Inuk Networks today announced that it is to provide access to live Barclays Premier League games on the Setanta Sports 1 channel as part of its new premium TV offering – Freewire TV Extra: Student Pack. The service, which will be available from September this year to students living in university halls of residence, will feature a line-up of 20 premium entertainment, music and sports channels, including MTV, VH1, Smash Hits TV, Kiss TV, The Box Q TV and Kerrang! TV. Access to Setanta Sports 1 will be offered as an add-on to the 30 free digital channels already available on the Freewire TV platform.
Setanta Sports 1 carries a range of must-see live sports programming, including 46 Barclays Premier League games, 60 Bank of Scotland Scottish Premier League games, British Touring Car Championship and PGA Golf. This agreement to carry Setanta programming ensures that highly desirable sports programming is now a core component of the new Freewire TV Extra: Student Pack. As part of the commercial agreement, Setanta receives a fee for each subscriber to the Freewire TV Extra pack, as well as retaining all rights to advertising revenues on the Setanta channel.
The availability of top-level football games has proven to be a key factor in audiences migrating to multi-channel pay-TV platforms, especially among the young adult demographic. Including Setanta Sports 1 as one of the channels available through the Freewire TV Extra: Student Pack will ensure that live Premier League action is available as part of an affordable and attractive pay-TV bundle.
Timothy Ryan, GB Marketing Director at Setanta Sports, said: “Winning the exclusive rights to screen 46 Barclays Premier League games for the 2007/08 season as part of our programming line-up is proving to be a fantastic offering for our ever-growing audiences. By making these games available through the Freewire TV service, we’re expanding the already numerous platforms our great content is available on and expanding the universe of viewers who can access this content.”
Freewire TV offers a range of UK and international free-to-air television channels as a part of its content offering. By using the high-speed JANET network initially to deliver these channels, Inuk Networks overcomes the common obstacles of poor reception and lack of aerials for thousands of on-campus students at universities across the UK, offering a quality TV experience where none has been available before.
Nick Ruczaj, Marketing Director at Inuk Networks said: “Quality sports programming is a key ingredient to our premium content product, and Setanta Sports 1 will be one of the flagship channels within the Freewire Extra: Student Pack. For under £10 a month, students will have access to 20 carefully selected high-quality TV channels, offering the right mix of content on top of our 30-channel standard line-up. The Barclays Premier League has always been a big draw for TV audiences, and the Setanta offering will be no exception. We are excited to have them on board.”
Inuk Networks’ Freewire delivery platform is capable of managing not only the delivery of hundreds of channels of video content but also a carrier class VoIP solution and broadband Internet access. Inuk Networks will continue to add premium channels and content to its Freewire TV service as it prepares to launch its residential IPTV offering in the coming months.
Kaynak : 