Royals Road Games Return to BCTV

Reading, PA – The Reading Royals of the ECHL, Berks Community Television (BCTV), NeuLion Sports, Boscov’s Travel, and Apple Vacations today announced their joint partnership to televise the Royals’ 2014-15 road games on BCTV in Berks County, Pennsylvania.

Royals TV presented by Boscov’s Travel and Apple Vacations will launch its fifth season of hockey action on October 18, 2014, at 7:35 pm when the Royals kick off the team’s fourteenth season of professional hockey with the season opening game against the Wheeling Nailers from WesBanco Arena in Wheeling, West Virginia.

Royals TV will carry the Royals’ regular season and playoff road games on BCTV cable channels throughout Berks County, Pennsylvania, which can be accessed on Comcast Reading Cable Channel 15, Service Electric Cable Channel 19, and Comcast Southern Berks Channel 965. The digital video feed, which will be provided by NeuLion Sports, will be simulcast with the Royals Radio Network audio feed courtesy of Cumulus Media, Inc. and CBS SportsRadio 1240 am and 98.5 fm in Reading. As with last several seasons, BCTV will re-broadcast Friday night games the following Saturday morning at 9:00 am; and all Saturday night road games will be replayed on the following Sunday morning at 9:00 am.

Please note, however, that there will be no BCTV telecast of the Royals’ game on Friday, October 24, from Elmira, New York. That night, BCTV will be hosting the station’s weeklong annual Octoberfest fund raising auction. Royals’ fans are encouraged to participate in the annual fund raiser in support of the team’s television partner. Of course, for this game—and for those who are unable to access BCTV—fans  can catch all of the exciting Royals’ games (including home games) on the all new ECHL.TV, which is set to launch for the coming season.

“The Royals are thrilled to have our road games back on BCTV for a fifth consecutive year,” said Royals’ President Drew Bell. “It became immediately clear to me upon arriving to the Royals how important the BCTV road game telecasts have become for our fans. Of course, we’re seeking to upgrade all facets of the Royals’ presentation, and we’re excited to incorporate the improvements in game night video that we anticipate being a part of our new partnership with NeuLion Sports. The Royals want to thank Boscov’s Travel and Apple Vacations, as well as the management and staff at BCTV, all of whom are such an important part of our road telecasts. We also want to thank once again our radio partner, Cumulus Media and CBS SportsRadio, for permitting the simulcast of the game night radio broadcast.”

Bill Martin, the interim Executive Director of BCTV, stated, “Over the last five years, Royals hockey has evolved into a very important part of our community programming. We still get an amazing amount of positive feedback on our Royals’ coverage, and we look forward to improving the quality of the telecasts with the digital video stream provided by NeuLion Sports. We want to thank Boscov’s Travel and Apple Vacations for their support of BCTV, and we would like to wish the Royals another successful year.”

“Boscov’s Travel is excited to once again join forces with Apple Vacations this season to bring Royals hockey to Berks County on BCTV,” stated Janet Papilla, the Vice-President of Boscov’s Travel. “As always, we’re more than happy to help fans out with their travel plans when they go on the road with the team; but for those who can’t make the road trips, we still think that Royals TV is the next best thing to actually being there.”

The Royals open the 2014-15 season on Saturday, October 18, at WesBanco Arena in Wheeling, West Virginia, where the team will face the Wheeling Nailers. The home portion of the schedule will kick off the following Saturday (October 25, 2014 @ 7:05 pm) when the Elmira Jackals travel to Santander Arena. Royals’ season tickets are currently available. Call 610-898-7825 for more information or log onto www.royalshockey.com.

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