FOX Sports Net New England Debuts ‘Gameface,’ Interactive Sportstalk TV, On March 14th

The first GAMEFACE will feature a “March Madness” college basketball preview. Hosted by FOX Sports Net New England’s Eric Frede and Boston Celtics General Manager Chris Wallace, the live show will examine each of the four NCAA regions, and include live viewer “call-ins” via Web-cams, as well as video e-mails (v-mails) and e-mails sent to the network prior to the show’s airing. Each “Web-cammers” image will appear on-screen, in a picture-in-picture format, with Frede and Wallace as they engage each other in discussion. Special guests scheduled to appear include NCAA coaches Jim Calhoun (UCONN), Mike Jarvis (St. John’s), and Tom O’Brien (Ohio State).

The March 14th show will be the first in a series of regularly scheduled GAMEFACE programs that incorporate exciting new programming options that leverage the growing broadband delivery infrastructure in New England. Wallace, co-host of the first GAMEFACE, is a recognized authority on NCAA basketball, and a contributing editor of “Blue Ribbon: College Basketball Yearbook,” America’s most comprehensive college basketball publication.

“New England leads the country in the roll-out of broadband service,” said David Woodman, Senior Vice President and General Manager, FOX Sports Net New England. “GAMEFACE offers content which caters to broadband and delivers on the promise of convergence. We’re opening up TV to a truly new experience that allows the home viewer to not only have their say, but to actually be a critical part of the on-air dynamic of a show.”

New England has more than 150,000 broadband customers, most of whom receive their high speed Internet access from cable modems. FOX Sports Net New England, working with technology leader LiveWavesm, has installed interactive “Outertainment” centers at Jillian’s Atlas Bar & Grill and Champions in Boston that will allow viewers without broadband access at home to participate via Web-cam during the March 14th GAMEFACE. The network plans to install several GAMEFACE interactive “Outertainment” centers at other locations throughout New England in the near future.

SEND V-MAILS TO GAMEFACETV@MEDIAONE.NET
Beginning today, sports fans can send v-mails and e-mails to GAMEFACE for possible inclusion during the March 14th premiere. Fans can submit their questions, or share their rants about the upcoming NCAA tournament with Frede and Wallace, by sending video file attachments or traditional e-mail to gamefacetv@mediaone.net. Depending on software, the video e-mail can be created as an executable file that can be double clicked or saved to disk to open. Files may also be sent with the following extentions: .mov, .avi and .mpeg.

Selected v-mails and e-mails will be used throughout the program on March 14th and during future GAMEFACE specials.

FOX Sports Net reaches more than 3.4 million viewers in Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont. The network is New England’s premier source for sports programming, news and information, featuring live local coverage of the Boston Celtics, New England Revolution and Hockey East, as well as a wide array of national programming, such as “FOX SPORTS NEWS” with Keith Olbermann; college football and basketball from PAC-10 and Big 12; the MLB “Baseball Thursday” Game of the Week; boxing on Sunday Night Fights; and exclusive FOX Sports Net presentations and original programs.

FOX Sports Net is a service of National Sports Partners, a 50/50 joint venture between Cablevision’s Rainbow Media Holdings, Inc., and the FOX Entertainment Group. Equally owned by Rainbow Media Holdings, Inc. and FOX Entertainment Group, FOX Sports Net now reaches more than 68 million homes nationwide.