GOL TV

This article is about the American sports network. For the similarly named and themed network in Spain, see Gol Televisión.

GOL TV is the first television network dedicated fully to soccer in the United States. It is based in North Bay Village, Florida and is owned by GOLTV Inc. The network broadcasts selected football matches of the Spanish League, German Bundesliga, Coppa Italia, the Copa América, and many leagues from South America, such as the Colombia and Brazil leagues. GOL TV is a 100% bilingual channel, all programs on it are broadcast in both English and Spanish. Subscribers can get both audio feeds and choose which one to hear using the Secondary audio program (abbreviated as "SAP") feature on their television sets.

Ownership

An independent company (C Corp of Florida, USA). Enzo Francescoli is its CEO and Managing Director.

Programming

Europe

• Spain Primera División (La Liga)
  Contract with MEDIAPRO for all 380 matches each season plus highlights and magazine shows runs through 2011-2012 season. GolTV will usually air 2 or 3 matches each round. 3 matches each round (114 matches total) have been sublicensed to ESPN, Inc..^[1] GolTV and ESPN, Inc. alternates picks each round, with one company having picks 1, 4 and 5 and the other company having picks 2, 3 and 6. 3 matches each round (114 matches total, usually picks 7, 8 and 9) have been sublicensed to DirecTV, Inc. in exchange for 45 UEFA Europa League matches from the Group Stage through the final.
• Copa del Rey
  Contract with MEDIAPRO to matches from the 1st Leg of the Round of 32 through the 2nd Leg of the Semifinals. GolTV alternates "1st pick" with ESPN, Inc. for each round, with one company holding picks 2, 3, and 6 and the other company holding picks 1, 4, and 5. Contract with MEDIAPRO does NOT cover the final. A separate contract with Santa Monica Sports covers the 2011 Copa del Rey Final and the 2011 Supercopa.
• German Bundesliga
  Contract runs through 2014-2015 season.^[2] GolTV will usually air 1 or 2 matches each round. 2 matches each round have been sublicensed to ESPN, Inc. for Spanish-language telecast on ESPN Deportes and Internet streaming at ESPN3.com. GolTV and ESPN, Inc. alternates picks each round, with one company having picks 1 and 4 and the other company having picks 2 and 3. GolTV has the option to use the 5th pick to air a 3rd match.
• Coppa Italia
  Contract runs through 2011-2012 season for exclusive TV rights in English and Spanish, plus non-exclusive Internet streaming rights, to matches from the Round of 16 through the final.
• AC Milan Channel
  AC Milan matches in the Serie A delayed to Tuesday afternoons at 5pm Eastern/2pm Pacific, and AC Milan matches in the UEFA Champions League delayed to Friday afternoons at 5pm Eastern/2pm Pacific.
• UEFA Europa League
  45 matches from the Group Stage through the final (including live coverage each match day through the semifinal round. The final will air via same-day tape delay.) Sublicensed from DirecTV, Inc. in exchange for 114 La Liga matches each season. Sublicense runs through 2011-2012 season. GolTV and DirecTV alternates "1st pick" in each time slot on each match day, with GolTV holding "1st pick" in both time slots on Group Stage Match Days 2, 4, and 5 and "2nd pick" in both time slots on Group Stage Match Days 1, 3, and 6. During the Round of 32, Round of 16, Quarterfinal, and Semifinals, DirecTV usually holds "1st pick" in both time slots for the 1st leg while GolTV holds the "1st pick" in both time slots for the 2nd leg.

South America

• Argentina - all league matches involving Boca Juniors and River Plate through June 2014

• Campeonato Brasileiro
• São Paulo Championship
• Colombian Professional Football
• Primera División Uruguaya

Central America

• CONCACAF Gold Cup qualifiers

Other matches

GOL TV broadcasts select international matches, including friendlies and qualifiers for the FIFA World Cup and European Championship.

Other programs

• AC Milan Channel Report - A weekly magazine show featuring Italian club AC Milan that airs on Thursdays at 9pm US Eastern Time.
• GOAL! Bundesliga magazine - A weekly series that focuses on the lifestyles of the stars of the German Bundesliga, which airs on Thursdays at 9:30pm US Eastern Time.
• La Liga Report - A weekly series that previews the upcoming weekend in La Liga, which airs on Fridays at 7:30pm and 10:30pm US Eastern Time.
• GOLTV News - A daily newscast that airs twice each day and is devoted exclusively to soccer. It features goals, interviews, analysis and transfer news. It airs Monday through Friday at 7pm and 10pm US Eastern Time.
• FootBrazil - A weekly series that provides a recap and highlights of all the games from the Sao Paulo State Championship and the Brasileirão Serie A, as well as interviews with the biggest stars of Brazilian football. It airs on Wednesdays at 7:30pm and 10:30pm US Eastern Time.
• Hallo! Bundesliga - A weekly series that provides a recap and highlights of all the games from the Bundesliga in Germany. The program airs on Mondays at 7:30pm and 10:30pm US Eastern Time.
• La Liga 360 - A weekly highlights program covering all matches from the Spanish Primera Division. The program airs on Sundays at 9:00pm US Eastern Time.

Latest deals and growth

• On January 11, 2005, GOL TV Inc. reached a distribution agreement with DirecTV to offer GOL TV and distribute it as part of the DirecTV Mas and the Sports Pack. Dish Network previously had satellite exclusivity.

• On July 21, 2005, Coca-Cola reached an agreement with GOL TV to promote not only its products but advertising channels as well. The new airing of 'Sabor a Gol' every Friday at 8:50pm and at 1:20am US eastern time is a weekly five minute segment showing goals from local and international leagues and tournaments from around the world that are sponsored by Coca-Cola. The Coca-Cola deal comes after a similar deal with Volkswagen much earlier this year which resulted in the airing of a show called 'Volkswagen Gol'. 'Volkswagen Gol' was formerly called 'A Todo Gol'. After two years, GOL TV now has close to eight million viewers.

• In March 2007, SCP Worldwide announced that it had offered to buy 80% of GolTV for $200 million.^[3] The deal fell through, but SCP Worldwide and GolTV agreed to produce and distribute the first four rounds of South American FIFA World Cup 2010 qualifying games.^[4] GolTV showed all 20 games on their own network, 4 live, and 16 premiered 48 hours later. All games were shown live on pay-per-view, broadband and cable.

• In August 2008, Dish Network permanently removed GOL TV from its programming because of alleged contract disputes.^[5] This gives DirecTV satellite exclusivity to GOLTV.

GOL TV HD

GOL TV HD is a 1080i high definition simulcast of GOL TV that launched on August 1, 2010.^[6] DirecTV added it on August 4, 2010. Time Warner Cable in New York City added it on August 27, 2010.^[7]

Competitors

Channels with similar content include:

• Fox Soccer and Fox Soccer Plus air mostly soccer but are only available in English.
• Fox Deportes
• ESPN Deportes

See also

• GolTV Canada

References

• Gol TV Celebrates First Anniversary
• "http://www.pressi.com/int/printable/75212.html"
• "http://www.pressi.com/int/printable/59034.html"

External links

• Official Site
• Gol TV Canada
• Gol TV Latinoamérica