BANFF – Former CHUM president and CEO Jay Switzer and former Standard Broadcasting president and CEO Gary Slaight are among a group of Canadian broadcast executives who have invested $5 million in GlassBOX Television, which runs digital specialty service Bite TV.
Other executives contributing the new venture and strategic capital to GlassBOX are former Alliance Atlantis Communications executive managing director of international television Ted Riley, former XM Radio Canada president and COO Stephen Tapp, and former QuickPlay executive Raja Khanna.
Khanna was named co-CEO of GlassBOX. Tapp, who also headed Chum Television, will be an advisor to the company on its overall strategy, including international sales and licensing.
Television and film financing company Aver Media and live action production company Frantic Films Corp. have also invested money and will be strategic advisors.
The new investment was made through Toronto venture capital firm JLA Ventures, and will be used to establish new cross-platform broadcast channels and to re-launch Bite TV at the end of September.
GlassBOX plans to launch a new music TV channel by the end of this year. Company CEO Jeffrey Elliott said GlassBOX will soon be filing an application to the CRTC for a Category 2 digital TV channel for the new venture, and is in the midst of negotiating carrier deals.
The programming will be focused on emerging music artists and targeted at the Internet-savvy Y Generation, he added. The content will be cross-purposed for the web and mobile. GlassBOX also plans to launch another channel in early 2009, but Elliott said it was too soon to disclose the channel genre.
He describes GlassBOX as being a facilitator in helping young people who have been streaming their own content live from their basements move up to a more professional level.
“They are not ready to make the jump from where they are now to a big network like CTV,” he explained. “But we will take them into our studios, mentor them and help them progress to the next level of exposure.”
Khanna likens GlassBOX to a broadcaster aiming to fill the niche of Chum Television in its early days – when it was accessible to new talent. Given this focus, it’s perhaps not surprising that the new group of investors includes Switzer and Tapp.
Elliott said other well-known broadcast executives have invested in the company; however, he wouldn’t provide any further names. They have all invested different amounts. The details likely won’t be released until the CRTC puts GlassBOX’s application for an ownership change on the public record.
The investors will be actively involved in shaping the company and promoting its philosophy, he added.
Khanna said the business model of the company is to tap into advertising dollars, particularly helping companies hit the hard-to-reach younger demo across its TV, web and mobile platforms, subscriber fees and foreign sales.
“We will be co-producing with these young folks in our studio, and we will own the content. We will sell the best of the content to other broadcasters for their TV, websites and mobile properties,” he said.
GlassBOX’s first channel, Bite TV, was launched in 2005 by Elliot and is available on Rogers Cable, Bell ExpressVu, Cogeco, Videotron, Telus TV, SaskTel and MTS. Its content is also available through several mobile carriers, including Rogers, Bell Mobility, Telus, Virgin and Fido, and on sites such as Joost, YouTube, MySpace, Facebook and iTunes.
The re-launched of Bite TV will feature a new look, new programming including a live talk show and music shows, a new broadcast video portal, and a promotional campaign.
Khanna stated that some of the music programs eventually intended for GlassBOX’s yet-to-launch music channel could first be nested on Bite TV.
“New media is no longer in the ghetto,” he said. “We don’t have the legacy issues of the incumbent companies, which don’t necessarily have digital media in their DNA. We want to be a new kind of broadcast company. We’re not trying to be big, but small, nimble and increasingly relevant to our audience.”
– Norma Reveler
