ESPN Deportes travels to Spain for coverage of La Liga’s El Clasico
Unparalleled coverage across multiple platforms all week from Madrid, Spain
Continuing its extensive multi-platform coverage of the 2009-2010 season of Spain’s La Liga, ESPN Deportes travels to Spain to provide live television, radio and online coverage of El Clasico – Barcelona vs. Real Madrid, Saturday, April 10 at 4 p.m. ET from the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium in Madrid. In addition to coverage on ESPN Deportes and ESPN Deportes Radio, ESPN3.com will also offer live coverage in English and Spanish.
Television commentary will be handled by Jorge Ramos and Michael Laudrup (play-by-play) and World Cup champion Mario Kempes (analysis) in the television booth and Martin Ainstein reporting from the pitch. Radio coverage will be lead by La Liga commentators Fernando Palomo (play-by-play) alongside Hernan Pereyra (analysis).
PROGRAMMING HIGHLIGHTS INCLUDE:
– More then 15 hours of La Liga-related programming across ESPN Deportes brands all week-long;
– At least 10 on-air commentators (hosts, analysts, reporters, contributors) live from Santiago Bernabeu;
– SportsCenter (M-F; 11 p.m. ET and 2 a.m. ET) – F. Palomo will be reporting all week long from the Nou Camp in Barcelona, while Martin Ainstein will follow Real Madrid, reporting from Valdebebas and Santiago Bernabeu. On Friday, April 9, SportsCenter will have special coverage from Bernabeu featuring segments with Jose Ramon Fernandez, M. Kempes, M. Laudrup, and F. Palomo;
– Los Capitanes (M-F; 3-4 p.m. ET) – in anticipation of the match, the network’s newest commentary program will feature special reports from Barcelona and Madrid throughout the entire week;
– Cronometro (Spanish-language original version of Pardon Interruption; Friday, April 9 at 7:30 p.m. ET) will feature show co-host J. Fernandez live from Madrid joined by David Faitelson from the Bristol studios;
– Jorge Ramos y su Banda (Mon. April 5 – Friday, April 9, 4-7 p.m. ET) – ESPN Deportes Radio soccer talk show simulcast on ESPN Deportes TV will include contributions from site from F. Palomo and M. Aistein.
– Fuera de Juego Weekend Edition (Friday, April 9 at 8 p.m. ET) – the network’s international soccer show will be completely dedicated to El Clasico featuring reports from Madrid and Barcelona from F. Palomo and M. Ainstein;
– ESPNdeportes.com: Commentary and analysis including those from on-site reporters, live chats, previews, video highlights, photo galleries, polls, special reports from ESPNdeportes.com Spain-based soccer correspondent Ivan Vazquez, plus content via ESPN Mobile Properties. During the match, the site will also provide audio stream of the match and feature GameCast with real-time commentary and statistics.
On match day, ESPN Deportes’ coverage will kickoff at 2:30 p.m. ET, with a live, 30–minute special edition of SportsCenter featuring contributions from J. Fernandez, M. Ainstein and M. Laudrup from Santiago Bernabeu, followed by a one-hour Fuera de Juego Pregame show. Fuera de Juego will lead into game telecast at 4 p.m. ET. Radio coverage will begin at 3:30p.m. ET with a 30-minute pregame show and feature a 30-minute post game show at the conclusion of the match.
El Clasico coverage is part of ESN Deportes’ season-long coverage of Spain’s La Liga. This season, ESPN Deportes will provide exclusive Spanish-language coverage of more than 95 La Liga regular-season matches live. ESPN3 – ESPN’s live sports broadband network – will stream at least 114 matches, including simulcast of all 95 ESPN Deportes matches live in English. ESPN2 will televise select matches.
NBA at-home viewing just got better with Verizon FiOS TV’s NBA LEAGUE PASS Widget
Verizon FiOS TV – the ultimate home-entertainment experience – is now providing an enhanced NBA viewing experience. The advanced, all-fiber-optic TV service now includes a free NBA LEAGUE PASS Widget, which lets fans order NBA LEAGUE PASS – the league’s subscription package of up to 40 out-of-market live NBA games per week – directly from their remote control.
In addition, the widget will give fans instant access to headline news, player reports, game-time alerts and more throughout the basketball season.
“FiOS TV is an NBA fan’s courtside seat at home,” said Shawn Strickland, vice president of consumer strategy for Verizon. “In addition to top NBA programming on NBA LEAGUE PASS and NBA TV, our new widget provides fans with statistics and news from around the league.”
The NBA LEAGUE PASS Widget is located in FiOS TV’s innovative Widget Bazaar applications marketplace. Once launched, the interactive application is displayed on the right side of the screen next to the program the subscriber is watching.
NBA TV, the NBA’s 24-hour digital television network, offers more than 100 live NBA games and signature studio shows featuring an Emmy Award-winning roster of announcers. The network is a fan’s all-access channel for everything about basketball, delivering breaking news, statistics and original programming – in both standard definition and HD. NBA TV is available at no additional charge as part of FiOS TV’s Extreme HD package, Verizon’s most popular offering, together with ESPN HD, NFL Network HD and other popular programming services.
Verizon is the only company in the U.S. to bring 100 percent fiber optics straight to the home, delivering America’s top-rated broadband with download connections speeds of up to 50 megabits per second, more pure HD TV channels, amazing picture-and-sound quality, and interactive capabilities that cable can’t match.
FiOS TV offers a broad collection of programming, with more than 500 all-digital channels, including more than 127 HD channels, and more than 18,000 monthly VOD titles. FiOS provides next-generation interactive services including an advanced interactive media guide; news, entertainment and social TV Widgets; remote DVR management; multi-room DVR; and more.
