ITV

Tag: Turner Sports

  • LeBron James’ Uninterrupted gets $15.8 m investment from Time Warner

    LeBron James’ Uninterrupted gets $15.8 m investment from Time Warner

    MUMBAI: Uninterrupted, the multimedia network for exclusive sports lifestyle content created by international icon LeBron James and business partner Maverick Carter, has aligned with two Time Warner companies namely Warner Bros. Entertainment, and existing partner Turner Sports, to raise $15.8 million in new financing.

     

    The additional capital will allow the growing athlete point-of-view platform to develop exclusive content, elevate the brand, expand to additional platforms, and further engage potential partners.

     

    “The best thing about Uninterrupted is there are so many creative opportunities for athletes to tell their stories. I’m excited to be partnering with important, innovative companies like Warner Brothers and Turner to keep building ‘Uninterrupted’ as a place for athletes to go to connect with fans and share their stories in a different way,” said James.

     

    “With the unique Uninterrupted platform, there is a real opportunity to create a special business that athletes, brands, and media partners can come together to create and distribute creative content,” added Uninterrupted CEO Maverick Carter. “Whether it’s through real-time videos, original digital series, or documentaries, Uninterrupted provides that creative outlet for athletes to share their stories in a way they can’t anywhere else.”

     

    “LeBron and Maverick bring incredible energy, focus and creativity to everything they do and are excellent partners with us in TV, film and digital,” said Warner Bros. Television Group president business and strategy Craig Hunegs. “Joining forces with LeBron, other world-class athletes and Bleacher Report to aggressively build Uninterrupted was an easy decision that’s great for fans and great for Warner Bros.”

     

    In addition to having an equity stake in the company, Turner Sports will now serve as the primary sales arm for the newly expanded Uninterrupted venture. Building on its existing role as the platform’s original content host, Turner’s Bleacher Report and Uninterrupted will have a preferred content relationship.

     

    “In collaboration with Warner Bros., Turner Sports is thrilled to expand its relationship with Uninterrupted as a leading platform for influential athletes to share unfiltered messages directly with their passionate fans,” said Turner Sports president Lenny Daniels. “Uninterrupted has been a perfect fit with Bleacher Report’s mission to provide compelling, mobile- and social-first content that drives engagement with sports fans in an authentic way and we look forward to further growing the reach of this popular multimedia platform.”

     

    Part of Uninterrupted’s planned long-term growth includes expansion onto new platforms, with the venture today announcing a new multi-year deal with go90, a mobile-first platform, to provide content, original series, and exclusive athlete point-of-view videos. The go90 platform becomes Uninterrupted’s third distribution stream following the multimedia company’s presence on Turner’s Bleacher Report and the recently announced partnership with Facebook to host 360 videos including the five-episode Uninterrupted original series Striving for Greatness, featuring exclusive behind-the-scenes footage of James’ unparalleled preparation for his pursuit of another title in his 13th NBA season. Access go90 by simply downloading the app in the App Store or Google Play.

     

    “Bringing audiences closer to what they love is what go90 is all about, so to team with the creators at ‘Uninterrupted’ makes a ton of sense,” added go90 SVP of consumer products Brian Angiolet. “If you have seen any of these rare, real-time videos and have taken in a few of the interesting athlete perspectives, then I have no doubt you’re excited about what’s coming next from Uninterrupted.”

  • Turner Sports renews contracts of Barkley, Johnson, Shaquille O’Neal, Smith

    Turner Sports renews contracts of Barkley, Johnson, Shaquille O’Neal, Smith

    MUMBAI: Turner Sports has signed multi-year extension deals for each member of TNT’s Inside the NBA studio show.

     

    The show is the recipient of 13 Sports Emmy Awards and will continue to offer fans its dynamic combination of basketball insight and analysis, entertainment and social commentary with its team comprising host Ernie Johnson and analysts Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith and Shaquille O’Neal.

     

    “We truly believe Inside the NBA is among the best studio shows of all time and a large part of its success is due to the unrivaled chemistry between Ernie, Charles, Kenny and Shaquille. We’re looking forward to continuing the creativity and pioneering spirit behind the show for a very long time,” said Turner Sports president Lenny Daniels.

     

    TNT’s Inside the NBA has continued to increase in popularity through the years, becoming appointment viewing for both the hardcore basketball fan and casual sports fans alike, while also pulling in the casual television viewer.The content of the show – including popular re-occurring segments such as “EJ’s Neat-O Stat of the Night,” “Gone Fishin’” and “Shaqtin’ a Fool,” among others – often transcends sport, mixing into the pop culture domain.In doing so, the show’s passionate fan base regularly cause Inside the NBA to “go viral” through the sharing of its top moments across a growing number of social media platforms.

     

    Johnson, a three-time Sports Emmy Award winner, is currently in his 26th year as a studio host for Turner’s NBA telecasts.

     

    Barkley, a member of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and two-time Sports Emmy Award winner, is in his 16th year as studio analyst for TNT’s Inside the NBA.

     

    Smith, a two-time NBA champion, is in his 18th year as studio analyst for TNT’s Inside the NBA.

     

    O’Neal, a four-time NBA champion and 15-time NBA All-Star, joined TNT’s Inside the NBA studio team in 2011 following a 19-year NBA career.

  • ESPN, Turner in talks to exit NASCAR early

    ESPN, Turner in talks to exit NASCAR early

    MUMBAI: ESPN and Turner Sports are talking with NASCAR about getting out of their broadcast rights agreement a year early, a move that could allow Fox Sports and NBC Sports Group to become the sport’s broadcasters next year.

     

    It’s unlikely that the four TV companies will be able to reach a deal, sources say. But the fact that these types of talks are occurring is precedent-setting in an industry where live sports rights are held sacred. For at least the past decade, no rights holder has exited a major media agreement with a property early.

     

    ESPN and Turner executives told the series that they are interested in forgoing the final year of their contract. Fox and NBC executives told NASCAR that they are interested in picking up those rights. And sources say NASCAR executives are open to the switch.

     

    But any deal faces significant hurdles. Sources said it would have to be a complete switch, not a partial one in which Turner exits its six Sprint Cup races or ESPN exits part of its Nationwide Series season. That means it would require an agreement between four competitors – ESPN, Turner, Fox and NBC – and one property, which would be difficult to structure.

     

    ESPN and Turner Sports have told NASCAR they are prepared to carry the races next year, but both would prefer avoiding that lame-duck status. Both opted not to submit final bids to retain NASCAR rights when the sport held TV negotiations last month, and they see upside in exiting their deals a year early.

     

    ESPN has had financial pressures in some areas over the last year, causing it to lay off staff and look for ways to reduce expenses. By unloading NASCAR rights in 2014, ESPN would be able to eliminate production costs and shed its roughly $270 million annual rights fee.

     

    NASCAR-related production costs are a concern for ESPN executives, particularly during the first half of the season when ESPN has rights only to the Nationwide Series.

     

    The talks won’t change NASCAR’s long-term TV picture. Between 2015 and 2024, NASCAR will collect more than $8.2 billion in media rights from Fox and NBC, which signed 10-year, $3.8 billion and $4.4 billion deals, respectively. The networks together will pay an average of $820 million a year, a 46 percent increase from the $560 million that NASCAR currently receives annually from Fox, Turner Sports and ESPN.