流媒体体育向前迈进一步

Football may be center stage with the ramp up to Superbowl Sunday, 但在翅膀上, other leagues are busy preparing to bring sports fans into the digital age. The National Hockey League (NHL) is turning its All-Star Weekend into a testing ground to see how new technologies can enhance the viewer experience. 另外, Major League Baseball Advanced Media signed on with Virage to provide online searchable video highlights of the 2001 baseball season.

The 2001 NHL All-Star Weekend will take place on 2月. 3-4掘金, and will explore interactive television broadcasts with ESPN, Be Here 360度网络直播, and real-time stats from hockey players' helmets with Trakus.

"These tests will empower our fans with control over their hockey programming and will give us a better understanding of the opportunities that new and emerging media present for the NHL,道格·帕尔曼说, 集团副总裁, NHL Media Ventures.

ESPN, in conjunction with the National Hockey League, will conduct a live interactive television test featuring prime-time programming from NHL All-Star Saturday. 2月的考试. 3, will cover the NHL Heroes of Hockey Game followed by the Dodge/NHL SuperSkills Competition, as well as the telecast of the Winter X games being held at Mt. 佛蒙特州的雪.

Enhanced features will be available on TV screens of sports fans with suitable set-top boxes and cable from ESPN affiliates Adelphia, 宪章, 康卡斯特和萨斯奎哈纳. 商务.TV, RespondTV和WINK, employ software that will allow enhancements to be inserted into ESPN's signal from the company's headquarters in Bristol, 康涅狄格州. Symbols for these enhancements will be displayed through compatible set-top boxes on viewers' television screens. Also, DirectTV subscribers with the latest RCA DSS unit can participate in the test. ESPN is anticipating approximately 2 million homes will take part in this television event.

Participating viewers will be able to individually manipulate the enhancements using their remote controls. The enhancements for the most part take the form of e-commerce opportunities, such as interactive commercials with product sampling, 息提供了, 抽奖和产品购买, as well as the ability to purchase NHL All-Star Weekend merchandise.

加入游戏Be Here, a provider of 360-degree live streaming Internet video technology, will be placing NHL.com users in the midst of the action for the Conoco/NHL All-Star Open Practice on Saturday, 2月. 3. Be Here's cameras will be positioned behind the goal and at center ice, streaming live to NHL.com. The technology allows the viewer to navigate through the 360-degree streaming video, placing more control in the hands of the user. Be Here will also take fans on a virtual guided tour of NHL All-Star Fantasy, 联盟的互动粉丝节, 周四开始, 2月. 1.

Coverage of NHL All-Star Weekend will include a demonstration of technology developed by Trakus, Inc. 和NHL. During the Dodge/NHL SuperSkills Competition 和NHL All-Star Game, a select number of players will have a small device inserted in their helmets to track the speed of each skater, 距离滑了, 支票的影响, and other physical statistics not accurately measured by the human eye. Each selected athlete will wear a transmitter weighing only 2 ounces. These transmitters send signals to antennas surrounding the ice rink. 信号在2点发射.45ghz，也使用扩频, 一项曾经为军方保留的技术, to simultaneously meet FCC requirements and operate in the presence of other signals. The antennas measure the arrival times of the signal to calculate a player's position and repeat these measurements at least 30 times per second. The resulting statistics will be made available to the broadcasters throughout both telecasts and will be posted after the games on NHL.com.

Major League Baseball (MLB) is also stepping up to the digital plate with plans to provide its Web audience with searchable digital highlights for the 2001 baseball season. Virage, 流媒体服务和软件提供商, signed an agreement with Major League Baseball Advanced Media, a separate business entity that is jointly owned by the 30 Major League Baseball clubs, to provide the software tools and application services necessary to bring searchable and interactive streaming media game highlights to the Web. MLB was not immediately available for further comment.