Study: Most will follow 'Madness' on TV

AUSTIN, Texas, March 11 (UPI) -- A majority of fans following the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament -- 83 percent -- will watch it on TV but the online audience is growing, a study indicated.

Unicast, a research firm that advises the publishing and advertising industry on Internet advertising, said its 2010 NCAA Basketball Tournament Fever Report found 44 percent of those surveyed said they would follow the tournament, which begins March 16, online and 10 percent said they plan to follow the proceedings using a mobile device.

Among those planning to follow March Madness online, 69 percent said they would use ESPN and 42 percent planned to used Yahoo! Sports. The survey found 29 percent planned to use CBSSports.com -- the Web site of the tournament's official TV broadcaster -- while 29 percent said they would use the NCAA Web site.

Bryan Hjelm, vice president of marketing for Unicast, said iPhone apps, online bracket tools and streaming video are helping expand the online audience.

"Sites like ESPN.com and Yahoo! Sports will dominate traffic due to their inherent sports fan user base, which make them prime real estate this month for marketers targeting the typical visitor – men aged 18 to 35," he said.

The survey of 1,062 people was conducted March 4-7. No margin of error was reported.