Robin Miller: Waking a sleeping giant as the TT goes digital

Paul Phillips is the IOM TT Business Development Manager. A modest title for someone about to revolutionise an event described by the legendary Murray Walker as ‘the greatest race in the world’ but that was many years ago. Phillips is the driving force behind an astonishing plan to regain that accolade by giving a global audience the means of viewing this still remarkable, and unique event, as it happens. Yes, live tv available to anyone in any country.

Talking to bikesportnews.com after the official launch of TT+, a live streaming channel in conjunction with Vimeo, together with a star studded list of presenters, Phillips explained: “When we spoke last summer we had a plan but couldn’t talk about it. But we have carried it though with something which might be called tunnel vision just to ensure the future of the TT. We have lived through this for two and a half years and as you say it’s very ambitious but it is a great opportunity and it is up to us to achieve it.”

BSN: “Without asking you how much this is all costing it is surely a million pound job, not just a few thousand, indeed maybe a few million. So full marks. The great thing is live TV. Is that going to be distributed via terrestrial tv, streaming or what other form of distribution?”

Phillips: ”It will go out on TT+ which is a new digital streaming channel that we have created and starts in April. That channel will be available to anything which is connected to the internet, your phone, television, iPad and anywhere in the world, so if you have an internet connection you can get it. At the back we have partnered with Vimeo, one of the biggest in terms of video sharing and streaming. We’re using their system as the backend engine to power it all. They’re a