NBC and iStreamPlanet Working Together to Broadcast Wimbledon
(SPORTS TECHNOLOGY)
iStreamPlanet and NBC have again teamed up to broadcast live sporting events. Last month they worked together to stream The French Open and now they’re working on another Grand Slam tennis event, the Championships at Wimbledon.
While both NBC and ESPN2 will be airing Wimbledon on TV, NBC wanted to stream the matches live over the Internet and chose iStreamPlanet.
“NBC Sports is pleased to be collaborating once again with iStreamPlanet for these two major tennis tournaments," said Eric Black, director of Digital Operations for NBC Sports & Olympics. "As we continue to expand our live streaming business, iStreamPlanet has been a valued partner who has brought operational excellence and the industry know-how we needed to create some of the most innovative and engaging online video experiences for our users."
iStreamPlanet provides live Internet broadcast services through the use of their Video Workflow Automation Platform (VWAP). VWAP will enable iStreamPlanet to capture the Wimbledon matches and show them via satellite from their Broadcast Operations Center in Las Vegas.
In addition, iStreamPlanet will manage its VWAP from its European Broadcast Operations Center. The location of their European center works out perfectly as it’s located in London, the same city that hosts Wimbledon. iStreamPlanet previously worked with NBC to stream major live sporting events, including the Masters Golf Tournament, Sunday Night Football, and the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Games. So working with NBC at Wimbledon is nothing new.
"We are excited to once again be working with NBC Sports on Wimbledon this year in addition to having worked with them last month on the French Open," said Mio Babic, CEO of iStreamPlanet. "Having just announced our round of financing led by Intel (News 
- Alert) Capital, we are now in an even better position to bring new and innovative solutions to NBC Sports and enable them to distribute and monetize on their content across multiple platforms and a growing number of IP connected devices."
NBC will cover both Thursday’s women’s semifinals and Friday’s men’s semifinals from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. Viewers can also tune into Saturday’s women’s championship from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. and Sunday’s men’s championship from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Conor Boland is a TMCnet editorial assistant, contributing news items and feature articles on a variety of communications and technology topics. To read more of Conor's articles, please visit his columnist page.
