Spring Training Powerhouse Hitter, Michael Morse, Named #1 MLB “Rising Sports Star”
Brand Affinity Technology Ranks Baseball Stars with Greatest Preseason Popularity Gains as Season Opens
Washington Nationals’ left fielder Michael Morse has earned the top spot on Brand Affinity Technology’s monthly list of Rising Sports Stars. This special MLB-only edition of the list identifies baseball players with the most significant leaps in popularity during the preseason – athletes poised for greatness as the season starts. Morse turned heads with nine home runs during spring training, making him one of the most watched players as the regular season begins. His popularity increased a whopping 92% over the preseason, putting him at the top of the list of stars to watch in the month of April.
This month’s Rising Stars list is the youngest to date, with none of the athletes more than 25 years old. The top three spots on the list were rounded out by up-and-coming young pitchers Brett Anderson of the Oakland Athletics and Jeremy Hellickson of the Tampa Bay Rays. The full list and additional details are available at: www.brandaffinity.net/RisingStars/april2011.
Rising Sports Stars is distributed by Brand Affinity Technologies (BAT), a company that calculates daily consumer affinity based on a proprietary combination of media exposure, performance, awards, popularity, engagement, and fan base, among other indicators, for more than 45,000 athletes and celebrities. The list identifies sports stars with the greatest leaps in popularity, on a percentage basis. A meteoric rise may indicate a standout on-the-field performance, off-the-field achievement, or emergence from utility player to celebrity.
MLB.TV has served one billion live video streams since its inception
As one of the largest subscription video offerings on the Internet, MLB.TV has served one billion live video streams since its inception, 25% of which were delivered in 2010 alone. The 2011 season packages for MLB.TV are on sale now at MLB.com, the official Web site of Major League Baseball.
“Fans have continued to demonstrate, in record numbers, their desire to consume live baseball in the most convenient ways possible,” said Noah Garden, Executive Vice President, Revenue, MLB.com. “We remain committed to expanding MLB.TV for our subscribers by leveraging emerging technological platforms and partnerships that deliver a rich experience.”
In 2011, fans will be able to follow every game wherever they are with MLB.TV support across a variety of mobile and connected platforms, including iPhone, iPod touch, iPad and Android devices through the top-selling MLB.com At Bat apps for each and Sony PS3 and other connected devices. Additional platform offerings for MLB.TV live streaming will be announced as they become available.
Along with portability, this year’s product offers subscribers a host of cutting-edge features in the award-winning MLB.TV media player, delivering a dynamic live viewing experience for every out-of-market regular season game. Those include:
- HD Quality Picture – Speed detection technology delivers live high definition video at the industry standard of 720p on any size monitor.
- Home and Away Feeds – Watch either the home or away teams’ broadcasts.
- Alternate Audio Options – Overlay the home or away teams’ radio broadcasts over the live video or use the “Park” option to include the ballpark’s natural sounds.
- Live Game DVR Functionality – Pause and rewind or fast-forward live games.
- Clickable Linescores – Go directly to any at-bat or half-inning of a game.
- Multi-Game Viewing Options – Watch up to four games simultaneously.
- Picture-in-Picture – Choose one game and track another or watch in-game highlights simultaneously in a secondary window.
- Live Game Highlights – Real-time highlights and player stats automatically load into the media player. With one click, the clip instantly launches in a picture-in-picture window.
- Player Tracker – Customize a list to feature entire fantasy rosters and receive on-deck notifications to watch live at-bat look-ins for each player.
- Spring Training – Watch about 150 live games from Florida and Arizona.
Atlanta Braves Pitcher Tim Hudson Named Hutch Award Winner
Major League Baseball’s Tim Hudson, starting pitcher for the Atlanta Braves, will receive the 46th annual Hutch Award®. The award is given each year to a Major League Baseball player who best exemplifies the honor, courage and dedication of baseball great Fred Hutchinson, both on and off the field.
The 35-year-old native of Columbus, Ga., made his major league debut with the Oakland Athletics in 1999. Since joining the Braves just prior to the 2005 season, Hudson has become a staple in the team’s pitching rotation. In 2008 Hudson underwent an extensive reconstructive surgery on his right elbow, but he returned to become more dominant than ever during the 2010 season, earning his third All-Star selection.