Source: Verizon
Fox Sports en Espanol hits ratings Home Run with 2009 World Series coverage
Network Strikes Out Competition across All Key Demographics during MLB Post-Season
Fox Sports en Espanol, the country’s leading Spanish-language sports media platform, struck out the competition with its coverage of the recently concluded 2009 Major League Baseball World Series. The network’s number one program during the ratings bonanza was Game Six of the World Series (Yankees vs. Phillies, 11/4/09), which delivered 261,000 Hispanics in the key P18-49 demographic. Overall, Fox Sports en Espanol finished with a 3.43 (1.74 P18-49) household coverage rating, up 81% in total households vs. its World Series coverage from 2008, and 240% over 2007.
“The only thing more exciting for us than this memorable Fall Classic is the fact that our loyal fans consistently tuned in to Fox Sports en Espanol for the best live coverage of the Series,” said David Sternberg, General Manager of Fox Sports en Espanol. “This clearly validates our mission of providing the most important sporting events, with the best analysis, of any Hispanic sports network.”
The results were strong for FSE’s advertisers, as well, with the network over-delivering across all demographics and surpassing its three-year World Series average. Ratings for coverage of the entire Major League post season was up dramatically over last year, with the American League Championship Series drawing a total Hispanic household rating of .92 for P18-49 and 1.24 for men, vs. last year’s .39 and .44 respectively. Overall, Fox Sports en Espanol maintained its position as the leading Hispanic sports network in the ratings for the second week in a row, averaging 73% more Hispanic P18-49 in primetime than its next closest competitor.
This marked the ninth consecutive year that Fox Sports en Espanol has offered live, exclusive Spanish-language coverage of the MLB postseason. In addition, as part of a seven-year partnership with Fox Broadcasting Company that runs through the 2013 season, the network will continue to offer live and exclusive Spanish-language coverage of approximately 26 MLB regular-season games each year plus the annual All-Star Game.
Source: Fox Sports en Espanol
Livestream chosen by Horizon League to stream hundreds of Division 1 College Basketball Games Live
Exclusive Deal Expands Athletics Customer Base; Follows Launch of Livestream Sports Solutions Division
The Horizon League and WebStream Productions Inc. have chosen Livestream, the leading live Internet video platform, to broadcast hundreds of regular-season, NCAA Division 1 men’s and women’s college basketball games beginning November 13.
Under the exclusive deal, live game broadcasts will be available for free viewing at www.horizonleaguenetwork.tv along with regularly updated highlights and on-demand content.
“We are excited to partner with Livestream on the new Horizon League Network site. The power of their video platform including live streaming, on-demand content, automatic recording, archiving and APIs make Livestream the perfect fit for the Horizon League,” said John Servizzi, president of WebStream Productions.
The partnership is the latest in association with the recently launched Livestream Sports Solutions division, which is focused on delivering best-of-breed live streaming partnerships for athletic organizations. The Horizon League, with its perennial slate of NCAA Championship contenders, joins a growing number of leagues and networks that rely on Livestream for sports webcasting, including the CollegeFanz Sports Network, National Lacrosse League and the Kansas City Chiefs NFL franchise.
“This partnership with the Horizon League and WebStream Productions is yet another example of how Livestream technology is transforming the way sports organizations bring live video to their fans,” said Max Haot, CEO of Livestream. “We are excited to be working with WebStream Productions on their coverage of Horizon League athletics and look forward to helping other sports organizations do the same.”
“We are pleased to partner with WebStream Productions and Livestream to bring our fans and alumni a high-quality, live streaming video experience,” said Horizon League Commissioner Jonathan B. LeCrone. “The Horizon League Network is a vital marketing and communications platform. Our partners are helping us maximize its potential.”
Source: Livestream
Digital Primates teams up with MLB Advanced Media to unveil MLB.TV online video Player
Digital Primates IT Consulting Group, an industry leader in RIA technologies, recently partnered with MLB Advanced Media, LP (MLBAM), the interactive media and Internet company of Major League Baseball, to deliver the MLB.TV media player, which enables subscribers to watch live and on-demand games on their computers.
The media player utilizes MLB.com’s proprietary speed detection that allows broadband customers to enjoy a High Definition-quality picture where available. It also has live-game DVR functionality and offers multi-game views, providing access to watch four live games simultaneously. Additional features of the new media player include:
– Real-time alerts to watch highlights from other games
– Home and away broadcast feeds for every game (where available)
– Picture-in-picture functionality
– Customizable player tracker alerts with live at-bat look-ins
“As a die-hard baseball fan, working with MLBAM was a thrill,” said Jeff Tapper, Digital Primates’ Partner and Senior Consultant. “When developing the video player, our first thought was ‘what would we, as fans, like to see?’ MLBAM already had an infrastructure in place, and working with them every step of the way helped achieve the final product that we’re all so proud of.”
Digital Primates participated in the design and build out of the workflow system, which determines the availability of video feeds, factors what the viewer is entitled to see and provides the ability to sell or upsell additional content to users. Digital Primates also implemented MLBAM’s patented “geo-detection system,” which determines where users are located so black-out restrictions can be enforced.
“Digital Primates has been instrumental in the success of the MLB.TV player development this season,” said Joe Choti, chief technology officer, MLBAM. “Expert understanding of Flex technology, combined with the ability to architect a complex system that is capable of scaling, makes Digital Primates an invaluable addition to a team delivering a product. The difference is in the dedication and desire to achieve a common goal.”
Source: Digital Primates