TORONTO – All-HD broadcaster High Fidelity HDTV, Toronto, and U.S.-based media company Rainbow Media, have announced a major expansion of their programming agreement.
Hi Fi has signed an agreement with company division Rainbow Media HD Holdings to bring VOOM HD brands Rush HD and Equator HD. The deal involves licensing of Rainbow’s extensive HD programming and solidifies High Fidelity as Canada’s leading HD provider while strengthening Rainbow’s global reach.
VOOM HD is the all-high definition satellite service available in the U.S.
The agreement significantly expands on a deal signed in the first quarter of 2006 between the two companies that led to the launch of Rainbow’s Treasure HD channel, now on the air in Canada. As part of that deal, High Fidelity currently distributes the Treasure HD brand throughout the country, and has access to over 100 hours each year of VOOM HD content.
"This deal deepens the strategic relationship that exists between two of North America’s leading HD broadcasters and producers of HD content," said Ken Murphy, co-founder of High Fidelity. “High Fidelity is clearly positioned to strengthen the HD channel offerings of Canadian cable and satellite service providers by meeting the needs of a rapidly-growing number of HD viewers in the marketplace.”
Added Greg Moyer, VOOM HD’s general manager: “With a command of the Canadian HD landscape, it has been a natural fit for High Fidelity and Rainbow to join resources as we increase the global footprint of our VOOM HD Networks. We are pleased to continue our successful collaboration in providing some of the very best HD content to Canadian viewers.”
“We are so pleased to be working closely with Rainbow to better serve Canadians who want refreshing, smart and beautiful true HD programming, 24/7," said Hi Fi’s other co-founder, John Panikkar.
High Fidelity will have the exclusive rights to launch two new VOOM HD channels – Rush HD and Equator HD – in Canada. The agreement gives High Fidelity branding rights to the channels and access to hundreds of hours of VOOM HD programming.
No carriage deals have been announced but the company is hopeful the channels will launch this September.
VOOM HD and High Fidelity plan to further their broadcasting collaboration by committing resources to develop a slate of original productions. The first anticipated collaboration is a new original Canadian-produced series, Collector Showdown, consisting of 26 episodes. Each half-hour episode will showcase two collectors in the same genre as they test their knowledge of their chosen passion against each other for a unique result. High Fidelity and VOOM HD envision additional programming and production collaborations on dozens of original hours of all-HD content to better serve the growing demand for smart, refreshing and beautiful programming in North America and worldwide.
Channel profiles
"Rush HD is a no-boundaries, no-limits adrenaline rush of the amazing things people will do to test their personal danger zones. Rush HD humanizes the adrenaline junkie, taking him or her out of the pure sports zone and into one accessible to all. Rush HD continues to redefine the action genre both technically and creatively, giving viewers the ultimate home entertainment and edge-of-the-seat experience," says the release.
"Equator HD brings the world’s most intriguing places and people into intimate and personal contact, with exclusive stories of remote cultures, rare geography and unique rituals that hold a mirror up to ourselves, who we are, and how we interact with our planet. It is television at its most observational, allowing people to tell their own stories, in their own words, with context, color and clarity."
"Treasure HD is about the thrill of the hunt for that rare, unique or otherwise personally-significant object without which you are just not complete. It’s about the passion of possession, the beauty or oddities of collections large and small. It’s about the hidden vaults that museum-goers or art gallery patrons rarely see. It’s about the mystery surrounding valuable or quirky objects, and the colorful, unique and sometimes strange characters who pursue them."
High Fidelity HDTV Inc. is a new Canadian-based speciality broadcaster offering founded by industry veterans Ken Murphy and John Panikkar. The company launched OasisHD and Treasure HD in March 2006.
