Mike Reynolds

DBS leaders DirecTV and Dish Network are giving Republican and conservative politicians a chance to reach a large portion of their subscriber constituency.

D2 Media Sales, the partnership between Dish and DirecTV that sells addressable ads to political campaigns, has inked a deal with i360, which has a database of voters Republican and conservative candidates that could be targeted.

Candidates and advocacy groups will be able to use data to direct commercials at the household level from the two DBS companies’ 20 million addressable subscribers. By tapping i360, right of center campaigns and organizations can now choose from over 35 pre-matched segments focusing on voter registration, party affiliation, likelihood to turnout, persuadability, economic and social issues and more, via the D2 platform.

Picking up an additional 13 million live streams during the second week of the tourney, NCAA March Madness Live has posted a 31% gain over the entire 2013 event.

With the conclusion of the second week of the 2014 NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship, the platform has recorded 64 million live video streams, according to data from Omniture and Conviva, compared with 49 million in 2013. Gauged against the corresponding span of the 2013 competition, NCAA March Madness Live, which is managed by Turner Sports, recorded a 40% advance. Additionally, NCAA March Madness Live has netted 13.5 million hours of live video consumed, an increase of 7% in 2013 and on pace to rank as an all-time record.

Authenticated viewers can watch games via live streaming on TNT, TBS and truTV’s digital platforms, as well as participating TV provider websites. The games that air on CBS don't require pay-TV verification. Growth on mobile -- tablets and smartphones -- has been particularly strong, as live streams jumped 71% over the first two weeks of the tournament in 2013. The number of live streaming hours on those devices surged 38% from the comparable year-earlier period.