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Sportskool is a US-based cable television network dedicated to sports instruction, exercise and entertainment. Sportskool was launched as a free on-demand channel in 2004 by Rainbow Media Holdings now known as AMC Networks, which at the time was a subsidiary of Cablevision. [1] Sportskool was acquired in October, 2008 by Grace Creek Media, Inc, a television production and distribution company headquartered in Annapolis, MD. [2] Sportskool's programming consists largely of sports, fitness and yoga instruction featuring professional athletes and coaches like Mia Hamm (soccer) Bode Miller (skiing) Misty May Trainor (volleyball) and Tony Gwynn (baseball) and the US Navy Seals (fitness). [3] In 2010, Sportskool produced the six-part series "For Coaches & Parents: It's More Than A Game," with Hollywood actor and youth coach Sean Astin. The channel also features sports documentaries, including the original production "Yogi Berra: Deja Vu All Over Again", [4] "Women and the Waves", and “Sean White: Wizard of Winter Games” among others.
US television providers carrying Sportskool’s free on-demand channel include Cablevision, Comcast, Time Warner, [5] Brighthouse [6] and Verizon FiOS, reaching more than 37 million households. Sportskool programming is also available through seven subscription channels on Roku [7] and other streaming devices. Each subscription channel is dedicated to a specific sports category or activity. Channels include Sportskool Yoga, Fitness, Golf, Team Sports, Extreme Sports, Endurance Sports, and Women’s Sports. In 2012, Sportskool launched a 24/7 linear channel that is available in select markets around the world. Sportskool programming is available in a number of markets outside the US, including India, Indonesia, Singapore, Hong Kong, The Philippines, Malaysia, and Australia. [8]
On May 9, 2013, Google announced that SportskooPlus would be among the first 53 paid subscription channels offered on YouTube. [9]
Video on demand (VOD) is a media distribution system that allows users to access videos without a traditional video playback device and the constraints of a typical static broadcasting schedule. In the 20th century, broadcasting in the form of over-the-air programming was the most common form of media distribution. As Internet and IPTV technologies continued to develop in the 1990s, consumers began to gravitate towards non-traditional modes of content consumption, which culminated in the arrival of VOD on televisions and personal computers.
Pay television, also known as subscription television, premium television or, when referring to an individual service, a premium channel, refers to subscription-based television services, usually provided by multichannel television providers, but also increasingly via digital terrestrial, and streaming television. In the United States, subscription television began in the late 1970s and early 1980s in the form of encrypted analog over-the-air broadcast television which could be decrypted with special equipment. The concept rapidly expanded through the multi-channel transition and into the post-network era. Other parts of the world beyond the United States, such as France and Latin America have also offered encrypted analog terrestrial signals available for subscription.
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AMC is an American multinational basic cable television channel that is the flagship property of AMC Networks. The channel's programming primarily consists of theatrically released films, along with a limited amount of original programming. The channel's name originally stood for "American Movie Classics", but since 2002 the full name has been de-emphasized as a result of a major shift in its programming.
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VDC Corporation was a distributor of multichannel video programming that delivered live cable television through broadband connected computers in the United States. They developed and were involved in the distribution and delivery of live cable television programming channels.
The Ski Channel is a Video On Demand Cable, Satellite and Telco television channel distributed on Comcast, Time Warner Cable, DirecTV, Verizon FiOS, Brighthouse Networks, Cablevision, RCN, AT&T U-Verse and Cox Communications. The technical term for a channel of this type is VODnet. It features mountain oriented sports, activity and lifestyle content and is devoted to year-round mountain activities such as skiing, snowboarding, hiking, biking, backpacking, climbing and other mountain sports. The channel launched on December 25, 2008. Tennis doubles team Bob and Mike Bryan are investors in the channel. It was founded by Steve Bellamy who also founded Tennis Channel.
A VODnet is a Video On Demand-driven cable and satellite television network. It is a non-linear television network in that the content resides on a server and the consumer calls up the particular program they want to watch from a digital menu. This is in contrast to a linear network that shows scheduled programs throughout the day. Usually VODnets are genre portal based. For example, Sportskool and The Ski Channel would be found under "Sports" and MGM Channel would be under "Movies."
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CloudTV is a software platform that virtualizes CPE or STB functionality, enabling pay-TV operators and other video service providers to bring advanced user interfaces and online video experiences such as YouTube and Hulu to existing and next-generation cable television and IPTV set-top boxes and connected consumer electronics devices.
PlayStation Vue was an American streaming television service that was owned by the Sony Interactive Entertainment subdivision of the Sony Corporation of America division of Sony. Launched with a limited major-market rollout on March 18, 2015, the service – which was structured in the style of a multichannel video programming distributor – combined live TV, on-demand video, and cloud-based DVR to stream television programs, movies, and sporting events directly to a PlayStation console or other supported device – including smart TVs, digital media players and apps – without a subscription to a cable or satellite television provider. Targeting cord cutters, PlayStation Vue was designed to complement subscription video-on-demand services. As of August 26, 2018, the service had approximately 745,000 subscribers. On October 29, 2019, Sony announced PlayStation Vue would be ending service on January 30, 2020, because "the highly competitive Pay TV industry, with expensive content and network deals, has been slower to change than we expected".
Sling TV is an American streaming television service operated by Sling TV LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Dish Network. Unveiled on January 5, 2015, at the Consumer Electronics Show, the virtual multichannel video programming distributor aims to complement subscription video on demand services for cord cutters, offering a selection of major cable channels and OTT-originated services that can be streamed through smart TVs, digital media players and apps. The service is available in the United States and Puerto Rico as of 2015.
HBO Now was an American subscription video on demand streaming service for premium television network HBO owned by WarnerMedia subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc. Officially unveiled on March 9 and launched on April 7, 2015 the service allows subscribers on-demand access to HBO's library of original programs, films and other content on personal computers, smartphones, tablet devices and digital media players. Unlike HBO Go, HBO's online video on demand service for existing subscribers of the linear television channel, HBO Now was available as a standalone service and does not require a television subscription to use, targeting cord cutters who use competing services such as Netflix and Hulu. As of February 2018, HBO Now had 5 million subscribers.
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