NEW YORK, Aug. 26, 2013 -Tennis Channel and distribution partners Verizon FiOS TV and the National Cable Television Cooperative, Inc. (NCTC) are introducing the network’s first TV Everywhere applications today, in conjunction with the first day of the two-week US Open in Flushing Meadow, N.Y. At no extra charge, Verizon FiOS TV or NCTC subscribers will be able to access the network’s linear stream on a wide variety of additional platforms, including phone, tablet and computer.
There are a number of new ways for Verizon FiOS TV and NCTC member subscribers to enjoy Tennis Channel live on mobile and other devices other than their televisions. Tennis Channel’s Tennis Channel Everywhere app – free to all Apple and Android users, regardless of whether they currently get Tennis Channel – will have a new authentication feature that allows the subscribers of participating distribution partners to access the network’s linear stream. This is currently limited to Verizon FiOS TV and NCTC, with the expectation of rolling out additional participants in the coming months. Verizon FiOS TV users can log on through the My Verizon online portal and NCTC has added Tennis Channel to its WatchTVEverywhere authentication system.
“For the first time in history, fans now have 24-hour, mobile access to the only television network that covers 85 percent of an entire sport, and every one of tennis’ top 100 tournaments, including all four majors,” said Patrick Wilson, senior vice president, distribution, Tennis Channel. “When we launched our Tennis Channel Everywhere app this spring we made clear that we wanted to work with our distribution partners to bring an authenticated linear stream to their subscribers as soon as possible. Thanks to Verizon FiOS TV and NCTC, today we’ve taken those first steps, and we look forward to working with others.”
Though introduced with the US Open, one of the largest spectacles in all of sports, Tennis Channel TV Everywhere will continue on Verizon FiOS TV and NCTC following the tournament.
“FiOS customers who are also zealous tennis fans are obviously going to love the addition of Tennis Channel Everywhere to our online TV lineup and thanks to the efforts of Synacor, they’ll see it first with the US Open,” said Terry Denson, Verizon’s vice president of video content and strategy. “We continue to break the borders of confinement tied to the traditional TV model. This addition, along with other recent content partner adds, brings Verizon’s TV everywhere channel count to 67. And in many ways, we are just getting started so much more to follow.”
Unlike other traditional American sports that typically feature two-to-three-hour games in the evenings or on weekends, tennis’ tournament nature is tailor made for mobile applications that allow fans to stay on top of the players and action throughout the entire day. Tennis Channel’s daily, week-after-week tournament schedule covers more events than can be consumed in one television sitting, multiple matches in a wide variety of time zones, with daylong telecasts and overlapping tournaments at times.
Following the launch of its Tennis Channel Everywhere app in May, Tennis Channel has held encouraging discussions with all of its major distribution partners about expanding the service to include TV Everywhere authenticated linear streams for their respective subscribers. The network expects for additional TV Everywhere rollout in the fourth quarter.
Users can download the Tennis Channel Everywhere mobile app for Apple at https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/id651092377?mt=8 and Android at https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.tennischannel.tceverywhere.
The 2013 US Open begins today at 11 a.m. ET, live on Tennis Channel. The network’s fifth year of coverage runs the length of the two-week tournament, from Monday, Aug. 26, through Monday, Sept. 9. Tennis Channel plans 75 hours of live or first-run match play this year, and will devote close to 240 hours to the event overall. This includes exclusive live coverage from first ball through Thursday of the second week, eight-hour match windows the first week, prime-time windows the first weekend, and encore coverage of the men’s and women’s singles and doubles semifinals and finals. The channel will feature lead-in show Live at the US Open each morning before play, along with nightly news and highlight show US Open Tonight. Early mornings are devoted to Breakfast at the Open, a four-and-a-half-hour primer on the previous evening’s activity and coming day’s events.
TENNIS CHANNEL WORKS WITH VERIZON FIOS TV, NCTC TO INTRODUCE TV EVERYWHERE APPLICATIONS DURING US OPEN COVERAGE
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