New TV channel will cover every kick of a ball

Burgess Hill Town's fans are looking forward to the launch of the newly promoted Ryman Premier club's in-house TV channel.

Excited officials at the Ryman South champions announced the launch of Hillians TV on Monday after months of planning and preparations.

Free to view, the online service will show highlights of all their Ryman Premier fixtures, both home and away throughout the season, as well as every cup tie.

The channel, which will also feature regular interviews with manager Ian Chapman, his management team and players, is set to kick off on Saturday July 11 for the visit of League Two Northampton Town to the Green Elephants Stadium.

Hillians media manager Dave Bradbury will be running the venture after teaming up with University of Brighton sports journalism students Andy Brown and Luca D’Alessio who will carry out all the filming and editing.

A gantry is also being built between the two dugouts to give fans an even better view of the action and Bradbury believes the project will be a huge hit with supporters.

He said: “Hillians TV is another exciting project the club is undertaking this season. With the success of last year in mind and the step up in standard, we are anticipating more interest than ever before in the team so to keep both the old and new fans in touch we are giving the TV channel a go.

“The two university lads live in the town and helped out a bit with match reports and articles in the programme last season, and the idea for a TV channel occurred to me when they filmed our home game against Folkestone Invicta last January for an assignment.

"It’ll be a learning curve for the two of them as well as myself, but I am sure the club can only benefit from their work.”

Bradbury believes Hillians TV will be especially welcome among younger fans and those who won’t be able to make it to every game during the upcoming 2014-15 campaign.

He added: “With the promotion comes longer journeys, which means more time and more money is needed to get to some of our away matches.

"It just isn’t practical to expect all of our fans to make it to every game, but by providing them with a method to keep up-to-date with the action, we hope to keep them interested.”

Local IT company ABCOM are helping to get the project up and running by supplying camera equipment, a specialised laptop and editing software as well as technical support.

ABCOM’s managing director Yann Davies said: “As a local IT support and services company, we were delighted to be invited to help Hillian’s scheme by offering them a complete IT equipment backed with our technical support.

"We wish the club the very best of luck with this exciting new TV launch and we are thrilled to be playing our part in it. One of our many goals is to support local schemes and initiatives such as this one as it directly benefits communities.”

For more information on the TV channel, visit the club's website at www.bhtfc.co.uk.

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