Hudson said he is honored to win the Hutch Award and anticipates his upcoming visit to Seattle and Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, founded by Fred’s brother Bill, a prominent Seattle surgeon, after Fred died of cancer at age 45.
“My wife Kim and I have seen firsthand the devastation that a cancer diagnosis can have on a family,” Hudson said. “We intend to do all that we can to help to find a cure.” Read more
Turner Sports, FOX Sports and MLB.com Offer Live Streaming Companion for Every MLB Postseason National Broadcast
Cross-platform availability on iPhone, iPod touch, iPad and Android devices via top-selling MLB.com At Bat 2010 apps
Postseason.TV, the live interactive online viewing experience powered by MLB.com and MLB Postseason national television rightsholders, Turner Sports and FOX Sports, returns on Wednesday, October 6, 2010, when the Division Series begins on TBS. Postseason.TV will be accessible from MLB.com, FoxSports.com on MSN and MLB.com/TBSHotCorner.
After a successful debut last fall, Postseason.TV powered by TBS HotCorner and FOX Feeds again delivers a customized and interactive online viewing experience with up to 10 different stationary camera angles, synchronized with live audio, for every MLB Postseason game, blackout free. For fans, Postseason.TV provides an interactive enhancement to the Division Series and American League Championship Series broadcasts on TBS and the National League Championship Series and World Series on FOX.
Fans can pick-and-choose from any of the available camera angles or up to any four different angles simultaneously in a multi-view option. In addition, Postseason.TV will offer in-game video highlights, up-to-the-moment statistics and play-by-play and social media integration through a live Twitter feed.
For fans on-the-go, Postseason.TV will offer portability via At Bat 2010, the award-winning suite of mobile applications developed by MLB.com, by providing mobile access to the same live camera angles, the quad mode option and live audio. Postseason.TV again will be available on iPhone and iPod touch and new for this year through At Bat 2010 on iPad as well as select Android devices.
The entire package of live Postseason companion streaming is available for a one-time fee of $9.95.
Fans with visual impairments gain enhanced access to MLB.com
Baseball fans with visual impairments will benefit from the implementation of functional improvements to MLB.com, the official Web site of Major League Baseball, and all 30 individual Club sites as a result of a joint collaboration between MLB Advanced Media, LP (MLBAM), the American Council of the Blind, Bay State Council of the Blind and California Council of the Blind. All three organizations applaud this fan initiative taken by MLBAM.
“MLBAM has undertaken groundbreaking work to make its web sites accessible and has assumed a strong leadership position among sports, media and entertainment properties in doing so,” said Mitch Pomerantz, President of the American Council of the Blind. “We certainly urge similar sites to make this level of commitment in following MLBAM’s lead.”
As part of its initiative, MLB.com launched an accessible media center for its MLB.com Gameday Audio(TM) subscribers, offering features such as volume control, ability to choose the home or away feed and access to archived games. Additionally, MLB.com has ensured that fans with visual impairments can continue to participate in the annual online voting programs associated with the All-Star Game and will be providing an accessibility page on its site detailing information on accessibility, usability tips and customer service resources. As it continues to deliver technological innovations for following baseball games, MLB.com will make additional accessibility enhancements available to fans with visual impairments.
Brian Charlson, a Boston baseball fan and Director of Computer Training Services at the Carroll Center for the Blind in Newton, Massachusetts, described how MLB.com’s accessibility efforts have improved his enjoyment of the game: “As a member of the blind community, the kind of changes MLB.com was willing to make on its web sites keeps me coming back for more. It shows how much can be done when people with disabilities find willing partners. For example, with the changes in Gameday Audio, I find myself enjoying switching back and forth between the home and away broadcasters the same way my sighted friends do. And knowing my votes were counted in this year’s All-Star balloting made listening to the game much more meaningful. I’m excited about what MLB.com has done and about its commitment to further improvements.”
MLB.com utilized guidelines issued by the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). The web content accessibility guidelines are of particular benefit to blind baseball fans who use a screen reader, through which information on a page is read aloud, or magnification technology on their computers and who rely on a keyboard instead of a mouse.
Source: MLB.com