Sporting Stars Support Launch Of Press Bureau TV Sports Channel

Sports specialist Press Bureau TV launches channel on GDBTV IPTV platform.

[UKPRwire, Tue Jan 20 2009] Leading sports journalist, Robert Scott Halter, launches the Press Bureau TV channel on Global Digital Broadcast’s IPTV platform. Featuring some of the greatest international sporting events, exclusive interviews and behind the scenes footage of the biggest stars from the world of sport, Press Bureau TV highlights a selection of current sports celebrities and provides the platform for sports industry brand awareness and advertising. From interviews and press conferences with professional sportsmen and sportswomen, to coverage of their training in preparation for matches and tournaments, the channel specialises in boxing, football, golf, cricket, rugby and tennis; and is targeted towards fan bases, clubs, businesses and media alike.

Robert’s sports media agency, The Press Bureau, is on the press panel of a selection of professional clubs, sports organisations and promoters and is associated with the coverage of major sporting events around the world; providing Press Bureau TV with media access to a host of important fixtures in the industry. The Press Bureau holds membership to the Sports Journalists’ Association of Great Britain, the Football Writers’ Association and the Cricket Writers’ Club, meaning this coverage extends to Britain’s famous boxers and leading America-based fighters; golfers on the Men’s European Tour and Ladies European Tour; press events surrounding top teams from English and European Football; media activities for the England Rugby Union team; press days for the England Cricket team; and matches involving the Great Britain Davis Cup tennis team.

Amir Khan and Joe Calzaghe are two of the top boxing personalities featured on the channel; along with a crop of stars which include golfing celebrities Ross Fisher, Robert Karlsson and Graeme McDowell; footballers Didier Drogba and Nicolas Anelka; international cricketers Andrew Strauss and Steve Harmison; top tennis players Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray; and Rugby Union internationals Phil Vickery and Paul Sackey.

The channel is free to view and launches with programming including: the Light Heavyweight fight between Joe Calzaghe and Bernard Hopkins from Las Vegas; the build up to Chelsea’s Champions League Final in Moscow; a preview of the England and South Africa Cricket Series; the Davis Cup tennis match between Great Britain and Austria; four autumn internationals with the England Rugby Union team and the BMW PGA Golf Championship at Wentworth; and the European Golf Open at the London Club. There are also profiles on boxers Amir Khan and David Haye, European Ryder Cup Captain Nick Faldo and footballers Nicolas Anelka, Didier Drogba and Deco.

With the dominance of male athletes and sportsmen, a refreshing side of Press Bureau TV is to also provide coverage of the world’s greatest women golfers, starting with the 2008 Women’s British Golf Open at Sunningdale.

Bethan Cutler, media manager of the Ladies European Tour, comments: “Press Bureau TV allows fans to look behind the scenes at women’s professional golf tournaments, giving them access to many areas, such as press conferences, which are usually out of bounds. Being viewed alongside so many other high profile sports, such as boxing, football, rugby and tennis, increases the exposure of women’s golf – which can only be of benefit to the players and to the game.”

Robert concludes: “IPTV provides an ideal platform for us to produce content for a worldwide viewing audience, to a high level of broadcast quality. The visual impact of the Global Digital Broadcast platform and the management of the network have provided the opportunity to be part of a major revolution in television broadcasting. The GDBTV G-Studio middleware is user friendly and a perfect working tool for building television channels.”

He continues: “I am looking forward to seeing the brand name of Press Bureau TV go from strength to strength due to its association with high profile sporting events and personalities and, of course, being backed up by a major networking environment.”

Press Bureau TV is available on the Something TV set-top box service in the UK and online globally.

To read Global Digital Broadcast press releases online and click through to all channel portals and websites, please visit: http://www.globaldigitalbroadcast.com/press

ENDS

Notes to editors

About The Press Bureau:
Robert Scott Halter Productions, trading as The Press Bureau, was established in 1989 as a sports media agency working within the coverage of boxing, football, golf, cricket, rugby and tennis. The company has access to press conferences, media centres, sporting events, press boxes, ringside seating, training facilities, arenas and stadiums throughout the world of sport.

About Global Digital Broadcast:
Established in 2005 and headquartered in Brighton, East Sussex, Global Digital Broadcast (GDBTV) provides technical services in order to enable internet protocol television (IPTV) to be delivered by broadcasters around the world, to viewers around the world. It is the first to develop and implement such a comprehensive, end-to-end, IPTV application, including the G-Studio middleware; a hybrid set-top box (STB); the online virtual set-top box (VSTB) application; secure age verification processes; and its pioneering MyPVR application, which enables the user/viewer to access previously screened programmes, including saving them in full, in addition to facilitating remote capacity.

GDBTV maintains and operates IPTV networks in America with SuncasTV, delivering Asian content across the US and globally; US based and Canal Sur run Via America, which delivers Latin and Brazilian content across the USA and Europe; Canada based IP Qube which delivers Filipino content to the US and Canada; and Something in the United Kingdom. GDBTV can deliver to 86 countries worldwide, has existing clients in over 30 countries; and territory IP-STB re-sellers positioned in Germany, Sweden, Chicago, L.A., China and Canada.