US media company Time Warner has invested $15.8m (€14.9m) in Uninterrupted, the multimedia network for sports lifestyle content created by basketball superstar LeBron James and business partner Maverick Carter.
Time Warner has made the investment through its Warner Bros. Entertainment and Turner Sports divisions. Turner Sports is an existing partner of Interrupted, with Time Warner stating the additional capital will allow the growing athlete point-of-view platform to develop exclusive content, enhance its brand, expand to additional platforms, and further engage potential partners.
In addition to having an equity stake in the company, Turner Sports will now serve as the primary sales arm for the newly-expanded Uninterrupted venture. Building on its existing role as the platform’s original content host, Turner’s Bleacher Report digital media platform and Uninterrupted will have a preferred content relationship.
As part of Uninterrupted’s expansion plan, the platform has also signed a new multi-year deal with mobile-first service go90 to provide content, original series, and exclusive athlete point-of-view videos.
The go90 platform becomes Uninterrupted’s third distribution stream following the multimedia company’s presence on Bleacher Report and the recently-announced partnership with social media platform Facebook to host 360 videos including the five-episode original series ‘Striving for Greatness,’ featuring exclusive behind-the-scenes footage of James’ (pictured) preparation for his pursuit of another title in his 13th season in the NBA.
“LeBron and Maverick bring incredible energy, focus and creativity to everything they do and are excellent partners with us in TV, film and digital,” Craig Hunegs, president of business and strategy for Warner Bros. Television Group, said. “Joining forces with LeBron, other world-class athletes and Bleacher Report to aggressively build Uninterrupted was an easy decision that’s great for fans and great for Warner Bros.”