[img src="http://sale-online.click/wp-content/uploads/cache/thumbs/2008/03/cbs-logo-spaced-gridthumb.png" caption="" credit="" alt="logo"]CBS is once again offering live streaming video of every game of the first round of the NCAA Tournament on CBSSports.com. Today, they’re reporting huge numbers for the event, with millions of fans flocking to the site to watch the games from where a TV isn't available (aka, the office).
So far, CBS says that the video player has seen 2.7 million unique visitors, up 56 percent from last year. In all, those users have already watched 2.8 million hours worth of video, which represents a 65 percent increase from 2008.
What’s behind the huge growth? CBS is giving credit to the developer program they rolled out, which allows other websites to more dynamically link to the video player. For example, this year you can launch the player directly from ESPN’s website and live scores page.
Other big Web winners from March Madness On-Demand are Microsoft Silverlight – which is required to use the player – and Akamai, who is handling the massive bandwidth required to stream video on such a large scale.
How are you watching the games this year? On the Web, your iPhone, or on the big screen? Let us know in the comments.