CBS and NCAA set a record for broadband viewing. 3.4 million watch on computers

Additionally, the NCAA March Madness on Demand “Boss Button” was clicked over 1.7 million times on the first day the first round of the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship. The “Boss Button”, which was redesigned for the 2010 tournament, hides the live video action on the screen and silences the audio, replacing it with a “business-like” image. The 2010 Boss Button was designed by cartoonist Scott Adams, creator of the Dilbert comic. Click here to view the 2010 Boss Button.

NCAA March Madness on Demand traffic figures through Thursday, March 18

• 3.4 million total hours of live streaming video and audio consumed

• 3 million unique visitors to the NCAA March Madness on Demand video players

• 1.7 million clicks of the “Boss Button” – over 60% of the total clicks of the Boss Button for the entire 2009 tournament. (2.77 million)

• The most watched game from 3/18 was the double-overtime Florida vs. BYU game with 521k hours of streaming video and audio. That’s +50% over 2009’s most watched game from the first day of the first round (Washington vs. Mississippi State) which had 348k hours of streaming.

• The most watched hour yesterday was 2:00-2:59 p.m. ET with 533k streaming hours (16% of the total for the day). It peaked at 2:45 p.m. with 147k streaming hours between 2:45 and 2:59 p.m. ET.

“NCAA March Madness on Demand continues to regularly exceed our expectations,” said Sean McManus, President, CBS News and Sports. “It is the perfect combination of programming and the Internet. Our ability to successfully develop the product alongside steady growth in streaming programming for the Internet and wireless content provides many options and truly maximizes the Network’s NCAA bundled rights agreement.”

It was a good first day fore the NCAA Tournament on broadband. Clearly fans are watching at work, in their dorms and yes even at home. The latest stats show good news for broadband viewers. 

3.4 million hours of live streaming video & audio consumed, the largest single day of traffic for a live sports event on the Internet.

“The continuing evolution of NCAA March Madness on Demand gives our fans even more reasons to stay connected to the tournament on a daily basis,” said Greg Shaheen, NCAA senior vice president for basketball and business strategies.  “Tremendous first round games, enhanced features in the MMOD player and solid early traffic numbers all point towards an exciting few weeks to come.”

“With a number of thrilling finishes yesterday, there was little doubt we would set another new record as March Madness on Demand provided millions of fans with the ability to follow all the action,” said Jason Kint, Senior Vice President and General Manager, CBSSports.com.

As was the case in 2009, CBSSports.com has again provided a standard video player in addition to offering viewers the ability to upgrade to a high-quality video player delivering an enhanced video stream. New for 2010, both NCAA March Madness on Demand video players provide viewers the ability to show statistical overlays on top of live video action, displaying tournament and game leaders in categories such as points, assists, rebounds, and 3-pointers.

In 2010, CBSSports.com has once again distributed NCAA March Madness on Demand across the Internet with its Developer Platform, allowing sites to link directly into the MMOD video player. The network of sites participating in the NCAA March Madness on Demand Developer Platform in 2010 include popular news, entertainment, sports and social media sites such as CNN.com, ESPN.com and Facebook; CBS Interactive properties including TV.com, CBS.com, CNET.com and GameSpot.com; as well as other partners across the CBS Audience Network and sites for CBS television and radio stations and affiliates.