Re: New content for Virgin Media
 

I wonder if Virgin Media will make any attempt to acquire rights to broadcast this channel? I trust that it won't be exclusive to Sky :rolleyes:

http://www.a516digital.com/2017/02/e...ut-on-sky.html

Eurocinema to make UK debut on Sky

Eurocinema is to launch its own dedicated slot on UK television, broadcasting award-winning European movies daily from Valentine’s Day (Tuesday, February 14).

Titles considered to be among the best work from the global film festival circuit will be screened on Sky channel 212, currently the home of Showcase TV.

Feature-length movies as well as shorter films will be shown every evening from 9pm.

Eurocinema is already a popular channel in the US and Canada. Its new UK slot is expected to reach 12 million Sky TV viewers and, based on audience demand, could lead to more air time or even a dedicated Eurocinema television channel.

The movies planned for the Valentine’s Day launch include:-

Love Vertigo – Vertiges de l’amour (2001) Aired at 9pm, repeated at 1am.
A fun, witty French comedy with English subtitles. A man has pre-wedding jitters on the eve before his marriage. His thoughts switch between sweet dreams and nightmares of a life with another woman.

A Night in Versailles – Versailles Rive-Gauche (1992) Aired at 11pm.
A French, romantic comedy with English subtitles. A young man in Versailles invites a Parisian girl to his place for dinner. The evening is thrown into turmoil. The film is a Cesar Award winner.

Sébastien Perioche, President and Founder of Eurocinema World, said:
“We are delighted to bring Eurocinema to the UK. The country’s cultural diversity and interest in the arts is a natural fit for the Eurocinema brand. We believe the UK television audiences will enjoy our films, and find them enriching.”

---------- Post added at 08:28 ---------- Previous post was at 08:14 ----------

With Virgin Media back in the content business, I think this would be a good acquisition for them.

http://www.broadbandtvnews.com/2017/...1mi-paid-subs/

Crunchyroll surpasses 1mi paid subs

Anime and manga VOD platform Crunchyroll has officially surpassed one million paid subscribers and more than 20 million users.

Crunchyroll achieved record growth in 2016, charting a 36% increase in paid subscribers in the last 12 months.

The platform’s fan base currently streams over 1.5 billion minutes of anime per month and is distributed on more than 1 billion devices, and is available in every single country in the world.

“The past year hasn’t just been big for Crunchyroll, it was huge for anime itself,” said Kun Gao, general manager of Crunchyroll.

“We are seeing more fans pop up all over the world, hit shows like Yuri!!! on Ice breaking through to mainstream audiences, and anime as a medium being utilised in more creative ways, like in Porter Robinson’s music video, Shelter. Here at Crunchyroll, we have always been super passionate about anime, but it’s great to see the content we love catching on with a broader audience.”

“As a company we are committed to growing and cultivating the anime community,” says Colin Decker, COO at Crunchyroll.

“As the largest home for anime content – with over 800 titles in our catalogue – we understand the influence we have on the anime industry and we will continue to provide our loyal fans new and better ways to interact with and enjoy the content they love.”

Re: New content for Virgin Media
 

That Eurocinema is currently just an evening block on Showcase TV, it isn't replacing it on Sky. Showcase was on FreeSat last time I looked so Eurocinema is not Sky exclusive.

Not sure if Crunchyroll has made deals with likes of VM before. But if they provide apps for likes of PlayStation Vita they are open to smaller platforms. Maybe they have a Tivo app already?

Re: New content for Virgin Media
 

We can look forward to plenty of new content soon, then, perhaps!


http://advanced-television.com/2017/...opean-results/

International TV and broadband company Liberty Global has reported Q4 and Full Year results which reveal a European operating income of $683 million (€643m) and $558 million in Q4 2016 and Q4 2015, respectively, and $2.482 billion and $2.101 billion during full-year 2016 and 2015, respectively, representing increases of 22 per cent and 18 per cent.

“As expected, we finished 2016 on a high note, delivering rebased OCF growth in Europe of 7.5 per cent in the fourth quarter, excluding Ziggo,” commented CEO Mike Fries. “This performance was driven by solid results across our European operations, including Virgin Media, which delivered its best quarterly result in two years with 8 per cent rebased OCF growth. As promised, the key 2016 drivers of our Liberty Go plan are kicking in – new build accelerated, B2B performed well and we kept indirect operating expenses relatively flat. We expect the collective impact of these drivers to continue ramping in 2017 and beyond, underpinning accelerating growth over the medium term,” he advised.


