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Global Broadband Television
Channel gives World Premier Match Racing Sailing Series boost
Other Topics: IPTV Distribution
- Hargray Communications, Global
Broadband TV - Narrowstep
June 16, 1005
In response to continual increasing viewers on www.swedishmatchtour.tv,
Narrowstep the TV on the Internet Company has developed a new
Broadband Player for the Tour.
The Swedish Match Tour, recognized as the training ground for many of
the America’s Cup Teams, launched the channel last July to offer the
Tour additional exposure and sponsors, sailors and industry members a
sophisticated and unique medium to view the sport. |
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The channel, www.SwedishMatchTour.tv, airs on demand all the Swedish
Match Tour television programs and is available free of charge.
Viewers can either watch the rolling 24-hour TV schedule, or search
the highlights section to find a specific program, either from the
current TV series or a previous show.
“Broadcasting these shows on broadband TV and making them available
globally on demand, rather than restricting the shows by territory, is
the way of the future,” said Cliff Webb, Chief Operating Officer of
Narrowstep. “And the Swedish Match Tour is leading the way.”
In the month of May, which featured Tour events in Italy, Germany and
Croatia, the TV player served almost 64 days of viewing time to more
than 1,500 people. Since January the player has served more than 226
days of viewing time to nearly 5,000 viewers.
Webb continued, “We’ve seen a continual increase in the interest of
viewers each month, with people from over 55 countries actively
watching the channel. The sailing community is very tight knit, and I
am sure the word will spread about the advantages the new style player
offers,”
James Pleasance Sales, Director Swedish Match Tour said, he channel
has been a breakthrough for our Tour, and for the sport as a whole.
which generally does not enjoy the luxury of mainstream TV coverage.
We now have the ability to broadcast our footage around the clock and
free of charge, accessible anywhere in the world. For a global
property like the Swedish Match Tour, this is invaluable for us
The player has been upgraded to include pause, fast forward and rewind
options. There are three different viewing modes, small, normal and
full screen, and there’s an option to mute the sound. All content is
available at different data rates up to 1.8mb for excellent viewing
quality.
The full schedule for the day’s programming is listed, and individual
shows may be chosen to view on demand. The list of shows includes all
events from the current 2004-’05 season and most from the 2003-’04
season. There are also special interviews, news updates and music
montages under “Highlights.”
There are also plans to move to Live broadcasting later this year,
whereby viewers will be able to see the racing in real time, live and
exclusively on SwedishMatchTour.tv as it happens, with a multi-camera
shoot from right on board with the some of the top skippers in the
world.
The Swedish Match Tour contracts Sportshows Television (London,
England) the film production arm of Narrowstep, to produce and
distribute the Tour’s television shows. Sportshows Television has been
commissioned this year to produce 10 one hour TV programs that will be
distributed throughout 100 countries around the world. The broadband
TV player is a unique product of Narrowstep.
About Narrowstep
Narrowstep currently offer the most powerful platform for Global
delivery of TV content to multiple devices using, TelVOS (Television
Operating System). Narrowstep’s TelVOS supports a wide variety of
commercial and content models and has been deployed globally with over
40 customers (channels) and 10 million viewers.
Narrowstep’s TelVOS is currently the only comprehensive platform that
meets the individual requirements of ISPs, Content Owners, Brands,
Broadcasters, Individuals, Cable and Telcos that want one platform to
deliver TV across Broadband, Wireless, Mobile, IPTV and other
convergent devices.
About the Swedish Match Tour
The Swedish Match Tour is the leading professional sailing series in
the world.
The Tour offers $1 million in overall prize money, with $200,000
divided among the top eight teams in the overall Tour Championship
points race.
The Tour champion wins a BMW 545i Touring, a $60,000 bonus and the
official Swedish Match Tour Championship Trophy, produced by Swedish
Match Tour sponsor Wedgwood.
Swedish Match Tour events take place in venues with virtual
on-the-water stadiums, which allow general public spectators to follow
the races shoreside.
Swedish Match Tour television programs and highlights reach nearly 500
million households in 190 countries around the world.
Swedish Match Tour partners include Swedish Match, BMW and the Match
Race Association. Swedish Match Tour Official Sponsors include Musto,
Sebago, Travel Places, Trident Studio and Wedgwood. |
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