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TVB 'catches up' with Disney |
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Written by Patrick Frater
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Tuesday, 15 July 2008 |
HONG KONG – Walt Disney has teamed up with Hong Kong broadcaster Television Broadcasts to offer some of its U.S. network TV shows online and free of charge.
Deal between the Mouse House, English-language channel TVB Pearl and TVB's online portal TVB.com is claimed to be a first in the Asian region for both companies.
Through TVB's "CatchUp TV" service, Hong Kong viewers will be offered the latest seasons of award-winning shows "Lost," "Desperate Housewives" and "Brothers & Sisters." First show to be available under the pact is "Dirty Sexy Money" which goes to air on Thursday (July 17) at 10:35pm. Initially the pact is limited to these four skeins, and excludes older library material, but it will likely expand to include new seasons and other shows as they air on TVB Pearl.Shows will become viewable only 12 hours after the TV broadcast and be available for period of three to four weeks. They will carry conventional ad breaks and sponsorship, though Disney declined to elaborate on revenue share terms of the deal. The "CatchUp TV" service allows many of the functions of a DVD player such as pause and rewind, though viewers cannot omit the commercials.In the U.S. ABC.com's online viewership is growing fast. In May users watched 815 million minutes of full-length episodes, a 53% increase over the previous month and an increase of 110% over May 2007, according to company sources. Data from Move Networks, ABC.com’s Internet television services provider, showed that viewers watching 37 million full episodes of ABC shows in May, up 27% over April. "We're delighted to be expanding our relationship with TVB into the digital media space by bringing our hit U.S. series to Hong Kong viewers in a free ad-supported online model for the first time by any U.S. studio in the region," Rob Gilby, senior VP and MD of Disney-ABC International Television (Asia Pacific), said. "We understand that viewers today want complete flexibility and choice in how and when they watch their favorite shows. This deal is another step in our commitment to helping them stay connected anytime."
"The progressive policy of Disney-ABC International Television in allowing a free ad-supported ‘CatchUp TV’ service in Hong Kong is welcomed by us and will go a long way towards strengthening Hong Kong audience’s involvement with Disney programs," S. K. Cheong, General Manager-Broadcasting of TVB.
© Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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Last Updated ( Thursday, 17 July 2008 )
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