Hubbard Launches 24-hour Movie Channel
Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal - 11:05 PM CDT Sundayby Nicole Garrison-SprengerStaff Writer
Hubbard Broadcasting Inc. this fall will launch the ReelzChannel, a 24-hour television network about movies.
"It's a network that will be all about movies the way that the Food Network is all about food," said Stanley E. Hubbard II, vice president of Hubbard Broadcasting and chairman and CEO of the initiative.
The new channel will be available in roughly 28 million homes through agreements with Direct TV, Dish Network, Comcast, Time Warner, Charter and other cable or satellite providers.
Reelz Network will feature original entertainment programs and provide information and opinion on movies - from newly released theatrical films to DVD, Video-on-Demand, rental, and pay cable channels like HBO, Showtime and Starz.
The network will be based at Hubbard's St. Paul headquarters but content will be produced in Hollywood. By the end of the year, about 12 people dedicated to the Reelz Network will be working out of Hubbard's headquarters in St. Paul. Another 140 people will work for the company out of the Los Angeles office.
Reelz Network will be supported by a Web site, www.reelznetwork.com.
Programs under development include:
A daily talk program featuring stars, directors and producers;
A daily review/court show
A daily movie-trivia game show
A weekly debate program about movies
A biography series with unique points of view
The project is about six years in the making. Hubbard said his company started work on Reelz shortly after Hubbard Broadcasting sold its stake in United States Satellite Broadcasting to Hughes Electronics, now The DIRECTV Group, in 1999 for $1.25 billion.
Executives originally thought they would have to support part of the project with venture capital or private equity money. But Reelz attracted more distribution deals than originally anticipated, and the Hubbards decided to fund the endeavor themselves.
"The opportunity got bigger and bigger and the risk got lower and lower," Hubbard said.
Established in 1923 as an AM radio broadcaster in the Twin Cities, Hubbard Broadcasting has been a defining force in broadcasting. The company is credited with creating the first satellite news-gathering organization, called Conus Communications.
Family-owned Hubbard Broadcasting owns and operates 13 television stations in Minnesota, New York and New Mexico; two radio stations in Minnesota, and F & F Productions.
ngarrison@bizjournals.com | (612) 288-2112
http://twincities.bizjournals.com/twincities/stories/2006/06/12/daily1.html
Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal - 11:05 PM CDT Sundayby Nicole Garrison-SprengerStaff Writer
Hubbard Broadcasting Inc. this fall will launch the ReelzChannel, a 24-hour television network about movies.
"It's a network that will be all about movies the way that the Food Network is all about food," said Stanley E. Hubbard II, vice president of Hubbard Broadcasting and chairman and CEO of the initiative.
The new channel will be available in roughly 28 million homes through agreements with Direct TV, Dish Network, Comcast, Time Warner, Charter and other cable or satellite providers.
Reelz Network will feature original entertainment programs and provide information and opinion on movies - from newly released theatrical films to DVD, Video-on-Demand, rental, and pay cable channels like HBO, Showtime and Starz.
The network will be based at Hubbard's St. Paul headquarters but content will be produced in Hollywood. By the end of the year, about 12 people dedicated to the Reelz Network will be working out of Hubbard's headquarters in St. Paul. Another 140 people will work for the company out of the Los Angeles office.
Reelz Network will be supported by a Web site, www.reelznetwork.com.
Programs under development include:
A daily talk program featuring stars, directors and producers;
A daily review/court show
A daily movie-trivia game show
A weekly debate program about movies
A biography series with unique points of view
The project is about six years in the making. Hubbard said his company started work on Reelz shortly after Hubbard Broadcasting sold its stake in United States Satellite Broadcasting to Hughes Electronics, now The DIRECTV Group, in 1999 for $1.25 billion.
Executives originally thought they would have to support part of the project with venture capital or private equity money. But Reelz attracted more distribution deals than originally anticipated, and the Hubbards decided to fund the endeavor themselves.
"The opportunity got bigger and bigger and the risk got lower and lower," Hubbard said.
Established in 1923 as an AM radio broadcaster in the Twin Cities, Hubbard Broadcasting has been a defining force in broadcasting. The company is credited with creating the first satellite news-gathering organization, called Conus Communications.
Family-owned Hubbard Broadcasting owns and operates 13 television stations in Minnesota, New York and New Mexico; two radio stations in Minnesota, and F & F Productions.
ngarrison@bizjournals.com | (612) 288-2112
http://twincities.bizjournals.com/twincities/stories/2006/06/12/daily1.html
