| MUMBAI:
Rainbow Media Holdings, LLC and its London based distributor id Distribution has
inked new distribution agreements with China’s CCTV and Thailand’s UBC. Both deals
were brokered by id Distribution’s Simon Nichols. The new deals will further
expand Rainbow’s Voom HD content into Asia and offset the international market's
shortage of quality HD content. The sale to CCTV marks a major breakthrough, considering the challenges
other western program distributors have faced bringing content into the country.
On the heels of its 1 January launch, CCTV has approved two of Voom HD's high
definition series - Reservations Required and Ultra Space - for
China's growing HD television audience. Also looking to Voom’s HD programming to fill a content void in the Asian
marketplace is Thailand's largest satellite broadcaster, UBC, which has picked
up three series - Gallery Tours, Magnificent Obsessions and Reservations
Required - and one special - Art In Unexpected Places: Woodlawn Cemetery
- for its programming service. "CCTV's launch of China's first high definition
channel validates the growing global appeal of HD technology, as well as consumer
interest in high quality programming that is both visually superior and entertaining.
We are pleased to be part of CCTV’s initial program lineup. We are equally pleased
at the opportunity to reach and entertain Thai audiences through our agreement
with UBC," said Rainbow Media’s Voom HD Networks general manager Greg Moyer. Rainbow
senior vice president, business development Glenn Oakley said, "Asia has
always been a part of our global expansion plans, but this is a huge step forward
on two levels. Not only are we getting our content into China, where such efforts
have proven difficult for others, but we are also advancing high definition entertainment
into unchartered territories." Id Distribution will be taking approximately
150 new hours of brand new Voom HD content to Mip. Id managing director
Sally Miles added, "With the growth in HD channels globally we suspect it
will be an extremely busy market. Every week there is a new HD buyer on the scene
and that is exciting both for the global expansion of the format and for content
sales. We will be welcoming people to the stand at MIP to view HD in its full
glory and I suspect for many buyers it will be the first time they will have seen
it – it will be exciting to see their reaction and to promote global movement
to HD." Since October, when the company kicked off its global expansion
efforts, Rainbow Media has signed co-production deals with Electric Sky, Conceptual
Films, Mega-Media Pte Ltd. And Media Development Authority (MDA), distribution
deals with National Geographic and Tangerine Global, and acquisition agreements
with Defiance Distribution and Monster Distributes, all of which will further
extend the company’s HD content both domestically and throughout the world. | 
