PRESS INFORMATION
TUESDAY 31ST MARCH 2015
SUNSET+VINE FORMS PRODUCTION PARTNERSHIP WITH
HENLEY ROYAL REGATTA
- Henley Royal Regatta to be broadcast for first time since 1976
- Five days of live-streaming and highlights programming at 2015 Regatta
(London) Sunset+Vine, the multi-award winning UK independent TV sports production and media
company, and part of The Tinopolis Group, has formed a unique partnership with the prestigious
Henley Royal Regatta. Under the terms of the partnership and following success in a competitive
tender, Sunset+Vine will live stream five days of this year’s regatta on Henley Royal Regatta’s
YouTube channel.
Michael Cole, one of the most experienced television producers of rowing events in the UK,
including the 2012 Olympic Regatta, will be Editorial Director. Immediate broadcast outputs for the
2015 edition will include 8 hours a day of live streaming and a daily 20 minute highlights programme,
both to be distributed across the HRR’s YouTube and Social Media channels. The Regatta was last
broadcast live in 1968 by the BBC, and highlights of the Regatta were last shown on television by ITV
in 1976. The production will be executive produced by Andrew Preece, out of Sunset+Vine’s Oxford
office.
Sunset+Vine Digital will also be responsible for the channel management of the Henley Royal
Regatta YouTube channel and will optimise the regatta’s content. All racing will be produced in High
Definition and screened live on the channel as well as on the Henley Royal Regatta website. A daily
highlights show will be available to watch on demand within an hour of the close of each day’s racing
from July 1-5. In addition all races will be edited and posted individually. This adds to Sunset+Vine’s
growing number of YouTube channels under management including the MCC, Crufts and Tottenham
Hotspur FC, as well as the live-streaming of major global events like the Extreme Sailing Series and
Volvo Ocean Race.
Jeff Foulser, chairman of Sunset+Vine, commented:
“We are delighted to have teamed up with Henley Royal Regatta and to provide them with
the immediate opportunity of covering this fantastic event for the first time since 1968. There
are not many opportunities to work with such a well-established, prestigious and known
sporting property, which still offers a relatively blank canvas in broadcasting terms.
“This is hugely exciting, and we look forward to producing creative and innovative coverage
of the event that can help bring the uniquely special experience of racing and spectating at
the Regatta to a much wider audience around the world.”
Sir Steve Redgrave, Chairman of the Royal Regatta, said:
“This is a very exciting project in my first year as Chairman. I picked up the baton from my
predecessor Mike Sweeney who initiated the project, which is now being led by fellow
Regatta Stewards, Neil Chugani and Sir Matthew Pinsent.”
“We have a small team that is now working hard with Sunset + Vine to produce a quality
product which will bring the passion and excitement of Henley to a new audience.”
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The Regatta, founded in 1839, is the best-known rowing regatta in the world, and is one of the
highlights of the summer sporting and social calendar in the UK, as well as the rowing calendar
internationally. It attracts 300,000 visitors over a five-day period. More than 200 races feature at
the Regatta, which includes Olympians and emerging stars from around the world and is renowned
for its gladiatorial match-racing.
ENDS
For further information on Sunset+Vine:
Greg Moore, Head of PR, Sunset+Vine M: +971 (0)55 885 4734 E: greg.moore@sunsetvine.com
About SUNSET+VINE
Sunset+Vine is a leading independent supplier of sports programming to broadcasters in the UK and
overseas. It has won over 40 broadcast awards including nine Royal Television Society awards and six
BAFTA’s most recently for “Best Sport and Live Event” in relation to its production of Channel 4’s
ground-breaking coverage of The London 2012 Paralympic Games.
Sunset+Vine was appointed as primary production partner for BT Sport (launched August 2013) and
now produces the channel’s live English Premier League Football and Aviva Premiership Rugby
matches and all support programming. The company was Host Broadcaster of the Glasgow 2014
Commonwealth Games and is currently host broadcaster for the Volvo Ocean Race 2014-2015. In
the Middle East, Sunset+Vine has been Host Broadcaster for the Dubai World Cup for 17 consecutive
years. A leader in Advertiser Funded Programming, the company devised the world’s most watched
weekly sports’ show “Gillette World Sport” (shown in 180 countries at its peak) which has recently
been re-commissioned. Mobil 1 - The Grid is also amongst its extensive portfolio. The company is
part of The Tinopolis Group.
About THE TINOPOLIS GROUP
The Tinopolis Group comprises 17 companies dedicated to the creation and global distribution of
world-class content. It is one of the largest remaining independent television producers with
significant business bases in London, Wales, Glasgow and LA, producing high quality content for all
key networks in both the US and the UK and for a fast-growing stable of brands and agencies.
Tinopolis produces and distributes over 2,500 hours of award-winning broadcast and online
content, across seventeen companies.
Tinopolis comprises some of the most respected names in the industry across the US and UK,
including A. Smith and Co, Base Productions, Daybreak, fFatti fFilms, Firecracker Films, Magical Elves,
Mentorn Media, Passion Distribution, Pioneer Productions, Rain, Sunset + Vine and Tinopolis
Wales/Cymru. The group recognises the importance of technology in today’s media landscape and
invests in solutions to bring added value to its content customers. http://www.tinopolis.com/
For further information on Tinopolis:
Franklin Rae PR: Shereene Whitter/Safia van der Zwan/Sophie Naylor
Firstname@franklinrae.com T:+44(0) 203 011 1023
About HENLEY ROYAL REGATTA
Henley Royal Regatta is the pre-eminent, river-based international rowing regatta. It has an
unparalleled tradition and place in the hearts of top rowers around the world. Since 1884 the
Regatta has been organised by a self-electing body of Stewards, at present numbering 60, most of
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whom are well-known and successful rowers and scullers. When Pierre de Coubertin created the
modern Olympics, he modelled the International Olympic Committee on the Henley Stewards.
Held annually since 1839, except during the two World Wars, Henley forms an essential part of the
British summer sporting scene. More than 300,000 spectators are attracted to the Regatta each
year, and competitors liken the experience to rowing “in a stadium” such is the proximity, number
and noise of the knowledgeable crowd that lines the banks.
Rowing greats and Olympic champions such as Sir Steve Redgrave, now Chairman of the Committee
of Management of the Regatta, Sir Matthew Pinsent, Katherine Grainger, Greg and Jonny Searle, Ben
Hunt-Davis, Mahe Drysdale, Eric Murray, Hamish Bond, Mirka Knapkova, and others can all count
Henley titles amongst their biggest achievements.
Leading rowing nations such as the United States, Canada, New Zealand, Australia, Germany, France,
the Netherlands, the Ukraine, South Africa and Italy regularly send crews to contest a number of the
20 trophies alongside leading crews from Great Britain. Top American University crews from
Harvard, Washington, Princeton, Brown and others are regular visitors. China has recently sent a
number of crews to compete.
Henley is also unique in that school, college and university students have the opportunity to race
alongside the greatest names in their sport.
For further information on Henley Royal Regatta:
Caroline Searle, HRR Press Officer
M: + 44 1225 384211
E: press@hrr.co.uk
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