NeuLion Signs New Multi-Year Agreement with Tennis Channel
New agreement expands relationship to include access to more live matches for more fans on more devices
PLAINVIEW, NY(22 Jun 2015)
NeuLion, Inc. (TSX: NLN), a leading technology product and service provider specializing in the broadcasting, distribution and monetization of live and on-demand digital video content to Internet-enabled devices, today announced that it has signed a new multi-year agreement with Tennis Channel, the only 24-hour programming network dedicated to tennis and the most established single-sport offering across television and the web. The companies have agreed to collaborate on expanding to new markets and additional devices, following the success of the 2015 French Open on Tennis Channel Everywhere and Tennis Channel Pluschannels powered by the NeuLion Digital Platform. The agreement extends the one reached between NeuLion and Tennis Channel in May 2014 to support the launch of Tennis Channel Plus at the start of last year’s French Open.
During this year’s tournament, Tennis Channel, the primary U.S. rights holder, gave fans an inside look at the action taking place each day—delivering 260+ hours of coverage, 140+ live matches and encore replays, and 120+ hours of nightly primetime show French Open Tonight, all powered by the NeuLion Digital Platform.
"At this year’s French Open, we saw massive growth in year-over-year viewership on our digital platform and a tenfold increase in engagement, so we’re excited to extend our partnership with NeuLion." said Adam Ware, Tennis Channel SVP and Head of Digital. "The NeuLion Digital Platform let us expand to more devices than ever before and build a new revenue stream by going direct-to-consumer with Tennis Channel Plus.”
Leveraging tournaments such as the French Open, Tennis Channel has grown Tennis Channel Plus streaming subscriptions 400 percent year-over-year. On average, 25% of subscribers use the online service once daily, with 50 percent streaming video on their computers, 25 percent on tablets, 15 percent on media streamers Apple TV and Roku, 10 percent on mobile phones.
"This new multi-year agreement with Tennis Channel, is a clear example of our land and expand strategy whereby we add content, devices and markets to our agreements, building on our proven capabilities with our customers," said Dr. Kanaan Jemili, CEO of NeuLion. "The NeuLion Digital Platform enables an OTT and a TV Everywhere experience, multiple monetization strategies, robust global rights management, and a superb viewing experience for consumers. We are proud to enable the delivery of features that are important to Tennis Channel and the best viewing experience to its fans.”
Tennis Channel is the only 24-hour programming network dedicated to both the professional sport and the tennis lifestyle. Tennis Channel Everywhere is a premiere live sports experience available for the web, Apple TV and Roku, and mobile (iOS and Android). It offers tennis fans live streaming of the Tennis Channel (free to Tennis Channel subscribers of participating TV providers), an on-demand library featuring full-length matches and original programming, and live streaming of an add-on OTT subscription network called Tennis Channel Plus .
Both Tennis Channel Everywhere and Tennis Channel Plus are powered by the NeuLion® Digital Platform, an end-to-end platform spanning content ingestion, encoding and monetization to content security and monitoring that streamline the content delivery process. The Platform facilitates the streaming of high-quality content up to 4K, including premium sports and entertainment, and has already been deployed across a rapidly growing number of OTT and TV Everywhere services through partnerships with the biggest brands in the world, including MLS, NFL, NBA, NHL, Univision and UFC, among others.
Learn more about Tennis Channel's hybrid TVE/OTT model directly from Adam Ware, Tennis Channel's Head of Digital. Live broadcast starts at 1pm EST on June 22, 2015. Register now.
About NeuLion
NeuLion, Inc. (TSX: NLN) offers solutions that power the highest quality digital experiences for live and on-demand content up to 4K on any device. Through its end-to-end technology platform, NeuLion enables digital content management, distribution and monetization for content owners worldwide. With the recent acquisition of DivX, LLC, the Company also operates a robust consumer electronics licensing business that has enabled over 1 billion devices worldwide with secure, high-quality video playback, and delivers a DivX consumer software offering that has been downloaded over 1 billion times. NeuLion's customers include major sports, entertainment and global content companies as well as major consumer electronics manufacturers and software companies. NeuLion is headquartered in Plainview, NY. For more information about NeuLion, visit www.NeuLion.com.