CBSSports.com will offer the first ever live HD streaming of a major sporting event when it provides coverage of March Madness in hi-def online.

The network has tapped Microsoft's Siverlight platform to power a new, HD-quality video player available to users when the NCAA March Madness Division I Men’s Basketball Championship begins on Thursday, March 19. By downloading the new Silverlight player, users can upgrade their NCAA March Madness on Demand experience from the standard player to one delivering up to 1.5 mb/s of enhanced video action from the games.

"Offering a high-definition quality video player, as CBSSports.com has done with NCAA March Madness on Demand, is clearly the next stop in the evolution of online video coverage of major sporting events," said Sean McManus, president, CBS Sports and CBS News.

Both the standard video player and the high-definition quality option will be offered free of charge. For more information on 2009 NCAA March Madness on Demand and to download the Silverlight player for high definition quality video, visit http://mmod.ncaa.com/.