The British Open, the world’s most prestigious squash title after the World Open, is to return to UK terrestrial televison screens after a break of five years, following an agreement between the promoters and the BBC to broadcast a 30min highlights package of the November 5/6 event on Sunday Grandstand.

Pro-Active Television has been selected to produce the coverage from the Nottingham event, and in addition will  produce 2 x 47 minute highlights shows for its on-going contract with the Professional Squash Association for international distribution including Skysports in the UK.

In addition, Pro-Active will shoot special links with a well known BBC presenter for a tailored semi-final and final highlights package to be shown the day after the final.

Championships Chairman, John Beddington, said:  “The British Open has not been seen on terrestrial television since BBC Sport last covered it in 1998.  Pro – Active TV will be producing the show and with their extensive experience and expertise, we are confident that new viewers will have the opportunity to get a taste of the best squash in the world.

“And still the more dedicated squash fan will be able to enjoy their normal extended coverage via Skysports, who have supported the sport for the last six years”

Following a raft of recent commissions, including one from UK Travel, Pro-Active has begun pre-production on a third series of its energetic adventure travel magazine show, Destination Adventure.

With the well received second series still running on the likes of the Outdoor Life Network and Discovery Channel, the production team behind the new 13 x 1 hour series is currently scouring the globe in search of trips and destinations that other, less adventurous travel programmes, won’t touch.

The concept of the series brings to adventure travel, the magazine-style programme format so  successfully   developed by Pro-active in the sports sector. When the series was first launched in 2002, the multi-story content of each programme was immediately popular with travel channels looking for a lively but well-informed show covering this growing market, and it now continues to go from strength to strength .

The International Waterski Federation (IWSF),has appointed Pro-Active as the official TV production partner of the seven-stop 2004 Waterski and Wakeboard World Cup, which is scheduled to visit Enghien (Paris), Dubna (Moscow),  Changsu City (China), Chertsey (UK), Singapore, West Palm Beach (USA) and Doha (Qatar).

Acting as co-ordinating producers at each event, Pro-Active will generate news cuts from site for distribution via  EBU, ABU, ASBU and URTNA. Pro-Active is also producing 26 minute and 47 minute highlights packages from each round, guaranteeing extended global coverage in its Watersports World magazine show - the world’s most widely distributed watersports programme.

The next round, in Changsu City north of Shanghai (October 2/3), will see Pro-Active working closely with China’s largest TV network, CCTV, to produce 2  hours of live coverage for a potential domestic audience of 1 billion people.

Pro-active was contracted by Hong Kong and London-based Proteus Sports Management to produce and distribute on-site news packages from the event, in addition to filming an extended report for inclusion in Watersports World, which, with programme supply agreements for the likes of ESPN / Star Sports offers sponsors an impressive global reach, particularly in Asia. 

The 2004 event, which took place against a stunning tropical backdrop in the Andaman Sea, is fast becoming the top event on the S.E. Asian sailing calendar.

Financial services giant American Express has charged
Pro-Active with raising its awareness in the Middle East through the production of a 6 x 30 minute motorsport magazine series especially for the region. 

Titled ‘On Track with American Express’, the advertiser funded programme was commissioned by AMEX’s regional agency ITE Bahrain (part of the Saatchi Network), and was based on the successful format for Pro-Active’s Raceworld show, which broadcasts to 75 million homes across the world on channels such as Sky Sports in the UK and Foxsportsworld in the USA