Welcome to March Madness season! If you’re a fan, no other sporting event comes close.
In these tournaments, the lowest-seeded college basketball teams battle for the “privilege” of facing the top seed. But, remember, the University of Maryland Baltimore Country (UMBC) upset Virginia in the 2018 tournament. It can happen!
March Madness basics
March Madness began on March 14 with the men’s First Four on truTV and the women’s First Four on ESPNU and ESPN2.
CBS, TNT, TBS, and truTV will air the men’s tournament. You’ll find the women’s tournament on the ESPN networks.
You can watch a few of the games OTA. But, to really follow the games, you’ll need satellite, cable, or streaming TV.
If you follow several teams, you’ll also need DVR services since it’s a sure thing that two or more of your teams will be playing at the same time.
All your streaming options
Paramount+
With Paramount+, you can watch some, but not all, of March Madness. Only the CBS games are available on this streaming service.
Paramount+, formerly CBS All Access, offers two plans. The first is an ad-supported Essential plan for $5 per month and an ad-free Premium plan for $10 per month. You can’t, however, see the men’s games on TBS, TNT, or truTV, or any of the women’s games on it. Still, if you like CBS shows, and for some reason, you can’t get CBS on your main streaming services, or you’re a serious Star Trek fan, it’s worth the money.
One thing you should know going in is that Paramount Plus doesn’t have a cloud DVR service. You’ll need to watch the games in real time.
March 19, 2023
Written by Steven Vaughan-Nichols