Major League Baseball has contracted with Teletrax to test a digital watermarking technology during the World Series. MLB says it hopes the technology will help guard against piracy as well as aid the league in evaluating its programming to maximize revenues.
Teletrax, a joint venture between Royal Philips Electronics and Medialink Worldwide, develops “media intelligence” software to watermark and analyze program usage. The London-based company says it currently maintains a proprietary network of detectors that monitors the television broadcasts of nearly 1,500 channels from more than 50 nations, including all 210 markets in the United States.
MLB will test the Teletrax service over its distribution platforms, including satellite, cable and broadcast in all 210 TV markets, through the end of March 2008.
“Major League Baseball is proud to be pioneering the use of digital watermarking and broadcast tracking technology in the American sports industry with Teletrax,” said Elizabeth Scott, vice president of programming and business affairs for Major League Baseball Properties, Inc. “Its broadcast verification services will allow us to thoroughly ascertain the reach of our game content -- and, in turn, better protect the valuable live game assets we license our broadcast partners, increase footage licensing revenue, and provide valuable information to our sponsors about the impact of their brands beyond the live game broadcasts.”
