Updated: Verizon FiOS Fires Up NFL RedZone Deal
Telco Positions Service As Stand-Alone Network Available On A Full-Season Basis
Mike Reynolds -- Multichannel News, 9/2/2009 12:32:00 PM
Verizon has become the third distributor to strike distribution paydirt with the NFL Network's new NFL RedZone channel.
The deal will enable Verizon to offer NFL RedZone, which highlights scoring plays from all of the league's Sunday afternoon games, to its FiOS video customers throughout the nation, including the New York DMA, as a stand-alone service.
Positioned on channel 335 in standard definition and 835 in high-definition, NFL RedZone will retail for Verizon for $49.99 for the full 17 weeks of the NFL season, kicking off on Sept. 13. At this point, the telco only plans to make the package available on a full-season basis, according to a spokeswoman.
Verizon FiOS joins Comcast and Dish Network as distributors that will offer the NFL RedZone channel. But the nation's top distributor and the No.2 DBS provider will position the service as part of their respective sports tiers, beginning Sept. 13.
The service will be hosted by Scott Hanson from the new state-of-the-art NFL RedZone studio at NFL Network's headquarters in Los Angeles.
NFL Network was able to offer the new service after concluding contract extensions with DirecTV, which now holds exclusivity for the full out-of-market NFL Sunday Ticket through 2014 and proffers the original Red Zone channel, as well as Sunday carriers CBS and Fox.
"The ultimate high-def home-entertainment experience just got better with the addition of NFL RedZone to the FiOS TV lineup," said Terry Denson, vice president of content strategy and acquisition for Verizon, in a statement. "Our subscribers will love seeing all the game-changing plays that only the NFL can deliver -- and with the pure HD picture-and-sound quality that only FiOS provides."
Noted NFL Network COO Kim Williams: "We are thrilled to announce that Verizon FiOS TV is the first major telco distributor to carry our new NFL RedZone channel. NFL fans in New York and other cities across the country that Verizon FiOS TV serves will now receive this attractive new channel. We look forward to announcing more distribution deals for one of the most exciting new products now available."
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