March Madness Shows Web Users Ready for Internet TV

March 28, 2006 —

This year, NCAA March Madness brought Division I college basketball to the Internet as streaming video.

The event created record-breaking peaks of streaming Internet activity. It caused administrators to worry about the strain it would place on corporate networks.

Most importantly, though, the event demonstrated that web users, content providers and advertisers are all ready to try Internet TV.

March Madness Spikes Net Traffic

NCAA Division I college basketball video pushed traffic on network provider Akamai's system to record heights. While Akamai delivered over 400,000 simultaneous video streams, these numbers could have been much higher with greater capacity.

Akamai served more than 102 billion Internet requests, with a peak rate of 2,311,821 requests per second - a rate roughly equivalent to serving content to the entire population of Chicago, simultaneously.

"We are witnessing the maturity of the Internet as the premiere medium for the consumption of time-sensitive content, including sports, news and music programming, delivered to broadband-connected users worldwide," notes Paul Sagan, Akamai's President and CEO.

Corporate Networks Survive March Madness

8.1 million visitors accessed Men's College Basketball-related content from work over the course of the first two days. Of the total number of streams served on Thursday, 73 percent (510,000) were from Web users at work. On Friday, 73 percent (401,000) were also served to workers in an office.

While there were doom and gloom predictions of Internet meltdowns caused by basketball-crazed workers, March Madness appears to have left corporate networks relatively unscathed, productivity notwithstanding.

Advertisers Want In on Internet TV

Advertisers and media buyers are so impressed with the interest the event has generated that they are already trying to reserve spots for next year's March Madness. According to AdAge.com, "The broadcaster's online screening of the first four rounds of the NCAA was arguably the most successful demonstration to date of TV on the web."

About 1.4 people registered in advance for March Madness on Demand. At times, there were 120,000 viewers placed in a virtual queue, waiting to view the game.

"We knew from the beginning that we would need to put a cap on it, and all the advertisers knew as well," said Scot McLernon, SVP, CBS Digital Media. "We wanted the user to have a terrific experience."

People want Internet Video on their Televisions

While there is clearly an audience viewing streaming content on PCs, research suggests that people want to get it on their TVs, too.

According to research from Points North Group and Horowitz Associates, while 25% of Internet users are interested in watching downloaded TV shows and movies on their PCs, 38% (50% more) are interested in watching that video on their TVs.

Interest in watching on TV is even stronger among 18-34 year olds at 68%, compared with 45% interested in watching on PCs.

"In this PC and iPod generation, consumers still want to watch TV shows and movies on a TV, whether the programs are broadcast or downloaded," said Stewart Wolpin, senior consulting analyst for Points North Group, "Getting Web-based content to the TV should be the industry

ITworld.com