TORONTO (CP) - The Ontario Hockey League announced the launch of OHL Live Stream on Friday, a webcasting initiative that will see games broadcast live on a pay-per-view broadband basis.
The program, to be developed over a three-year term with Interactive Netcasting Systems Inc. (INSINC), will start this weekend.
"We believe this to be the ideal way for the OHL to reach out and bring more value to our fans," league commissioner David Branch said in a release. "This program gives our fans . . . the opportunity to watch practically all of our games live on the Internet."
Free webcasts will be made available for the rest of the regular season at the league's website (
www.ontariohockeyleague.com). Playoff games will be available for $8.95 per contest.
"This is a lot more than just delivering live, broadband content over the Internet," said INSINC president and CEO Hugh Dobbie. "This program will deliver valuable highlight content to fans, scouts, players and coaches who either missed a game or would like to review game clips for both strategic and entertainment purposes."
About 60 per cent of the games will be broadcast-quality feeds picked up from regional OHL broadcasts. The balance of the games will be provided using a special scout feed that will combine visuals from the press box camera and the live audio from the team radio broadcast.