(WEB HOST INDUSTRY REVIEW) — Premium cable television network, Showtime (www.sho.com), will offer Mixed Martial Arts fans the opportunity to watch Showtime’s premiere of Strikeforce with its new interactive online experience, Strikeforce: All Access (strikeforce.sho.com), powered by BitGravity’s (www.bitgravity.com) content delivery and Episodic’s (www.episodic.com) online video publishing and monetization services.
According to the network’s Wednesday announcement, the Pay-Per-View digital initiative will begin with an interactive, live stream of Strikeforce: Shamrock vs. Diaz, on Saturday, April 11. Unlike the linear television feed, however, the online version lets online participants control their own viewing experience through multiple camera angles with corresponding audio tracks, and a choice of audio commentaries.
“By and large, the core fight fans watching MMA on Showtime are among the most technologically savvy of all viewers,” Showcase sports and event programming senior vice president and general manager Ken Hershman said in a statement. “We are proud to offer this enhanced experience to an audience that will embrace the opportunity to control the content and interact with one another during the live show. Strikeforce: All Access puts you in the driver seat.”
Online viewers can also interact with fellow users, view user-generated photos and download select music tracks from the event. Through this interaction, fans can voice their predictions, comment on live fights, discuss outcomes and even talk smack with All Access through a live Facebook Connect application.
Strikeforce: All Access also gives users access to professionally shot photos of the fight, as well as behind-the-scenes and backstage images and fan photos, uploaded live during the event using Flickr.
Showtime digital media senior vice president and general manager Robert Hayes said his network has stayed at the forefront of multi-platform initiatives for years. “We were the first premium network to offer content on iTunes,” Hayes said in a statement. “We were the first to offer Emmy voters online screenings of Showtime nominees. We partner with over 100 sites when sampling episodes of our original series and Showtime Sports content. And we are the only premium network offering the explosive sport of mixed martial arts.”
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