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London, UK and Dublin, Ireland,
Tuesday, July 4th, 2006
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Servecast, the leading specialist supplier of
new media sportscasting, has secured a three year
deal with Ice Media Productions, the UK company
devoted to British Ice Hockey broadcasting, to
manage the live and archive broadband video service
for the British Elite Ice Hockey league. Ice Media
Productions have a three year media deal with
the Elite Ice Hockey League and have already produced
a series of 22 programme's for NASN/Setanta on
the UK Ice Hockey scene. There key target is to
become producers of the best ice events globally
and includes ice skating, ice hockey, skiing and
snowboarding.
In April of this year, Servecast streamed the
entire Elite League Playoff weekend over www.icehockeyleague.co.uk
and managed the pay per view service including
set up of the payment interface and security systems.
This was the first time ever British Ice Hockey
was made available over the Internet. Following
the success of the broadband service, Servecast
has been awarded a three year contract to implement
and manage the complete broadband subscription
and delivery platform for live and on-demand audio
& video content of British Ice Hockey.
Ice Media Productions is dedicated to providing
comprehensive and sophisticated internet coverage
to Ice Hockey fans. Having originally brought
Ice Hockey to the TV screens, Ice Media productions
has now, in partnership with Servecast, brought
the league live over the Internet in order to
provide a more accessible route for Ice Hockey
fans to watch their sport.
According to Heath Rhodes of Ice Media Productions,
"Ice Hockey is a niche but popular sport.
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. With Servecast's
advanced Media Studio platform we can deliver
a sophisticated and flexible online viewing experience
for fans of Ice Hockey and provide greater accessibility
to make sure those fans are not missing out on
all the action."
Having worked with leading sports brands such
as Sky Sports, Setanta Sports, Liverpool FC, Man
Utd, the Rugby Superleague and the Ryder Cup,
Servecast has unrivalled technical and commercial
insight into new media sportscasting.
The three year deal with Ice Media Productions
includes the design and setup of a complete broadband
subscription and delivery platform for live and
on-demand audio & video content and 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. To ensure only
legitimate consumers can access the online content,
Servecast will provide the necessary tools to
provide security for all online video content
including a full content encryption tool to apply
digital rights management to all live and archive
content.
Servecast's comprehensive Media Studio platform
also includes a centralized content management
system, billing engine, a tailored revenue tracking
system and subscriber database and an e-mail customer
support service. Ice Media Productions will also
be provided with access to online statistics via
Media Studio to analyse subscriber trends and
behaviours.
Speaking today, Darach Deehan, CEO of Servecast
said "Broadband subscription services are
quickly becoming an integral part of the communications
mix for all sports brands. In particular niche
sports benefit greatly from online pay per view
and subscription services as they can command
much greater coverage than through traditional
TV broadcasting. We are delighted to have assisted
Ice Media Productions in successfully launching
its broadband service over www.icehockeyleague.co.uk
Using Media Studio, Ice Media Productions have
developed an exciting broadband service that offers
the best possible coverage to Ice Hockey fans
and will generate new revenue opportunities moving
forward."
About Servecast
Servecast is the leading provider of audio and
video webcasting solutions for the Sports and
Media sectors. Through it's proprietary Media
Studio platform, Servecast provides access to
a fast growing global broadband audience for high
value content such as News and Sport thereby generating
additional revenue streams for content owners.
Servecast is the partner of choice of sports broadcasters
such as BSkyB, At The Races and Setanta Sports
and facilitates the most commercially successful
sports webcasting services in Europe. Servecast
customers include Sky Sports, Liverpool FC, Manchester
United FC, Chelsea FC, Arsenal FC, Rangers FC,
the GAA, At The Races and the England and Wales
Cricket Board.
For more details contact:
Kathrina Gallogly
Marketing and Communications Manager
Servecast Ltd.,
http://www.servecast.com
Phone: +353 (0)1 4748013
Fax: +353 (0)1 4748003
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