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British ice hockey broadcaster Ice Media Productions
(IMP) has agreed a three-year deal with Servecast
to manage the live and archive broadband video
service for the British Elite Ice Hockey League
(EIHL). IMP, which is aiming to become a leading
producer of the top ice skating, ice hockey, skiing
and snowboarding events in the world, has a three-year
media deal with the EIHL and has already produced
a series of 22 programmes for NASN/Setanta on
the UK ice hockey scene.
In April, Servecast streamed the entire Elite
League play-off weekend over www.icehockeyleague.co.uk
and managed the pay-per-view service including
set up of the payment interface and security systems.
This represented the first time that British ice
hockey action had been made available over the
I nternet. The new deal means Servecast will implement
and manage the complete broadband subscription
and delivery platform for live and on-demand audio
and video content of British ice hockey, with
the provision of up to 24 live games per season.
Servecast will also manage the creation of an
ice hockey League branded microsite and media
console through which fans view the streamed matches.
"Ice hockey is a niche but popular sport,"
said Heath Rhodes of Ice Media Productions. "It
is difficult to get extensive coverage on mainstream
TV due to the widespread following and coverage
of sports such as soccer and rugby. Moreover as
the Internet is more readily available to households
than SKY or other digital TV stations it was imperative
that we pursued an online strategy." Darach
Deehan, CEO of Servecast, added: "Broadband
subscription services are quickly becoming an
integral part of the communications mix for all
sports brands. In particular niche sports benefit
great ly from online pay per view and subscription
services as they can command much greater coverage
than through traditional TV broadcasting."
About Servecast
Founded in 1998, Servecast is the leading specialist
supplier of New Media Sportscasting delivering
advanced streaming media solutions for the Sports
Industry. Servecast's Media Studio™ Platform
enables Sporting Organisations and Rights Holders
to exploit their media assets to new broadband
and mobile connected audiences.
Through the delivery of high quality audio visual
sports content over broadband and mobile applications,
Servecast's Media Studio platform greatly enhances
the global fan sporting experience and enables
the delivery of significant new revenue streams
to the rights holder. Through our focus on sports,
Servecast has developed a deep partnership network
with major broadcasters, clubs and sporting bodies,
the online betting industry, technology providers
and content syndication partners. We leverage
these partnerships to ensure optimal business
success for our customers.
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