Bright House Networks Kicks Off First LIVE Interactive Sporting Event
Football fans play along through interactive television
(ORLANDO, November 21, 2006) — For the first time ever, football fans will be able to talk back to the TV as the game is being played. On Thanksgiving night, Bright House Networks kicks off the first LIVE interactive sporting event when the University of Miami football team takes on ACC rival Boston College. The interactive game will be shown on channels 29 and 1329 in Central Florida (Orlando) and 27 and 707 in the Tampa Bay area, and is available to all Digital Cable customers. This is the first time new interactive voting/polling technology will be offered to viewers during a live sporting event. It will allow viewers to answer questions in real time throughout the game with their remote control.
“We believe this will be a great opportunity for all of our sports fans to get even more involved in the game,” said John Rigsby, president of Bright House Networks. “We are extremely pleased to present this to our subscribers as the first ever interactive LIVE event in sports programming.”
A University of Miami (5-6 overall, 2-4 ACC Coastal division) upset over 18th-ranked Boston College (9-2, 5-2) would make the Hurricanes college-bowl eligible. The Thanksgiving Day game is being played 22 years to the day after an historic match-up between the two teams. In 1984, Boston College quarterback Doug Flutie threw a 48-yard Hail Mary touchdown pass to wide receiver Gerard Phelan in the final play of the game that gave Boston College a 47-45 upset win over the then reining National Champion Hurricanes.
About Bright House Networks
Bright House Networks is the nation’s 7th largest Multiple System Operator with over 2 million customers in several large markets including Bakersfield, California; Birmingham, Alabama; Detroit, Michigan; Indianapolis, Indiana; Orlando, Florida (Central Florida Division) and Tampa Bay, Florida along with several other smaller systems in Alabama and the Florida Panhandle. The high-growth Tampa/Central Florida markets are contiguous and form one of the country’s largest cable clusters.
Bright House Networks customers have Digital Phone, high-speed data (HSD), Video-on-Demand (VOD) and Subscription Video-on-Demand (SVOD) available to them. Bright House Networks also makes available Digital Video Recorders (DVR) that have become immensely popular with customers. The company’s Florida operations currently deliver nearly 300 channels to customers and were among the first in the country to offer High Definition Television signals (HDTV). Since its introduction, HDTV has achieved impressive acceptance with Bright House Networks customers who are equipped to receive the signals.
Exceptional customer service is the company’s cornerstone of its business and top priority across all operating units. Bright House Networks local, customer service centers are available 24 hours per day, seven days per week, including holidays. Public affairs, social responsibility and community involvement continue as major initiatives for the company as an ongoing commitment to the families and communities Bright House Networks serves. This includes long-term commitments to education and to what matters in the lives of the Bright House Networks customers. Bright House Networks operations are proud supporters of and partners in children’s safety initiations, enhanced education programs and community-wide efforts to invest in the futures of children.
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