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MediaZone To Offer Live
Broadband Coverage Of Wimbledon |
S.F.-based online broadcaster MediaZone announced an exclusive partnership with
the All England Lawn Tennis Club to provide live and on-demand broadband video
coverage of Wimbledon called Wimbledon Live. The service will be integrated with
the official Wimbledon Web site and will include broadcasts of more than 250 matches
on nine courts. Wimbledon Live will feature three free Radio Wimbledon channels
of live commentary and ten hours of archived footage from past tournaments (
MediaZone).
SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL’s Kaplan & Fisher report the service will be available
for $24.95 for the entire tournament, or $19.95 if purchased before the tournament
starts. Single-day passes will cost $4.95 each during the first week and $9.95
during the second. Meanwhile, Kaplan & Fisher note Wimbledon has “effectively
been working toward” providing live matches online since it negotiated TV contracts
with NBC and ESPN in ’02. IMG Media Senior Corporate VP Todd McCormack said that
NBC and ESPN agreed to lift restrictions blocking mobile broadcasts in the U.S.
“in exchange for giving them a cut of the subscription revenue.” IMG said that
“fewer than half” of Wimbledon TV licensees are blocking the service (
SPORTSBUSINESS
JOURNAL, 6/19 issue).
