By Phillip Swann
The TV Answer Man –@tvanswerman
Monumental Sports Network, the regional TV home of the Washington Capitals, Washington Mystics and Washington Wizards, is the latest regional sports network to offer a direct-to-consumer streaming service. The service, which will enable cord cutters in the teams’ market to watch live games without a pay TV subscription, will cost $19.99 a month or $199.99 a year. Fans can download the Monumental Sports Network app on iOS, Android, Apple TV, Roku and Amazon’s Fire TV. (Monumental Sports Network is the new name for NBC Sports Washington. The name change came last month after Monumental Sports & Entertainment, a company led by Ted Leonsis, the owner of the Wizards and Capitals, purchased the company from Comcast last year.)
“We are delighted to make our network more accessible to fans without a Pay TV subscription by launching direct-to-consumer memberships,” said Zach Leonsis, president of media and new enterprises at Monumental Sports & Entertainment. “Distributing our programming in new and additional ways is critical to our strategy of building the best local media platform in sports.”
Current viewers who access the network’s channel through a pay TV provider will continue to be able to watch Monumental Sports Network the same way as before, as well as via Monumental Sports Network’s newly launched digital platform with no additional fees.
The Monumental Sports app, which can also be accessed using your pay TV service’s user name and password, will include the following features:
* Access to multiple camera angles during live games with additional functionality including the ability to rewind and watch in slow motion;
* Personalized features that shape the app to the user’s favorite teams and players;
* Access to hundreds of hours of original behind-the-scenes programming.
* Ability to watch Monumental Sports Network’s live, 24/7 linear feed on-the-go on multiple devices;
* Opt-in ability to receive score alerts, team and player updates, as well as a new Monumental Sports Network newsletter;
* Daily editorial and video clips covering the Capitals, Wizards, Mystics, and Go-Go which can be saved to a user’s list for later viewing;* Sportradar integrations providing users with advanced, real-time sports data and betting analytics;
* Ticketmaster integration for ticket management and account linking.
Zach Leonsis, Ted’s son, says 4K games are coming, too. But for now, Monumental Sports is already available in 1080p HD if your pay TV provider offers programming in that format.
Have a question about new TV technologies? Send it to The TV Answer Man at swann@tvanswerman.com Please include your first name and hometown in your message.
— Phillip Swann
@tvanswerman
