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CBS Sports, the NCAA and Pontiac will bring NCAA March Madness to YouTube, the announcement was made today with the launch of the CBS Sports NCAA Tournament Channel (), sponsored by Pontiac on YouTube. This CBS Sports programming will feature NCAA game clips and highlights uploaded by CSTV in near real time from the NCAA Division I Mens Basketball Championship which begins airing today, on the CBS Television Network and online through NCAA March Madness on Demand on NCAASports.com, CBS SportsLine.com and CSTV.com.

Through this agreement, CBS is monetizing its content on the Internet and proving that world-class programming can help bring brand-name advertisers to online platforms, said Sean McManus, President, CBS Sports and News. This year, CBS Sports and YouTube will expand on the success of March Madness on Demand reaching sports fans everywhere, on all levels across all media, making the fan the real winner as we enter this Tournament.

The NCAA continues to look for new and creative avenues to promote and enhance the game of college basketball and the NCAA Division I Mens Basketball Championship, said Greg Shaheen, NCAA Senior Vice President of Basketball and Business Strategies. YouTube will allow both the NCAA and CBS to reach a broader audience and will provide increased exposure for the mens basketball championship.

The CBS Sports NCAA Tournament Channel on YouTube will include NCAA game tournament highlights as soon as they happen, press conferences and various video produced by CBS Sports, CBS SportsLine and CSTV surrounding coverage of the tournament. Game elements will be uniquely tailored by CSTV for the YouTube community and uploaded as close to LIVE as possible so fans can interact with the content almost immediately. Users will also be able to interact with each other having the ability to comment on NCAA tournament clips, rating them, recommending them to friends and posting their own video responses to communicate with other viewers. The new branded channel will also include links to CBS Sports, CBS SportsLine, CSTV, and the NCAAs official Website, NCAASports.com, making it easy for fans to effortlessly move from YouTube, back to the full games being featured online through NCAA March Madness on Demand.

The CBS Sports NCAA Tournament Channel, which will be sponsored by Pontiac, will give the YouTube community the opportunity to easily interact with and share their favorite game moments all of which will be made available on the channel.

The NCAA Tournament is consistently one of the most exciting experiences in all of sports, said Suzie Reider, Head of Advertising Sales, YouTube. Tournament coverage is a welcome addition to the site. Our community is incredibly fortunate to be able to engage this high-quality CBS Sports and NCAA content in an entirely new way, strengthening YouTubes expansive range of sports content. Were hopeful this partnership will also introduce the tournament and NCAA basketball to an even wider audience than it already enjoys.

In addition, the YouTube community will be encouraged to vote on their favorite round-by-round Pontiac Game Changing Performances at NCAASports.com. The top vote earning team of the Pontiac challenge will be announced live on CBS during halftime of the NCAA championship game on Monday, April 2. The winning teams school will receive a $100,000 general scholarship.

Traditional media working with new media is better for the fans and better for us, said Mark-Hans Richer, Pontiac Marketing Director. Now our Pontiac Game Changing Performance platform is more viral which is great for the fans, students and the NCAA.

Source: CBS Sports