Disappearing NHL seeks Slingbox boost
SCOTT JAGOW: The National Hockey League has terrible TV ratings — more people watched a Food Network show about hamburgers than the first game of the Stanley Cup Finals.
But the NHL might set a new trend in watching sports. It just signed a deal with Sling Media to provide fans with something called a Slingbox. Janet Babin reports from our Innovations Desk at North Carolina Public Radio.
JANET BABIN: Slingbox is a device that transfers your favorite shows from your TV to your computer, whereever you are in the world. The new video clip deal with the NHL will let users grab bits of a live game and post it to a Web site to share with others. Porter Bibb with MediaTech Capital Partners says the deal is perfect for the fading hockey league.
PORTER BIBB: IThe NHL is desperate — they had the Stanley Cup and nobody even noticed.
But Bibb expects other sports to migrate to Slingbox too. Who else but sports fans, he says, are so passionate about watching their team on TV, no matter where they are?
BIBB: I’d be shocked if the NFL doesn’t follow suit, and the NBA — it’s a wonderful brand builder.
But Major League Baseball is one league that’s not interested. At one point, it threatened to sue Sling for copyright infringement.
I’m Janet Babin for MP.
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