College basketball fans will have a new way to experience March Madness — on Apple TV.
When the NCAA Men's Basketball Championship begins March 15, fans will be able to watch two games side by side through a new split-screen feature available exclusively through Apple TV.
The NCAA March Madness Live streaming app will be available Thursday on a dozen platforms this year, including Amazon Fire TV and Roku players and TVs. Since it's developed in partnership with Turner Sports and CBS Sports, you'll need to go through a registration process to prove you're already a pay TV subscriber before you can use the app.
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In a demonstration Monday in Los Angeles, Turner Sports showed off the Apple TV design, which lets hoops fans see at a glance which games they can watch live (all tournament games will be available to stream through the app), plus video previews and game recaps.
The split-screen feature lets fans watch two games simultaneously and toggle between the two to listen to the commentary. The app also supports AirPlay, so users can beam video or audio to compatible speakers or the Apple TV. It'll also deliver alerts and updates to the Apple Watch.
Apple hasn't found a breakthrough Apple TV app yet, though it has nearly 4,000 available. March Madness might be the ticket.
Another Apple TV app showcased Monday was from the Washington Post and offers video coverage of politics, world news, business and style. That app launches in time to stream Wednesday's Democratic presidential candidates debate in Miami, Fla., which is sponsored by the newspaper.
It's worth noting that the Washington Post is owned by Jeff Bezos, whose Amazon Prime videos can't be found on Apple TV.
—By Dawn Chmielewski, Re/code.net.
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