“On the subscriber front, we increased our 2016 RGU additions in Europe by 24 per cent year-over-year and finished the year with 946,000 new subscribers. This improved performance can be credited to the wide range of innovative new products that we’ve launched, including our superior and ever-increasing broadband speeds, and our aggressive network expansion programme, which delivered over 1.4 million new gigabit-ready homes in 2016, including nearly half a million at Virgin Media alone,” he noted.

Looking ahead, Fries confirmed that Liberty Global would continue to enrich its bundled portfolios with compelling 4G mobile offers and the addition of new content and functionality, including the launch of Netflix across its footprint. “We will also expand the deployment of exciting new products like our 4K cloud-based set-top and our WiFi Connect Box. Also, in late 2017, we will start field trials of the unrivalled DOCSIS 3.1 technology, which will provide gigabit speeds,” he confirmed.



---------- Post added at 09:03 ---------- Previous post was at 08:50 ----------

Has Eurocinema appeared on Sky yet as the dedicated channel mentioned in that article?

Re: New content for Virgin Media
 

I just checked. It's just a dedicated programming block on Showcase every night. Maybe testing waters before launching as a standalone?

Tonight is a Norwegian crime thriller called Uro at 9pm.

Re: New content for Virgin Media
 

So that's why they said it had a 'dedicated slot' as opposed to a dedicated channel. Interesting! As you say, they must be testing the waters, but they will have to publicise where people should go to access Eurocinema's programming. Otherwise, it will surely be hidden if they just put it on the Showcase channel without shouting about it.

Re: New content for Virgin Media
 

Yeah, promotion is essential. The only way you'd notice it on Sky EPG is that there are Shorts and these are all labelled as "EUROCINEMA: Short Name". The problem there is they don't do it on feature length films too and the Shorts only scheduled after the main film.

Re: New content for Virgin Media
 

They need to do better than this if they are to gain a foothold in the UK.

Re: New content for Virgin Media
 

Hello!

I'm posting on behalf of Eurocinema because your forum posts popped up on my media alerts. I'm pleased you're interested in the channel.

You're right, we are testing the waters at the moment, but I'm plugging away at getting the word out there. I send information to every site and magazine that's interested in international films.

We do have a Facebook page which we're gradually building up an audience around if you would like regular updates. https://www.facebook.com/EurocinemaUK/

This is really helpful feedback I've already read here. Email me on louise@totheend.co.uk if you would like to touch base directly.

We want to really build a solid foundation to grow our audience, so I'd be interested to hear your thoughts.

Thanks so much.

Take care,

Louise.

Re: New content for Virgin Media
 

Nice to hear from you, Louise. No doubt our veritable contributors will be letting you know what they think.

Hoping to be viewing your channel on Virgin Media soon! ;)

Re: New content for Virgin Media
 

Indeed - let's see how it goes! ;)

Great to connect with you all and enjoy the movies.

Take care,

Louise.

Re: New content for Virgin Media
 

Eurocinema is something that would definitely appeal to me - as long as the films aren't dubbed (I can't stand dubbed films). I would prefer this to be a part of a package rather than an add-on with an additional subscription.

Re: New content for Virgin Media
 

These films are subtitled, so don't worry. I've noted your comment about the add-on. It will be good for us to take that into consideration if a dedicated channel is launched. Thanks so much. :tu:

Re: New content for Virgin Media
 

The subtitling issue can be overcome by just showing the films without subtitles, and by enabling subtitles with a press of the subtitling button, which should give language options.

I think we would all prefer the Eurocinema channel to be available as part of our subscription, but if the only way we can get it is as an add-on subscription, that would be preferable to not being able to access the channel at all. However, that would seriously reduce the number of people likely to access the channel.

Re: New content for Virgin Media
 

Thank you again - it has been really helpful to connect with you all. Wishing you well, Louise.

Re: New content for Virgin Media
 

Eurocinema is something that would definitely appeal to me - especially if you will have a "back catalogue" of French/German/Spanish movies including great directors like Chabrol, Fassbinder etc.