Reel Pop

Nothing but Net worth for March Madness

By Andrew Wallenstein

Not since the Summer Olympics has Internet video had the kind of gamechanging opportunity that will come its way beginning this week with March Madness On Demand, CBS' online home for the NCAA men's basketball tournament. But if CBS Sports can continue the momentum it has experienced in recent years, it will do more than just further establish the Internet as a go-to place for premium content, but set up an more interesting competition in 2014. 

Any lingering doubts about the staggering 11-year, $6 billion deal CBS signed to keep March Madness in 1999 have eroded as the value of what seemed then an afterthought--new-media rights--are putting a whole new layer of worth on the franchise. Sure, CBS has projected a $30 million haul from this year's online offering, but it's not so much the current numbers as the possibility for further growth, whether through this year's addition of Microsoft Silverlight as a video player delivering better quality or an iPhone tie-in that will brings games to mobile for $4.99 a pop (albeit strictly via Wi-Fi this year, not 3G).

CBS' current deal runs through 2013, but you can bet years before then Les Moonves will find his company competing in a whole different set of brackets to renew the rights: a field closer to four than 64 of media heavyweights like Walt Disney Co., News Corp, NBC Universal and Time Warner that will fight to steal it away. 

But what makes it interesting is the timing. There's another major media property that will be up for grabs in 2014: the Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, the first event to come after NBC Uni's current deal expires. ESPN's George Bodenheimer has already publicly licked his chops about making a play, and CBS and Time Warner reportedly also talked about joining forces to nab the Games.

But if the Olympics and March Madness are both up at the same time, can there really be a boardroom discussion about grabbing rights for one without calculating how that affects positioning for the other? Is it possible one conglomerate has deep enough pockets for both? And how does the Internet change the game for either or both properties? Five years from now, it will be interesting to see how those questions get answered.

Seth MacFarlane's next batch of Cavalcade

After making a splash last year with Google Content Network, "Family Guy" creator is finally putting out a second chapter of his "Cavalcade"-branded video shorts with a new advertiser in play. Burger King has been replaced with Priceline, complete with an animated William Shatner (is that redundant?). First short: Ted Nugent is Visited By the Ghost of Christmas Past. Also on YouTube's SethComedy channel.

Bud Bundy returns to Crackle.com

From Crackle: Star-ving Ep 1 feat Ed O’Neill & David Faustino

If you're David Faustino, formerly known as Bud Bundy from the Fox class-ick "Married...With Children," there are two career choices available to you. Degrade yourself on VH1 reality shows alongside other TV has-beens or head online and blaze your own path back to glory for a fraction of the salary you used to make. Faustino has opted for the latter in his new Crackle.com series "Star-ving," though I can't say that it affords him any more dignity than, say, "The Surreal Life." The whole premise of the series is that Faustino has hit rock bottom, a fate reinforced by the fact his best friend is someone who makes Faustino's career look like Brad Pitt's: Corin Nemec of another Fox series, "Parker Lewis Can't Lose" (yeah, I don't remember it either). In the premiere episode, he hits up Ed O'Neill, his TV dad from "Married," for a $100,000 loan, which unleashes a F-bomb-laden tirade Al Bundy only wishes the FCC would have let him spew on air all those years ago. It was enough to keep me curious: I'll keep watching, if only to see what Christina Applegate will do in a later episode.

iTunes discounts TV episodes

Looks like Scrooge Jobs is getting the Christmas spirit over at Apple. Just noticed a rare, albeit "limited time," offer that involves variable pricing on TV episodes for select current-season shows for just 99 cents. Here's this season's premiere episode of CBS's "NCIS," for instance, "Silent Night." There's plenty more CBS product available for half of the usual $1.99 price point, including all three "CSI" series, "Survivor," "Numbers," and just to prove Jobs has a soft spot for more than just Leslie Moonves, Fox series "Fringe," which is produced by Warner Bros. Strange this is, previous-season episodes of the same shows, like this fifth-season installment of "NCIS," are still $1.99. The discounts just apply to standard definition; all HD product is still $2.99. Recall way back in May Apple instituted variable pricing for NBC and HBO, but hasn't shown much love to the others even though many studios were hoping for much more flexibility. Let's see what 2009 brings.

Playboy keeps clothes on for "Interns"

Episode One

Playboy is doing original programming for mobile phones but its not what you think. No naughty bits are visible in "Interns," the company's first mobile-focused reality series, which also has a home on MySpace as of last week. Think "The Apprentice" redux, complete with intensive product integration.

Can viral lightning strike twice?

Who can forget the viral sensation that was Evolution of Dance, the most visited user-generated content of all time? Now dancer extraordinaire Judson Laipply is back, and he wants you with him. Plug your face or the mug of someone you love--or hate--in EOD2 and get involved in the hilarity. If EOD2 can get even 1% of the traffic of the original...

MTV announces CollegeHumor series

MTV makes the long-awaited news official today: CollegeHumor.com is getting its own series on the network in 2009. Cannot think of a Web comedy property more deserving of a shot at the big time; these guys have churned out more consistently funny material than anyone else online (runner-up: fellow IAC property 23/6.com, which has improved greatly since a wobbly start). Permit me to wish for CollegeHumor's daffy duo of Jake and Amir to get their own MTV Films project by 2010; these guys are hilarious, as you'll see in the recent video (above) they did to promote the Webby Awards.

Funny Or Die Flies HBO's "Conchords"

Given the stake HBO took in Or Die Networks earlier this year, it was only a matter of time before we saw some kind of tie-in between the two brands. I'm actually surprised it's taken this long. But with a second-season sneak peek of "Flight of the Conchords" available in full length four days before it goes on HBO, the comedy site gets an injection of premium content that will go over well with the show's fans. That said, who needs who more here anyway? Wouldn't Funny Or Die be better served getting that speculated programming block on HBO, where it's programming can get some on-air exposure?

"Grey's Anatomy" spoof on TheWB.com

Imagine if the Zucker Bros. of "Airplane" and "The Naked Gun" fame took on "Grey's Anatomy." It would look something like "Children's Hospital," TheWB.com's riotous send-up of hospital dramas with familiar faces like Rob Corddry and Lake Bell. All 10 episodes are out--a refreshing change from the usual Chinese water torture of one per week--and I'll say this much: I'd rather watch this than "Grey's Anatomy" itself.

Boondocks creator ready to 'Rumble'

Aaron McGruder, creator of the cartoon strip-turned-animated series "The Boondocks," is rolling out his side project, Boondocks Bootleg. First expected to roll out as part of the now-defunct Super Deluxe
, the project now resides on YouTube as "The Super Rumble Mixshow." It's McGruder doing his thing in non-cartoon fashion with a lot of the black-themed humor you would expect from Dave Chappelle (rest in peace). Behold Black Jesus above.