Ice hockey's new deal with broadcaster

It has signed up for a weekly show called Facing Off which will be available on free-to-air television.

It will be screened early evening Thursdays, and again on a Friday night and Saturday morning.

The league has a tie-in with Front Runner, the first free-to-air dedicted sports channel which can be found on Freeview, Sky. Freesat and Talk-Talk/BT, and will be made by Televideo.

It has the potential to reach 19 million homes across the UK, and will feature all ten teams in the Elite League.

Neil Black, EIHL director, said it was good to get the sport back on the air.

‘‘We have been off the screens so far this season, and we have been pretty invisible the last few years on free-to-air TV,’’ he said.

‘‘“Front Runner are new and enthusiastic and want to progress things themselves. It is good for us to be working with somebody, who is very keen on making this a much better product and working very hard on attracting new viewers to their channels.”

The one hour show will be shown at 6.00 pm on Thursdays, 10.00 pm on Fridays and 9.00am on Saturdays.

Front Runner broadcasts on SKY ch468, Freesat ch250, Freeview ch91, Talk Talk/ BT ch91.