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Conference TV is backed by UK Betting
There has been quite a lot written about the televising of Tuesday evening's game by Conference TV from Edgar Street.
Like many new ventures not all went strictly to plan and many viewers were left disappointed with the broadcast.
It appears that BT underestimated the demand and has promised to do better next time.
UPDATED 6pm: Since the broadcast it was suggested that Conference TV were considering taking action against Confguide over remarks made on that site and partly repeated on Bulls News. We have been informed in the last hour that no action will be taken against Confguide.
Conference TV was set up by In The Box Media who bought the exclusive broadband rights to show 300 Conference games in April this year.
ITBM has enormous experience within the field of broadband especially in the US. They are now working with The Football Conference Limited (the governing body for Nationwide Nation, North and South), British Telecom and Sporting Life to bring a similar level of exposure to the UK. The Conference are said to want the publicity and are keen to bring in extra revenue. The idea is to work with the clubs and the fans.
On 29th July this year UK Betting Limited acquired ITBM for around £1 Million. UK Betting controls several well known companies including Sporting Life and Rivals.Net. So it looks as though Conference TV will not fail for lack of funding.
The rights are for 20 "live" matches per season, plus 300 highlighted games across the 3 year deal. Clubs have to allow filming at their ground as part of the deal with Conference TV, but the company is convinced that clubs will benefit.
Graham Turner, the Hereford United manager, is yet to be convinced of the benefits of Conference TV. On the one hand attendances may be affected especially when live matches are transmitted, on the other hand Conference TV say that increased publicity about the Conference will bring its own rewards to the clubs.
At present if Sky broadcast a game then there is a fixed fee. It is unknown how much Conference TV will pay to the clubs. But Conference TV insist that there will be an injection of money that will benefit all clubs. They have made the point that Graham Turner may not have been fully briefed on any payments.
Conference TV had problems last Tuesday for which they blame BT as it failed to realise how high the demand would be. No doubt these problems will be sorted and next time a game is live on Conference TV it will again be free to viewers.
Charges for live games are coming however. It is understood that the cost will be about £2 per game.
However until Conference TV reveal how the deal will benefit clubs, there are bound to be questions.