Satellite Information Services
| Type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | News Gathering and Racing Services |
| Founded | 1987 |
| Headquarters | Corsham Street, London |
| Products | Picture, Data, Virtual Betting, OB, Cameras & IP. |
| Net income | £158.9 million [1] |
| Employees | 850+ [1] |
| Website | www.sis.tv |
Satellite Information Services (or SIS for short) is a company which provides news gathering services and broadcasts events such as Horse Racing and Greyhound Racing, as well as Lottery games such as Rapido and 49's, to betting shops in the United Kingdom and Ireland and other Worldwide destinations.
It was formed in 1986 when bookmakers took the opportunity to broadcast live racing in their shops for the first time - previously only live audio commentary was broadcast to Licensed Betting Offices (LBOs) and a 'whiteboard' man transcribed the shows and results in the LBOs. The service was launched initially in Bristol on May 5, 1987 and subsequently rolled out to approximately 10,400 bookmakers in the UK and Ireland.
SIS is owned by Ladbrokes 23%, Caledonia Investments 22.5%, Alternateport Limited 20.5%, William Hill Organisation 19.5%, Fred Done 7.5% and Tote 6%. Minor shareholdings are also held by Leicester Racecourse Holdings Limited, The Bibury Club Limited (Salisbury), Stratford on Avon Racecourse co Ltd, Thirsk Racecourse Ltd, Catterick Racecourse Company Ltd and Frontrelay Ltd.
Ladbrokes PLC, William Hill Organization Limited and the Horserace Totaliser Board are all shareholders of Satellite Information Services (Holdings) Limited. Mr Fred Done (the owner of Betfred bookmakers) is also a private shareholder. Shareholder bookmakers therefore account for approximately 5,800 LBOs receiving the SIS service. Each of the bookmaker shareholders have board members representing them on the SIS (Holdings) Board in the form of Nick Rust(Ladbrokes), Fred Done (Betfred), David Steele (William Hill) and Joe Scanlon (Tote) [2]
In 2008 Amalgamated Racing Limited (trading as TurfTV) entered the marketplace and is SIS's only competitor for the distribution of horse racing and virtual racing products to LBOs in the UK and Ireland. TurfTV does not distribute to any of the Worldwide locations serviced by SIS.
In 2010 Phil Siers, ex sales and marketing director of TurfTV, made a shock move from TurfTV to SIS. This is without doubt a major case of gamekeeper turned poacher, but hasn't stopped TurfTV making great inroads into the marketplace under the leadership of its new Management team. In January 2012 it was announced that Phil Siers was leaving SiS by 'mutual agreement' after his short tenure. It was reported in the Racing Post that he was one of the most 'coveted' executives in the gaming industry.
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[edit] History
[edit] 1986
SIS was formed in response to the impending change in the law. Betting shops were able to have televisions displaying live racing action, replacing the previous Extel service of commentary over a loudspeaker.
[edit] 1987
Service launched on 5 May. Supplied race coverage from two horse race and one greyhound meeting per day. Received by just 100 shops in Bristol with a target of 3,000 shops in its first year.
[edit] 2002
Successfully renegotiated contracts with the UK and Irish bookmakers for a further five years. Appointed by the betting industry to manage its rights licence with 49 of the UK racecourses and to include those races within its services.
[edit] 2003
The service supplies more than 1200 UK horse race meetings per year, 1500 greyhound meetings, 300 Irish and 300 South African horserace meetings and, as a response to the introduction of the National Lottery, a range of numbers betting products, including virtual horse and greyhound racing.
[edit] 2008
On 1 April 2008, BBC Resources sold their outside broadcasting division (BBC Outside Broadcasts) to SIS, and on the 9th of September launched the new combined company, SIS LIVE.
Now received in virtually all UK and Ireland shops, together with 300 outlets in Western Europe - a total of 9,500 shops. It is also broadcast to betting outlets in the Caribbean, Sri Lanka, Italy and the former USSR.
[edit] External links
- SIS Official site
- SIS LIVE Official site
- BBC announces successful bidder for BBC Outside Broadcasts BBC Press Office
- BBC unit likely to be sold to Satellite Information Service Telegraph
- BBC Resources to be split up Guardian
- The Facts PressRooms
- [1] Deccan Chronicle
[edit] References
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This article relies on references to primary sources or sources affiliated with the subject, rather than references from independent authors and third-party publications. Please add citations from reliable sources. (July 2007) |
