A small cable channel named Ovation, The Arts Network, has been acquired by a consortium of private investors including the Weinstein Co. This is the first effort the production company has made toward entry into cable.
Ovation is a 10-year-old channel that is distributed to 5 million homes. It offers a variety of award-winning programming, according to their site; including "jazz, pop, classical and world music, performances of opera, dance and drama."
Chairman Stanley E. Hubbard of Hubbard Broadcasting Inc., which leads the investment group, said that Ovation will be "relaunched" next year, "Our vision is to take Ovation to a whole new level. We won't just focus on the highbrow stuff -- and I don't mean that in a demeaning way -- we'll expand it. We look forward to creating a channel and a brand built around the arts which appeals to artistic and cultural passions and personal creativity."
The channel has been in a financial battle for some time, with last years budget only reaching $2.4 million; an outrageously small amount.
This isn't going to be a story covered much by the press, but it will be interesting, with the parties involved, to see how far they can take this little cable channel.
Comment Preview