On a broadband line near you

Internet sailing TV channel opens for business

Now officially 'on-air' Sail.tv has started broadcasting its 24 hour sailing and watersports schedule this morning. The announcement, by the channels owners, was made on Friday at a packed press conference at the London Boat Show.

Sail.tv is launching on broadband, offering full screen delivery of its content to a global audience of over 250 million broadband users, with 24-hour, 365 days of scheduled programming. The player launches on the users computer when opening the address - http://www.sail.tv

The channel plans to bring internet audiences a wide range of programming within the scheduling covering everything from top class regattas to instructional videos, interviews with the stars, Boat show coverage, news, reviews and information on the latest developments within the sport from around the world.

Andy Steward, one of the partners in the new station said, “Sail.tv is all set to revolutionise the distribution of sailing coverage in the coming years by taking advantage of the very latest broadband technology. We are not a competitor to existing TV networks with their mass medium distribution but are targeting a special interest group - sailors worldwide. When they get home after a day on the water, they can, for the first time, go online and watch what they want, when they want. We think this is the future of broadcasting i.e. the ultimate On Demand technology.”

The technology used to deliver the video streaming is supplied by Narrowstep Inc, a well proven platform currently being used by over 50 Broadband TV channels. Features of this enable Sail.tv to be viewed at everything from 56kb dial up, to 1800kb at top quality and full screen on your computer; there is a search function for specific programming, that can be viewed on demand; live events can be seen when scheduled; there’s continuous streaming without the need to refresh or constantly buffer. Narrowstep’s platform can also deliver to 3G mobile, wireless, point of sale and even broadcast networks.

Sail.tv provides a brand new opportunity to maximize exposure within the sport for individuals, events, teams, sponsors and media partners by using cutting edge technology to make the video images instantly available worldwide.

Steward continued, “We see the station becoming the pre-eminent source of video content for sailing and water sports globally, where people can not only watch what they want and when they want, but advertisers and sponsors can reach a highly targeted audience through a medium that has never been possible in the industry before. It is a ground-breaking opportunity.”

TheDailySail will be the official news partner of the channel; providing expert, tailored news headlines throughout the day to ensure that viewers of Sail.tv are kept abreast of the latest important racing news globally.