Premier Basketball League Announces Exclusive National Television Deal
June 10, 2008 - Premier Basketball League (PBL)
Reading Railers News Release
( Chicago, IL)... The Premier Basketball League is proud to announce an exclusive national television distribution agreement with Penn Atlantic Networks, Inc. Penn Atlantic, which currently provides broadband streaming of athletic events to over 200 colleges and universities, will also offer all league games via broadband beginning this season. Selected games of the Rochester Razorsharks, Maryland Nighthawks and Wilmington Sea Dawgs were available on fans on the Penn Atlantic broadband platform this past season including the PBL league championship game that was attended by nearly 10,000 fans.
Penn Atlantic Networks is launching a new twenty-four hour sports television network in January 2009 which will focus on collegiate, professional minor league and scholastic sports that receive little or no exposure from traditional terrestrial television or cable networks. The network will be available on the new digital television sub channels that were granted to local market television stations as part of the transition from analog to digital delivery. All analog television in the United States will cease on February 17, 2009.
The network is projecting to be available in ten to fifteen million homes at launch with household penetration doubling by the end of 2009. Although the network will be available over the air, the Federal Communications Commission's mandatory retransmission consent agreements will require the programming be carried on most cable systems in television markets where the network has an affiliate. In markets where affiliate agreements cannot be quickly acquired the network will seek to work with local cable companies to have its programming included on the basic digital programming tier. Digital sub channels have the same coverage and look very similar to the station's main channel. Viewers who have a new digital television may recognize them as being immediately adjacent to a local major network affiliate. For example, digital sub channels for a main channel operating on Channel 8 would be 8.1, 8.2 and 8.3.
The network's studios and offices are located in New York City. Key management personnel all have major network managerial experience.
"Penn Atlantic's multi-platform approach will give our teams broad representation across the United States and world." said Tom Doyle, Chief Executive Officer of the PBL. "No other basketball league has ever has this type of media coverage, fans can watch their home teams play away games now on "real" TV or on the Internet," said Dr. Sev Hrywnak, Chairman of the Board of the PBL. "With television coverage, more exposure will be allowed for players to be seen across the nation as fans can follow their favorite college athletes as they now play in a professional league such as the Premier Basketball League," added Hrywnak.
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Premier Basketball League Stories from June 10, 2008
- Premier Basketball League Announces Exclusive National Television Deal - Reading Railers
- Premier Basketball League Announces Exclusive National Television Deal - Saint John Riptide
- Premier Basketball League Announces Exclusive National Television Deal - PBL
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