March Madness Fuels the Push Toward More Screens, More Games

March Madness continues to change the way fans watch sports on TV.

As the first round of the men’s NCAA basketball tournament tips off Thursday, several major TV providers are debuting new multiview options—which allow two to four different broadcasts to play alongside each other—around this weekend’s annual college hoops marathon.

CBS and TNT Sports (TNT, TBS, and TruTV) have men’s March Madness rights, while ESPN platforms exclusively broadcast the women’s tournament. 

Since 2023, YouTube TV and the NCAA’s March Madness Live streaming platform have provided the most widely used multiview options each March.

Ahead of this year’s action, the Spectrum TV app launched a new multiview feature that allows viewers to watch up to four men’s or women’s March Madness games at once. The streaming option is available on various smart TVs for subscribers of the Charter Communications-owned cable company that says it has more than 12 million customers.

DirecTV is making its March Madness Mix—a four-screen option for men’s games that was previously only available as a satellite channel—accessible for streaming customers. The satellite provider has been losing subscribers in recent years, but is believed to have roughly 11 million customers between satellite and streaming packages.

More Screens, Please

With live sports by far and away the top dog for TV viewership, watching multiple games and events at once figures to be a key desire for many fans.

Peacock brought back multiview for this year’s Winter Olympics alongside its popular Gold Zone whiparound highlight format, after a successful debut of the viewing options during the 2024 Paris Olympics.

YouTube TV now has a wide range of daily multiview options, none more popular than on Sundays during the NFL season, as the streamer has exclusive rights to the NFL Sunday Ticket out-of-market package.