CBSSports.com to Stream SEC Basketball Games Live

For years, the number of less-than-marquee sports events appearing in webcasts has been huge. But 2008 has been a turning point for simulcasts of big-time events, including the Olympics and NFL games, appearing online as broadcasters are getting over worries of cannibalizing their TV audiences. The latest: CBSSports.com will Thursday announce free online simulcasts of CBS' TV coverage of 11 Southeastern Conference basketball games, starting with Indiana-Kentucky on Saturday. The website carried simulcasts of CBS' SEC football games. And while CBSSports.com's general manager, Jason Kint, won't reveal viewer numbers, he said "tens of thousands" logged on for some games. He notes online numbers are smaller, compared to TV, even more so than with NCAA basketball simulcasts. That's understandable given that, with football games on Saturdays, you don't get people watching just because they're stuck at work. But the upside to that: Because people don't have to log off because some pesky boss is prowling around, they stayed longer for football webcasts, averaging, Kint says, about 70 minutes.
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/columnist/hiestand-tv/2008-12-10-sec-basketball_N.htm