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CBS SPORTS, THE NCAA AND PONTIAC BRING NCAA® MARCH MADNESS® TO SPONSORED CBS SPORTS NCAA TOURNAMENT CHANNEL ON YOUTUBE
CBS To Monetize NCAA Agreement Through
Sponsorship of Online Channel by Pontiac
Building on the Success of NCAA® March Madness® on Demand the
"CBS Sports NCAA Tournament Channel" Allows the YouTube Community to Interact With Game Clips and Highlights In Near Real Time
SAN BRUNO, Calif. and NEW YORK, NY– March 15, 2007 – 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 (www.youtube.com/cbsncaatourney), 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 Men's 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 Men's 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 men's 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 NCAA's official Website, NCAA Sports.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 YouTube's expansive range of sports content. We're 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 team's 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."
About CBS
CBS Corporation (NYSE: CBS.A and CBS) is a mass media company with constituent parts that reach back to the beginnings of the broadcast industry, as well as newer businesses that operate on the leading edge of the media industry. The Company, through its many and varied operations, combines broad reach with well-positioned local businesses, all of which provide it with an extensive distribution network by which it serves audiences and advertisers in all 50 states and key international markets. It has operations in virtually every field of media and entertainment, including broadcast television (CBS and The CW – a joint venture between CBS Corporation and Warner Bros. Entertainment), cable television (Showtime and CSTV Networks), local television (CBS Television Stations), television production and syndication (CBS Paramount Network Television and CBS Television Distribution), radio (CBS Radio), advertising on out-of-home media (CBS Outdoor), publishing (Simon & Schuster), interactive media (CBS Interactive), music (CBS Records), licensing and merchandising (CBS Consumer Products), video/ DVD (CBS Home Entertainment) and motion pictures (CBS Features Films). For more information, log on to www.cbscorporation.com.
About The NCAA
The NCAA is a membership-led nonprofit association of colleges and universities committed to supporting academic and athletic opportunities for more than 380,000 student-athletes at more than 1,250 member colleges and universities. Each year, more than 54,000 student-athletes compete in NCAA championships in Division I, II and III sports. Visit www.ncaa.org for more details about the Association, its goals and members and corporate partnerships that help support programs for student-athletes. The NCAA is proud to have the following elite companies as official Corporate Champions—AT&T, Coca-Cola and Pontiac—and the following elite companies as official Corporate Partners—DiGiorno, Enterprise, The Hartford, Lowe's and State Farm.
About YouTube
Founded in February 2005, YouTube is the leader in online video, and the premier destination to watch and share original videos worldwide through a Web experience. YouTube allows people to easily upload and share video clips on www.YouTube.com and across the Internet through websites, blogs, and e-mail. YouTube has quickly become the leading destination on the Internet for video entertainment.
About Pontiac
Pontiac is a division of General Motors Corporation (NYSE: GM) and markets the Vibe, Solstice roadster, G5 sports coupe, Grand Prix sedan, Torrent compact utility vehicle and the G6 family of sedans, coupes and retractable hardtop convertibles. In fall 2007, Pontiac will expand its GXP performance series with the introduction of the G6 GXP and Torrent GXP, and will introduce the G8 RWD performance sedan in early 2008. Pontiac sold more than 410,000 vehicles in 2006, ranking third among GM divisions in total sales. More information on Pontiac and its products can be found on the division's website at www.pontiac.com, and in Spanish at www.pontiac.com/espanol.
