Simply Media Partners With JumpTV to Bring Internet-Delivered International Television to UK Homes
March 20, 2007
LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM--(CCNMatthews - March 20, 2007) - Simply Media, a leading digital entertainment provider that produces, aggregates and distributes video content over multiple platforms, has partnered with JumpTV (AIM:JTV)(TSX:JTV), the world's leading broadcaster of ethnic television over the Internet, to provide international television channels to subscribers of its new Internet Protocol set-top box, "Simply TV."
Simply Media will carry many of JumpTV's channels from Latin America, Asia, Eastern Europe and the Middle East; including top channels from Romania, Bangladesh, Turkey and Pakistan, amongst others. The channels will be offered in both country and region-specific bundles, as well as individually.
Simply Media, co-founded by media entrepreneurs Mike Luckwell and CEO Henry Scott, operates more than 25 digital television channels, including 5 satellite channels, and brings the best in online entertainment to a wide audience via its web portal. Simply is extending its offering by launching an IPTV powered set-top box to truly integrate the promise of Internet television, with the ease of a traditional cable television-like offering.
Simply Media plans to aggressively market the Simply TV set-top box service through targeted advertising to ethnic audiences on and offline. Simply TV users will have the option to subscribe on a monthly or yearly basis when they purchase a set-top box.
CEO of Simply Media, Henry Scott, said, "By combining JumpTV's content with our leading set-top box technology, we've made it possible to watch the best international TV over the internet in UK living rooms with just a broadband connection. Tight-knit communities continue to drive Internet TV popularity which is why high-affinity, hard-to-find content is so pivotal to our offering."
He added, "We are impressed by JumpTV's vast content library and feel that the millions of expatriates living in the UK will leap at the chance to subscribe to these television channels in a traditional living room setting."
The news closely follows the launch of Simply Media's new set-top box product in the UK, which will carry JumpTV content alongside Simply Media's own content such as entertainment and celebrity gossip channel Avenue 11.
"IPTV is the future of broadcasting and bringing IP-based content to traditional television sets is the ultimate goal for any IPTV entrant. We believe that Simply TV has developed a unique turnkey solution for the ethnic audience that JumpTV targets as it provides the user with the flexibility to surf the Internet, make phone calls using Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP) and watch both traditional and IPTV," said Mark David, global head of sales at JumpTV.
David added, "JumpTV sees partnering with Simply Media as the next evolution in our distribution strategy and we are confident that this joint venture will help prove the promise of IPTV by providing hundreds of our channels to users who are less computer-centric."
Simply TV is first to make its set top box product available to customers in the UK, with launch targeted for Spring 2007. The Simply TV box is WiFi-enabled and works with any broadband Internet Service Provider.