(Photo AP / Jeffrey Phelps)
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TV maker Vizio has drafted a version of free sports content on the team for the SmartCast proprietary interface, adding the CBS Sports app on its own and three free channels of “shoulder” content from beIN, the Pac-12 and the NFL.
“For decades, sport has made a huge impact on TV viewing and communication,” said Katherine Pond, Viz Business Development at Vizio. “SmartCast viewers will now have access to even more free sports content from some of the world’s major leagues and media rights holders.”
The CBS Sports app provides free access to news, scores, ambitions and betting advice, as well as streams of some live sports events hosted by CBS-affiliated venues, including golf, SEC college football and NCAA college basketball.
Other events – such as European football tournaments, NFL games, and the NCAA’s March Madness college basketball tour – require an authenticated account with a traditional Pay TV provider to view through the app.
SmartCast also provided access to free streams of sports-related programming from NFL Media (the NFL Channel), the Pac-12 Network (Pac-12 Insider) and beIN Sports (beIN SPORTS XTRA).
The three recently added networks offer additional content about the leagues, games, and athletes they typically cover, including personality traits, re- play classic games, news and ambitions.
BeIN SPORTS XTRA also offers sampling of beIN international football, basketball and sports games from several continents. A Spanish version of the network is expected to appear later this year.
Live sports programming remains a major attraction for consumers who are still paying for a traditional pay-TV membership amid a rampant chord cut. And conversation about these games, teams and athletes before, during and after they’ve been played has grown into a constant attraction for hard-core fans.
Vizio’s own data division, Inscape, said NFL, NBA and Major League Baseball matches were the top three shows in September on serial TV as a percentage of watch time on VIZIO-connected TV.
In addition, sports rights are expected to become a hot commodity in the coming months. High-dollar puzzles between traditional broadcasters, cable networks and tech newcomers such as YouTube and Amazon are expected in the coming months as franchises for three of the largest sports leagues in the United States are nearing completion. The output of these tussles could either sustain traditional venues with a set of loyal viewers, or accelerate the movement of viewers to video streaming.
Vizio’s SmartCast, as a proprietary TV interface from rivals LG and Samsung, offers internet-connected access to a wide variety of video streaming services. The built-in interface features also compete with standalone streaming devices from manufacturers such as Roku, Amazon, Apple, and Google
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Access to these distribution platforms has become increasingly important for content owners, as was confirmed this year when Roku and Amazon’s firefighting platform rejected new high-end streaming services. carry an image from AT&T and Comcast
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