Gotham Girls Roller Derby hits the airwaves on NYC life
May 6, 2010
Women's Roller Derby Returns to Television on NYC Life
Gotham Girls Roller Derby bouting action to be featured on New York City’s Official Television Network
May 4, 2010 - Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and NYC Media President and General Manager Katherine Oliver today unveiled the new television line-up on NYC life (Channel 25), the flagship station of NYC Media, the official TV, radio and online network of the City of New York. The new primetime line-up, which premieres on Monday, May 10, features nightly themes covering an array of topics, including City history, arts and culture, small businesses, children and teenagers, food and restaurants, music, LGBT culture, and others.
Gotham Girls Roller Derby, New York City's only all-women's roller derby league, is delighted to announce that NYC life's 2010 programming schedule will include eight episodes of the 2010 Gotham Girls Roller Derby home bouting season. Each 90-minute episode will feature edited bout action, skater profiles, and analysis, bringing the hard-hitting action between the Manhattan Mayhem, Bronx Gridlock, Brooklyn Bombshells, and Queens of Pain directly into New York City's living rooms and computer screens.
League bouts will air at 11:30pm on Wednesday nights, with encore airings at 12:30am on Saturday nights, plus additional time slots to be determined. Episode 1 -- Bronx vs. Brooklyn -- premieres Wednesday night, May 12th.
Each episode is produced, filmed, and edited by the league's volunteers, with support from a set of underwriting technology partners, including Wirecast and Gotham Sound and Video. The result is an informed and hands-on perspective into the inner workings of one of the city's fastest growing amateur sports leagues.
"NYC life is a perfect channel for the Gotham Girls," said Tammy Walters, league skater and series executive producer. "We're proud to be part of a channel dedicated to portraying the fabric of this great city. This series is a fantastic opportunity for our league to present the athleticism of women's flat track derby action to a wider New York audience. With this series of bouts, including post-production graphics and features, we will introduce the city's sports fans to modern derby's rules, strategies, personalities, and passion. Who better to present the sport than the nationally #1-ranked Gotham Girls?"
“It’s NYC Media’s mission to provide New Yorkers with new, entertaining and informative programming, and with the launch of 15 new series, we’re taking it to a new level,” said Mayor Bloomberg. “We challenged Katherine Oliver and NYC Media to come up with fresh, interesting shows for NYC life, and to do it without adding costs to taxpayers. By joining with independent producers and networks, we’ve created a cost-effective model for City television that brings high quality programs to New Yorkers. There’s going to be something for everyone on the new NYC life.”
The primetime line-up on NYC life (Channel 25) is spread across theme nights airing throughout the week: Arts, Culture and Special Presentations on Mondays; NYC History on Tuesdays; Inside Out New York on Wednesdays; All about Food on Thursdays; Entertainment on Fridays; Kids, Local, Music, and Travel on weekends.
A full list of new and returning programs is available on nyc.gov/media.
NYC life’s new shows are also available to watch online on NYC Media’s Video On Demand Player at nyc.gov/vod after they air.
About Roller Derby and the Birth of Modern Televised Sports
At 8:30 P.M. on November 29, 1948, well before television was in widespread use, Roller Derby debuted on New York television, beginning a 13-week run on the CBS network.
These first televised matches took place at Manhattan’s 69th Regiment Armory. Although few people owned TVs at that time, broadcasts could be seen on sets in bars and storefront windows. Few fans attended the first bouts, but with the publicity gained through the broadcasts, Armory bouts were soon bringing in five to seven thousand fans.
The following year, Roller Derby moved to ABC and was a fixture of the 1949-1950 national prime time season. Roller Derby games were being televised live from the Armory throughout the nation, two and three nights a week.
For decades to follow, Americans and Derby fans around the world were enchanted by skating heroines like Anne Calvello and Joanie Weston. The sport of roller derby saw well-chronicled highs and lows, peaking in the early 1970s before falling flat and disappearing from the American sporting scene.
The Modern Derby Renaissance
In 2001, the sport of Roller Derby was re-born in a grass-roots resurgance. In this decade, the dormant sport has been re-born as a real competition, with real rules, and real athletes. Amateur all-female leagues have popped up around the world, managed by the skaters themselves in a democratic fashion via the Women’s Flat Track Derby Association (WFTDA).
New York City’s all-women’s flat track roller derby league, Gotham Girls Roller Derby (“GGRD”), began competing in 2004. The league is one of the nation’s most successful derby organizations, currently competing in its sixth full season of monthly bouts, skating for capacity crowds of wildly enthusiastic fans at college venues.
About NYC Media
NYC Media is the official TV, radio and online network of the City of New York, informing, educating and entertaining New Yorkers about the City’s diverse people and neighborhoods, government, services, attractions and activities. NYC Media oversees several television channels, a radio station and other online assets. NYC life – Channel 25 on most systems and Channel 22 on Cablevision – explores art and culture, entertainment and lifestyle, and history and education, and features the people and places that make our City unique; NYC gov provides a window into City government by presenting press conferences and hearings with public officials; NYC world offers international programming for New York’s diverse ethnic communities; and NYC drive features live feeds from a network of City cameras providing local travelers with coverage of the City’s main roadways.
Scheduled Episode Air Dates (Wednesdays, 11:30pm)
May 12 - Bronx vs. Brooklyn
June 2 - Manhattan vs. Queens
June 23 - Bronx vs. Manhattan
July 21 - Brooklyn vs. Queens
August 18 - Queens vs. Bronx
September 22 - Brooklyn vs. Manhattan
October 20 - Post-season double-header
November 10 - Season Championship
Contacts:
Julianne Cho/Marybeth Ihle (NYC Media) (212) 669-7742
Eva McCloskey (Gotham Girls Roller Derby) (617) 610-6670