Cable over builder RCN has scored a multiplatform carriage agreement with One World Sports.
Starting Tuesday, current and new RCN digital subscribers will be able to access One World Sports’ video content in RCN’s New York market and in most of the other sustems in its footprint. One World Sports, which covers golf, baseball and soccer from Asia, the Pacific and around the world, will be available to RCN customers on its Premiere Sports Tier as well as SD and HD channels.
The new agreement will provide RCN subscribers in New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, Boston, Washington, D.C. and Pennsylvania’s Lehigh Valley with more than 3,000 hours annually of exclusive sporting events.
“Global sports programming such as that provided by ONE World Sports appeals to our diverse customer base whose appetite for sports extends across the globe,” said Chris Fenger, RCN executive vice president & chief operating officer. “Like RCN, One World Sports is an independent provider nimble enough to target a diverse audience segment with a strong emphasis on delivering high quality content. More and more people are showing interest in international sports offered by One World Sports, and we are excited to make these events available to our viewers.”
The deal will also expand the availability of the New York Cosmos soccer team since One World Sports is the Cosmos’ home station. One World Sports is also the exclusive U.S. TV home of soccer clubs Arsenal FC TV, Chelsea FC TV and FC Bayern Munich TV.
“Our agreement with RCN gives us an additional foothold in the New York market, where we’re seeing particularly strong demand, as well as an entrance to other key top-10 markets,” said Randy Brown, executive vice president of distribution of One World Sports. “In fact, all of RCN’s markets, spanning the East from Boston to Virginia, plus west to Chicago, present an excellent opportunity for our network, since our research shows that these regions demonstrate a solid fan interest in soccer and other global sports.”
In addition to RCN, One World Sports also has retransmission deals in place with Verizon FiOS, Dish Network, Charter Communications, Cablevision, Mediacom Communications, Hawaiian Telcom and Google Fiber.
