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Sun, 21 Mar 2010 | 15:20 GMT
Sun, Mar 21, 2010, 15:20 GMT
 

Rotana and Disney sign Dh100m deal

Emirates Business 24/7
 
 
Emirates Business 24-7, 16 December 2009

At a time when media is facing the brunt of economic downturn, Rotana Media Group is strengthening its grip in the region with multinational tie-ups to enhance its content and increase its viewership.

Officials from Prince Waleed bin Talal bin Abdulaziz Al Saud's Rotana Media Group, one of the largest media groups in the region, and Fox International Channels (FIC), announced that viewers in the Middle East and North Africa will have access to more of the world's best family entertainment after signing a multi-year output deal with the Walt Disney Company - Europe, Middle East and Africa.

Nezar H Nagro, President of Rotana Media Services (RMS), said: "Providing innovative and diversified content to our viewers across the region has been our aim since launching the Fox Movies and Fox Series channels in order to raise the bar of the Middle East's television entertainment.

"We have put a lot of time and research into creating channels that are based on regional viewer preferences and with the aim for a fantastic viewing experience.

"This is something our partnership will fulfill and is facilitated even further with Disney's most popular movie releases and award-winning television series.

"Not only are we delighted to be a key player in this deal, which presents both our viewers and advertisers with an enhanced experience from the two channels, but it also serves to diversify our bouquet of regional offerings at RotanaRotanaLoading...."

This collaboration will provide a compelling proposition to RotanaRotanaLoading...'s bouquet of offerings to viewers and the trade community across the Middle East.

The strategic partnership between the two giants is a result of more than Dh100 million deal to acquire licencing rights to broadcast Walt Disney Company content on RotanaRotanaLoading... Group channels - including Fox International Channels, the international television channels' arm of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation.

Tony Chambers, General Manager, Emerging Markets, Walt Disney Company, Europe, Middle East and Africa, said: "This deal reflects our vision to bring broad range of content within our portfolio to wider audiences in the Middle East." Francesca Tauriello, Senior Vice-President, programme distribution for Walt Disney Company's Media Distribution - Business to Business Group, Emea (South), said: "The agreement builds upon our long-term relationship with Fox International Channels and RotanaRotanaLoading... and the content covered under the terms of the agreement is a fantastic strategic fit for the channels and audiences. The deal also provides the opportunity to build additional areas of business together such as local production and to customise marketing-promotional activities."

The deal, which is set to come into effect immediately, will bring Disney and ABC's much-loved television series and movies to the region's viewers free-to-air on Fox Movies and Fox Series channels, including content from the Academy Award-winning animation studio Disney/Pixar.

With this announcement, viewers in the region will be offered a range of Disney's most popular movie releases, including the massive box office hits Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End and Dead Man's Chest, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and Prince Caspian, National Treasure: Book of Secrets and Disney/Pixar's Wall E, as well as award-winning television series.

Debuting for the first time on the region's screens free-to-air will be series from ABC Studios including FlashForward, Cougar Town, Castle and other viewer favorites such as Ugly Betty, Criminal Minds, Ghost Whisperer, Samantha Who , the new season of Scrubs and the final two seasons of the hit show Lost.

In addition, this agreement also includes the Academy Awards function.

Ward Platt, President, Fox International Channels, said: "This deal follows on from a number of recent initiatives; undertaken to provide an even better experience to our viewers.

"These include the development of a whole new look and feel for the channel, as well as our acquisition of even more blockbuster content from some of the biggest studios, which gives us access to a wide range of great movie entertainment from the studio's catalogues and a new and explosive line-up of ground breaking and award-winning television series that have never been seen on the region's screens before."

Fox Movies and Fox Series were both launched in the region following a strategic partnership between Fox International Channels and RotanaRotanaLoading... last year.

Fox Movies, which was launched in May 2008, offers viewers an unrivalled collection of movie choices and other smart entertainment with an edge from major film studios around the globe.

Fox Series, which began broadcasting in December 2008, is the first dedicated free-to-air television series channel in the Middle East and North Africa and offers ground-breaking, award-winning television series that have never been seen on the region's screens before.

By Vigyan Arya

© Emirates Business 24/7 2009

 
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