Work Productivity Affected
People watching NCAA tournament games on work computers cost employers significantly.
Nationally known outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc. puts the price tag for lost productivity in just the first two days of the tournament -- with 32 games beginning Thursday at noon -- at $260 million.
The whole 19-day event is likely to cost businesses $1.2 billion, by Challenger's estimates.
Even with those hard numbers, though, John Challenger, the firm's chief executive, is not dissing the tournament or the people watching it at work.
"The line between work and personal life has blurred. Companies ask us to carry our BlackBerrys and cell phones with us. We are getting work done on our vacations," he said. "Employers should recognize that to be fair, there's going to be personal time built in today's workday. These days it's more about output and what you produce than punching a clock.
"But many employers are still caught up in the way things use to be."
A Chicago employment consulting firm did the math and figured out that the people who watch the NCAA men's basketball tournament on their computer at work will cost the nation's employers $1.2 billion in productivity.
"We here at CBS want to apologize for slowing down the American economy for two days every year, but that is the price you pay for March Madness," Sean McManus, president of CBS News and Sports, said with a laugh Tuesday.
CBS said that more than $9 million in advertising has been sold for the broadband service called March Madness on Demand.
That's more than double what was sold last year, the first time the service was offered for free.
March Madness on Demand is a joint project among the NCAA, CBS and CSTV, which is now owned by CBS.
CSTV is offering original programming, features and analysis to coincide with the live video-streamed telecasts on March Madness on Demand through the first three rounds.
The heaviest traffic was expected to come Thursday and Friday before the first tipoffs. There will be 16 games played each day and CBS televises only four of them in a given market.
Last year, about 72 million people watched the first and second round of the NCAA tournament. It is the only major athletic competition, other than the Olympics and Wimbledon, televised during work hours. March Madness is the most frequently wagered-on competition, both at and away from the office.
Things slow down in the second week of the tournament -- at least at work -- with more games at night.
Video-streaming is supposed to be at an all-time high this year, the second that CBS has offered the free service.
In conclusion, there are still bosses who want a full workday out of their employees and might block access to March Madness on Demand. And, of course, there will always be the boss who looks over employees' shoulders.
So one of the features brought back this year is the "boss button." One click of this button and the game action on the screen is instantly replaced by something more routine in the workplace: a ready-made spread sheet.
