In a deal that is likely to be a precursor to future digital television offerings, OzEmail has announced a one-year agreement with Transworld International, to market the Wimbledon Open tennis tournament to the Australian online audience.
The Ozemail site will offer extensive online coverage of the tournament, including live audio feeds, live scoreboard, Web cams, virtual tours of Wimbledon and G2 video feeds. The contract is for one year and will allow Ozemail to use the Wimbledon trade marks to promote the site during that time.
With OzEmail currently developing projects ahead of the arrival of digital television in Australia, the Wimbledon site is likely to be a precursor of future the sort of data transmissions OzEmail could provide to complement digital TV broadcasts.
OzEmail Internet's General Manager, Justin Milne said that the fusion of Television and Internet content is an area in which his company is very interested.
"More and more television viewers are using the Web to get extra information on the shows they watch and this is especially true when it comes to sport," Milne pointed out. "Combining TV and Internet content is something OzEmail is particularly interested in. We're extremely delighted therefore that TWI chose OzEmail Internet as a partner to help position the official Wimbledon Web site as the premier online sporting event."
Commenting on the deal TWI's New Media Manager, Brian Levine, said that his company decided to close the deal with OzEmail based on its ability to develop strong online audiences.
"TWI was attracted to OzEmail Internet because of the company's proven ability to draw eyeballs to its network of content services. With television and the Internet quickly converging, we realised that we needed a strong Internet partner to deliver a first-class Internet tennis experience for Australians," Levine stated. "OzEmail Internet has one of the largest customer bases in the country and with its track record in delivering live content on the Internet, they seemed a natural choice."
