E! Entertainment TV is going into the network first run movie business. The channel generally dedicated to bringing news from the various corners of the industry, as well as fluff pieces has decided its time to get serious about its programming big time.
The channel has been in operation for 17 years and has, for the first time ever, shelled out major dollars for the purchase of some big box office features that will get their run on E! Entertainment. Included in the $40 million deal are such films as “Knocked Up,” “Evan Almighty,” Robin Williams’ “Man of the Year,” the Sandler/James comedy hit “I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry,” “Miami Vice” and several more.
The first film in the package, “Knocked Up,” will premiere on E! in October 2009. All the rest will follow between 2009-2013.
This is the biggest purchase from E! since they began acquiring films about two years ago. This also marks another first in that all these features are new films released in theaters over the past year.
Apple will now offer downloads of American television fare to its European customers via the U.K iTunes online store, according to Variety. Programming will be provided by ABC, Disney, MTV, Nickelodeon and Paramount Comedy.
Popular shows like “Lost,” “Desperate Housewives,” “Grey’s Anatomy,” “Ugly Betty” and “South Park” are the big ticket items and some local shows such as the U.K.’s MTV “Barrio 19.”
The cost per episode will be a bit steeper than the equivalent dollar price in the States. Users can expect to pay around £1.89 ($3.79 U.S.D.) each. They are available for download onto Macs, PCs and video-iPods and are viewable on the Apple TV set-top box.
Entertainment columnist Ben Fritz is reporting that Microsoft has signed up Fox as the newest partner for its Xbox Live Video Marketplace. The new partnership is sealed with the launching of “Family Guy,” a show aimed squarely at the service’s young male gamer demo. This will be the first time that “Family Guy” episodes will be available for digital download-to-own and the launch of the animated program’s first two seasons will start next week.
The deal marks the first step in a broader relationship between Fox and Microsoft to distribute TV shows and films.
“I imagine we will eventually have lots of content on the service,” said Jamie McCabe, exec VP of pay-per-view, video-on-demand and electronic sell-through for 20th Century Fox.
“The bulk of our users are young males, and when we offer content attractive to that demo, like ‘South Park’ and ‘300,’ we do stellar business,” said Ross Honey, senior director of Microsoft’s media and entertainment group.