14 DAY TRIAL // Exclusive to customers in the United States, Apple has added a new channel dedicated to ACC Sports, making available “extensive highlights and feature programming to Apple TV users,” according to the official announcement from ACCDN.
The ACC Sports channel dropped just in time for March Madness, an event focused on college basketball tournaments performed each spring in the United States. Tournaments include the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship and the NCAA Women's Division I Basketball Championship.
“We are pleased to announce this partnership that will allow our fans access to the ACC Digital Network on their Apple TV,” said Commissioner John Swofford. “We have seen terrific success in fans enjoying the ACC Digital Network, and bringing this content to Apple TV is an exciting next step.”
The ACC’s official home for game highlights and insider programming, ACCDN (ACC Digital Network) will deliver videos with in-depth coverage, while hosts Jeff Fischel, Drew Barry, and JR Reid will follow ACC teams with their analysis.
ACC Sports will feature exclusive Apple TV access to Campus Insiders as a bonus to college sports fans. Per the announcement, campus Insiders will cover the entire NCAA basketball post-season. More than 70 videos will be published today alone, featuring team previews of all 68 teams selected for the tournament, according to the ACC Digital Network.
Dana Golden, EVP Strategic Partnerships of the ACC Digital Network, commented, “Our goal since we launched the ACC Digital Network is to deliver ACC fans immediate access to their school video highlights wherever they want to watch it.”
“Through Apple TV, fans will be able to go directly to their favorite school content and have all of their game highlights, school features and classic tournament games on demand in the comfort of their living room. In addition, our partnership with Campus Insiders will give fans access to college highlights and news from schools across the country for a comprehensive view of the college sports landscape,” added Golden.
Apple has been steadily increasing the lineup of available channels on its TV box throughout the years, culminating with more than a dozen new additions in the past 12 months alone.
According to a recent analysis of Yukari Iwatani Kane’s “Haunted Empire: Apple After Steve Jobs,” the late Apple co-founder had never intended to launch an Apple-branded TV set, but rather just focus on adding more content to the $99 (€109) set-top box.