBS Sports, a year-round leader in television sports, broadcasts a portfolio of events on the CBS Television Network, including THE NFL ON CBS; “Thursday Night Football;” college basketball, including the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship; golf, including The Masters®, PGA Championship and PGA TOUR; college football, including the SEC ON CBS; and CBS SPORTS SPECTACULAR. In addition, the division includes CBS Sports Network, the 24-hour home of CBS Sports; produces INSIDE THE NFL for SHOWTIME; and partners with CBS SPORTS RADIO and CBSSports.com in creating recognized leaders in sports radio and digital.
About the NCAA
The NCAA is a diverse association of more than 1,100 member colleges and universities that prioritize academics, well-being and fairness to create greater opportunities for nearly half a million student-athletes each year. The NCAA provides a pathway to higher education and beyond for student-athletes pursuing academic goals and competing in NCAA sports. More than 54,000 student-athletes experience the pinnacle of intercollegiate athletics by competing in NCAA championships each year. Visit ncaa.org and ncaa.com for more details about the Association and the corporate partnerships that support the NCAA and its student-athletes. The NCAA is proud to have AT&T, Capital One and Coca-Cola as official corporate champions and the following elite companies as official corporate partners: Allstate, Amazon Echo, Buffalo Wild Wings, Buick, Enterprise, Infiniti, LG, Lowe’s, Marriott International, Nabisco, Northwestern Mutual, Pizza Hut, Reese’s, Unilever and Wendy’s.
Visit the Turner Sports online pressroom for additional press materials; follow Turner Sports on Twitter at @TurnerSportsPR.
Visit the CBS Sports website at www.cbssports.com for additional news and follow CBS Sports on Twitter at @cbssports.
