PegasusTV Picks Up the Pace with New Stations, Fall Program Line-Up and 24/7 Live Simulcasts: PegasusTV will be in available in Bakersfield and Santa Barbara, California by next week, according to Charles Smallwood, west coast Regional Manager for the new equestrian television network.
"Bakersfield's KBCT 34.1 and Santa Barbara's KSBT 32 will join Los Angeles and Fresno as part of our network's planned regional "cluster" for central and southern California," said Smallwood. "When the Montery/Salinas/Santa Cruz channel launches later this fall, PegasusTV will have established its first planned regional 'hoofprint' coverage for the state."
Texas will see the launch of at least two new affiliate channels during 2011, which will join Houston and the upper Gulf Coast in the build-out of the Texas regional cluster "hoofprint." Florida, Kentucky and the southeastern part of the country are next in line for the continuing national rollout.
The network also announced that Houston's PegasusTV / KUBE 57.4 is now available online with the first of the network's 24/7 simulcast of a local channel. This is a significant evolution in the network's planned multiplatform distribution strategy, as it provides 100% saturation of all households in the Houston television market.
This effectively means that anyone in the Houston market wanting to watch the channel can do so -- at no cost -- removing all barriers to network access by viewers. The channel is easily received directly with a small inside or outside antenna or through the Internet with a broadband connection via a computer or Internet-ready televisions, which are rapidly replacing existing television sets in consumers' homes.
The network's fall program grid will be anchored by a wide variety of shows and series, starting off in August with a fascinating, exclusive interview with Alltech's CEO, Dr. Pearse Lyons, taped just prior to that company's official announcement of its major sponsorship of the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games Normandy 2014 in France. "The Game Changer: Dr. Pearse Lyons" will air beginning the week of August 8, and is the first of many up-close-and-personal visits with major industry personalities planned for the coming year.
Included in the program mix will be series from trainers, clinicians and other horsemen and women of note representing equestrian knowledge and knowhow representing over 75 years of film and video. Ranging from some of today's more popular and well-known personalities to those from "out of the past" whose contributions were - and are -- just as viable and important to the industry, the network's "SmartHorse/ SmartRider" program category will cover many aspects of equestrian activities and disciplines.
An integral part of the program grid will be documentaries from around the world, providing enlightening and informative entertainment. From travel series which explore the world on horseback to Robert Vavra's "Such is the Real Nature of Horses," the poetically beautiful, extraordinary cinematographic essay on equine communication and familial relationships of horses living beyond the interference of man, the network will strive to present outstanding programs which both educate and inform while also entertaining the viewer.
Feature films and Saturday morning "serials" from the 1920's through today's blockbusters will also be available, as will ongoing veterinary and horse husbandry series, and a wide variety of magazine-format shows featuring regional personalities and localized equestrian and horse "happenings."
Late fall will see the beginning of regularly scheduled news broadcasts, programs covering the economics and issues impacting the industry today, competitions and events and even home shopping. The programming will be presented in rotating and repeating 4, 6 or 8 hour blocks which are designed for the active and busy equestrian lifestyle.
The network has begun dialogs with companies for long-term co-branding and sponsorships in multiple categories, from trucks, trailers and tractors to feed supplements, online retailers, print publications and even non-equestrian related categories such as travel and lodging, and welcomes inquiries regarding the numerous opportunities available.
Inquiries and proposals of all kinds are invited, and the network looks forward to working with all organizations in providing no-cost national television air time for competitions, shows, clinics and other equestrian events.