By Tali Arbel, Technology Writer
NEW YORK (AP) --Turner Sports is the latest TV company to announce a sports streaming service as traditional television companies chase millennial audiences.
The service, expected next year in the U.S., has signed up European soccer with the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League. Higher-profile sports on Turner's TV channels, such as baseball and basketball, won't move to the new service. Instead, Turner is looking for new deals with content owners and leagues.
Live sports get TV's biggest ratings and have helped keep customers hooked on the $100-and-up cable bundle. But it's getting easier to find sports online.
Major sports channels come with cheaper, slimmer web versions of the bundle, like Sling and YouTube TV . Amazon, Twitter and Facebook are experimenting with televising games. A sports-focused streaming service, Fubo, has been around for a few years. And CBS and ESPN are planning to launch sports streaming sites.
ESPN, CBS and Turner are all hoping to lure sports fans with the new services while protecting the existing TV business, which relies on a big cable bundle.
For that reason, Turner doesn't plan to replicate what's being shown on its TV channels, truTV, TNT and TBS. The new service won't get Turner's televised coverage of Major League Baseball, the March Madness men's college basketball tournament and National Basketball Association games, including the All-Star Game.
Turner didn't announce a price for the upcoming service.
The UEFA rights have been held in the U.S. by Fox Sports and are new for Turner for the 2018-19 season. The rights with Turner run for three years. Turner will air about 20 percent of the games on its TV channels, primarily truTV; the rest are for streaming.
Turner Sports' owner, Time Warner Inc., is being acquired by telecom company AT&T for $85 billion.
SMPTE elects board officers, regional governors
SMPTE®,the home of media professionals, technologists, and engineers, has revealed the board officers and regional governors who will serve terms beginning in January 2025.
Three new officers--Richard Welsh as SMPTE president, Eric Gsell as SMPTE executive VP, and Polly Hickling as SMPTE Education VP--have been elected for a two-year term from Jan. 1, 2025, to Dec. 31, 2026. One SMPTE officer, Lisa Hobbs, will be continuing her service as SMPTE secretary and treasurer for another two-year term. Additionally, Raymond Yeung will be stepping into the role of standards VP on Jan. 1, 2025.
“SMPTE’s membership has spoken,” said SMPTE interim executive director Sally-Ann D’Amato. “These officers have been tasked with an important responsibility, one each of them is prepared to tackle head-on. These next two years are looking bright for SMPTE!”
In addition to the officers, 10 regional governors were elected by the Society to serve two-year 2025-2026 terms.
These include the following regional governors, re-elected to continue their service:
Asia-Pacific Region Governor
Tony Ngai, Society of Motion Imaging Ltd.
EMEA - Central & South America Region Governor
Fernando Bittencourt, FB Consultant
United Kingdom Region Governor
Chris Johns, Sky UK.
USA - Central Region Governor
William T. Hayes, Consultant
USA - Eastern Region Governor
Dover Jeanne Mundt, Riedel Communications
USA - Western Region Governor
Jeffrey F. Way, Open Drives
Also elected were four newcomers to the SMPTE Board:
Canada Region Governor
Jonathan Jobin, Grass Valley
USA - Hollywood Region Governor
Allan Schollnick, Voxx... Read More