NEW YORK, July 14, 2011 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- ION Television announced today that it acquired the rights to six theatrical titles from Starz Media, LLC, for the movies' first basic cable and broadcast exhibition. The agreement between the companies marks the first time ION Television has acquired first-run broadcast rights for movie titles.
The new titles will fit into ION's Big Movie Weekend, which has registered double-digit growth among A25-54 and total viewers, year-over-year. The newly purchased films will air exclusively on ION's schedule beginning in November and will continue to roll out on the network's schedule through 2013.
"Forming a relationship with Starz Media is a win/win, as it brings quality theatrical movie content to U.S. households nationwide and demonstrates how a growing ION Television provides an outlet for independent content creators," says Brandon Burgess, CEO, ION Media Networks. "We welcome such content collaborations going forward."
ION Television's deal with Starz Media features six titles from Anchor Bay Films and Overture Films owned by Starz Media including the dramatic thriller, "Traitor" starring Don Cheadle and Guy Pearce, the comedy drama "City Island," starring Andy Garcia and Julianna Margulies, the drama "Solitary Man," starring Michael Douglas and Danny DeVito, "The Visitor" with the Academy Award® nominee Richard Jenkins; the family comedy "A Nanny for Christmas," starring Dean Cain; as well as "The Open Road," with Jeff Bridges and Justin Timberlake.
"Starz Media is excited to establish new ground by licensing to ION Television several first-run movies for their growing branded Big Movie slot," said Gene George, Executive Vice President, Worldwide Distribution for Starz Media. "We greatly appreciate the confidence ION Television has with our content and wish them great success with the programming."
Alecia Dixon-Kurschner, Starz Media's Vice President, Domestic Television Sales added, "We wish to offer thanks to the entire team at ION in getting this deal done. The negotiations were a collorative and creative experience that resulted in the mutually beneficial agreement that we look forward to continuing and building upon in the future."
Source: Nielsen Media Research; L+SD data, ION Movie Averages STD (9/27/10-5/29/11) vs. (9/28/09-5/30/10) SA-SU 3P-12A
About ION Television
ION Television is a leading U.S. general entertainment network, combining high-quality programming and dependable broadcast distribution with an attitude of innovation and growth normally associated with a cable channel. Its "Positively Entertaining" network brand positioning features a formula of proven series, an expansive catalog of blockbuster movies and a commitment to introduce new original programming. Since its recent launch in 2008, ION's reach has grown to 99 million households and has become one of the top-15 TV rated U.S. networks in record time. For more information, visit www.iontelevision.com.
About Starz Media
Starz Media, LLC, is a programming production and distribution company operating worldwide. It includes the Anchor Bay Entertainment, Anchor Bay Films, Film Roman and Manga Entertainment brands. Its units create animated and live-action programming and programming created under contract for other media companies. It distributes that content, and programming acquired from outside producers, through home video retailers, broadcasters, ad-supported and premium television channels, and Internet and wireless video distributors in the US and internationally. Starz Media (www.starzmedia.com) is a controlled subsidiary of Liberty Media Corporation attributed to the Liberty Starz tracking stock group.
About Anchor Bay Films
Anchor Bay Films is unique in that it offers the creative community a fully integrated distribution capability on all platforms and an international solution extending beyond the U.S. Anchor Bay Films is a division of Anchor Bay Entertainment and is on the ground providing quality distribution with operations in the U.S., United Kingdom, Canada and Australia, as well as distribution capabilities in other key territories. The company focuses on a platform release strategy for its films with an eye toward maximizing their potential across all ancillary distribution platforms. The company recently released Kill the Irishman starring Ray Stevenson, Vincent D'Onofrio, with Val Kilmer and Christopher Walken and Meet Monica Velour with Kim Cattrall. Also in its library is the critically acclaimed comedy City Island starring Andy Garcia and Solitary Man starring Michael Douglas. Soon to be in theatres is Toronto International Film Festival award-winner Beautiful Boy with Maria Bello and Michael Sheen. Anchor Bay Entertainment is a subsidiary of Starz Media, LLC, which is a controlled subsidiary of Liberty Media Corporation attributed to the Liberty Starz tracking stock group.
Contacts:
Christina Gilmartin, ION Media Networks Eric Becker, Starz Media
212-603-8429 720-852-4065
christinagilmartin@ionmedia.com eric.becker@starz.com
This information was brought to you by Cision http://www.cisionwire.com
http://www.cisionwire.com/ion-/r/ion-television-licenses-theatrical-titles-from-starz-media-for-first-basic-cable---broadcast-windows,c9145071