Tampa Bay Sports Television will expand its local sports channel to a 24/7 programming day Jan. 1.
The one-year-old network, Catch 47, is currently available only from 6 p.m.-midnight to customers of Bright House Networks.
The move gives the operator an exclusive local channel where Verizon Communications Inc. is in negotiations to obtain video franchises. Verizon has already launched services in Temple Terrace, Fla., which is surrounded by Tampa.
Catch 47 programs original series such as Bay Sports with Dick Crippen, The Bucs Extra Point and The Beef O’ Bradys High School Scoreboard.
The channel is also the official cable partner of University of South Florida athletics. Bright House recently signed a five-year deal with the university giving the channel programming rights to live and tape-delayed sports carriage.
