PRESS RELEASE 22 June 2016
HENLEY ROYAL REGATTA
BT Sport to broadcast Henley Royal Regatta live for the first time
BT Sport UK secures rights to broadcast Henley Royal Regatta live for the first time this year as the event capitalises upon the success of the 2015 broadcast project.
Live coverage of racing will begin on BT Sport at 1300 BST on Wednesday 29th June, Thursday 30th and Friday 1st July, with the full day’s racing shown live on Saturday 2nd and Sunday 3rd of July. Coverage of the event on BT Sport will be a valuable update to the Regatta’s YouTube coverage, which streams the whole event live around the world.
The addition of BT Sport, one of the UK’s leading broadcast companies since its creation in 2013, is a huge step forward for the Regatta and will bring racing of the highest calibre to screens across the UK.
In 2016, the Regatta has received a record high 629 entrants, with crews entered from Singapore, China, New Zealand, Canada and the USA amongst others. The Dutch Olympic men’s squad has also sent a contingent to Henley, including their men’s eight who were winners of the World Cup Regatta in Lucerne earlier this month.
Sir Steve Redgrave, Chairman of Henley Royal Regatta, said: “It’s a fantastic opportunity for us to continue to widen our reach and improve the coverage of the best-known regatta in the world. Along with Sunset+Vine, our production partner, we are proud of what we achieved in our first year of broadcasting the Regatta on YouTube, using innovations like drone footage.
Simon Green, Head of BT Sport said “We’re delighted to welcome the Henley Royal Regatta to BT Sport in its record breaking year and we are looking forward to bringing the excitement of the regatta to our viewers for the first time.”
Andrew Preece, Sunset+Vine’s Executive Producer on Henley Royal Regatta, commented: “This is the second year of our production partnership with Henley Royal Regatta. To have secured a live broadcaster of BT Sport’s stature, so quickly in our association, is great news. BT Sport’s commitment to broadcast the entire five-day regatta can only help to further the reputation of this prestigious event to a domestic audience known to embrace rowing when it is available to watch.
“Our production teams will further enhance the viewing experience with a number of coverage innovations that will also appear in the World Feed we are producing. In Michael Cole, Jonathan Edwards [World Feed] and James Hopkins and Rob Levi [BT Sport], we have four of the country’s best leading the coverage. We are also pleased that Mark Durden-Smith will anchor the BT Sport coverage. Mark’s personality will bring sporting credibility with a light touch to the programming.”
BT Sport is available on BT TV, Sky and Virgin Media television platforms in the UK, and also for Virgin Media Ireland in the Republic of Ireland. Henley Royal Regatta is the world’s pre-eminent river regatta and one of the highlights of the social and sporting summer calendar.
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Notes to Editors
About Henley Royal Regatta
Henley Royal Regatta is the pre-eminent, river-based international rowing regatta. It has an unparalleled tradition and place in the hearts of top rowers around the world. Held annually since 1839, except during the two World Wars, Henley forms an essential part of the British summer sporting scene.
More than 300,000 spectators are attracted to the Regatta each year, and competitors liken the experience to rowing “in a stadium” such is the proximity, number and noise of the knowledgeable crowd that lines the banks. Rowing greats and Olympic champions such as Sir Steve Redgrave, now Chairman of the Committee of Management of the Regatta, Sir Matthew Pinsent, Katherine Grainger, Greg and Jonny Searle, Caryn Davies, Mahe Drysdale, Eric Murray, Hamish Bond, Mirka Knapkova, and others can all count Henley titles amongst their biggest achievements.
Henley is also unique in that school, college and university students have the opportunity to race alongside the greatest names in their sport.
About SUNSET+VINE
Sunset+Vine is a leading independent supplier of sports programming to broadcasters in the UK and overseas. It has won over 40 broadcast awards including nine Royal Television Society awards and six BAFTA’s most recently for “Best Sport and Live Event” in relation to its production of Channel 4’s ground-breaking coverage of The London 2012 Paralympic Games.
Sunset+Vine was appointed as primary production partner for BT Sport (launched August 2013) and now produces the channel’s live English Premier League Football and Aviva Premiership Rugby matches and all support programming. The company was Host Broadcaster of the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games as well as for the Volvo Ocean Race 2014-2015. It has recently been awarded both the ICC’s Live Events Production Services contract 2016-2019 and the ICC’s Non Live Programming contract for the same period.
A leader in Advertiser Funded Programming, the company devised the world’s most watched weekly sports’ show “Gillette World Sport” (shown in 180 countries at its peak) which has recently been re-commissioned. Mobil 1 - The Grid is also amongst its extensive portfolio. The company is part of The Tinopolis Group.