By Phillip Swann
The TV Answer Man –Follow on & X.
Former Sony employee and editor of 4 TV magazines.
TV Answer Man, we want to stream the March Madness games this year. What is the least expensive way to do that? — Carli, Dayton, Ohio.
Carli, March Madness, the annual men’s college basketball tournament, tips off tonight (March 19) with the ‘First Four’ doubleheader at 6:40 p.m. ET on truTV. Wagner will play Howard in the first game, followed by Colorado State facing Virginia in game two. Tomorrow night (March 20) at 6:40 p.m. ET, there will be another First Four doubleheader: Grambling vs. Montana State in game one with Colorado vs. Boise State in game two. Both will also be on truTV.
The TV coverage of the entire tournament will be split between CBS, TBS, TNT and truTV. (You can see a complete TV schedule here.) That may sound like it would be difficult to stream all the action, but actually it’s fairly easy and fairly inexpensive.
Paramount Plus’ $11.99 a month subscription includes the feed of your local CBS affiliate which will have all the CBS games. And Max, the streaming service formerly known as HBO Max, will have stream all the TBS, TNT and truTV games (and in 1980p HD Dolby Vision). The base rate for Max (ads included) is $9.99 a month. So if you get Paramount Plus and Max for one month, you will be able to stream every March Madness game for just $22 total. (The tournament ends on April 8 with the championship game.)
Carli, hope that helps. Happy viewing and stay safe!
Have a question about new TV technologies? Send it to The TV Answer Man at swann@tvanswerman.com Please include your first name and hometown in your message.
The TV Answer Man is veteran journalist Phillip Swann who has covered the TV technology scene for more than three decades. He will report on the latest news and answer your questions regarding new devices and services that are changing the way you watch television. See the bio for Phillip Swann here.