BitTorrent Strikes Digital Download Deals with 20th Century Fox, G4, Kadokawa, Lionsgate, MTV Networks, Palm Pictures, Paramount and Starz Media
BitTorrent, Inc., home to the world’s leading peer-assisted digital content delivery platform, today announced a slate of partnerships with a wide variety of leading film and television companies. 20th Century Fox, G4, Kadokawa Pictures USA, Lionsgate, MTV Networks (including COMEDY CENTRAL, Logo, MTV: Music Television, MTV2, Nickelodeon, Nicktoons Network, SpikeTV, The N, TV Land and VH1), Palm Pictures, Paramount Pictures and Starz Media will publish movies and TV shows on BitTorrent.com.
By partnering with some of the most established entertainment studios and TV networks in the world, BitTorrent will be offering an increasingly comprehensive library of digital media content. Through these new partnerships, BitTorrent customers will be able to select from a variety of popular film titles from 20th Century Fox, Kadokawa, Lionsgate, Palm, Paramount and Starz Media such as “X-Men The Last Stand,” “Ringu,” “Saw III,” “13 Tzameti,” “Mission: Impossible III,” and “Ghost in the Shell.” TV programming will include hits like “Attack of the Show” from G4; “24” and “Prison Break” from 20th Century Fox; “City of Men” from Palm; “Laguna Beach” and “Celebrity Deathmatch” from MTV: Music Television; Emmy and Peabody-Award winning “South Park” and “Chappelle’s Show” from COMEDY CENTRAL; “Hogan Knows Best” from VH1; “SpongeBob SquarePants” and “Avatar: The Last Airbender” from Nickelodeon; and “Skyland” from Nicktoons Network.
Today’s announcement is in addition to BitTorrent’s previously announced partnerships with Warner Bros. Home Entertainment, Egami Media, Hart Sharp, Koch Entertainment and The Orchard to further add depth and breadth to its digital library. The videos, which can be downloaded and viewed on a PC, laptop and other portable devices, include new film releases day-and-date with the DVD release, popular TV series, deep catalog titles and cult classics. One exception is Palm Pictures, as they plan to be the first studio to utilize the BitTorrent platform to release full-length feature films before the theatrical and DVD release dates. Most film titles will be available for purchase on a Download-to-Own (DTO) basis or for rent on a Video-on-Demand (VOD) basis, while TV content will be available for DTO only.
“We’re thrilled to be partnering with world-renowned entertainment companies and TV networks,” said Ashwin Navin, President and Co-founder of BitTorrent. “This is a true testament to the value of our community, technology and the position we aspire to play in the world of entertainment and content distribution. Our audience has a voracious appetite for digital content and by offering the titles they want with a solid user experience; it’s a win-win situation for both content providers as well as our users.”
Designed in 2001, BitTorrent has become the most efficient means of distributing large, high-quality files on the Internet. With many millions of users, BitTorrent traffic accounts for as much as 40 percent of all worldwide Internet traffic. BitTorrent continues to work with the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) to remove copyright infringing content from its search results and, as evidenced by today’s announcement, is working with studios to replace that content with a high-quality, legal option that aspires to compete with piracy. With integrated monetization for paid and ad-supported content, the forthcoming BitTorrent service will be an ideal platform for the digital distribution of online entertainment. The service will offer not only video, but also music and games. BitTorrent will disclose pricing details closer to the time of the launch of the online retail marketplace, which is set for February 2007.
“BitTorrent has fundamentally changed the Internet architecture by enabling high-speed and high-quality content distribution on the Web. Today we have announced the role BitTorrent.com will play as a hub for consumers to enjoy their favorite entertainment, but we see a future that involves BitTorrent’s content delivery platform powering thousands of websites including those of content creators themselves, offering them the profound benefits of our technology,” said Navin.
About BitTorrent, Inc.
BitTorrent is home to the world’s leading peer-assisted digital content delivery platform, providing the fastest, most efficient means of distributing, discovering, and consuming large, high-quality files on the Internet. Created in 2001 as an open source protocol, BitTorrent currently enables millions of users worldwide to easily and securely download digital content through its website and licensed technology solutions. BitTorrent is a privately held company headquartered in San Francisco, California. For more information, visit http://www.bittorrent.com.
BitTorrent is a trademark of BitTorrent, Inc.
About 20th Century Fox
20th Century Fox is a subsidiary of News Corporation. News Corporation’s diversified global operations in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, Europe, Latin America and the Pacific Basin include the production and distribution of motion pictures and television programming; television, satellite and cable broadcasting, the publication of newspapers, magazines and books; the production and distribution of promotional and advertising products and services; the development of digital broadcasting; the development of conditional access and subscriber management systems.
About G4
G4, the fastest growing network on television for 2006, launched in April 2002 and is now available in 59 million cable and satellite homes nationwide. The #1 podcasted cable network in America and a leader in VOD, G4’s programming includes breaking video game industry news, trends, reviews, the hottest games and gear, celebrity interviews and insider opinions. Targeting the male 18-34 audience, G4 is the first and last word on games, technology, animation, interactivity, the Internet and broadband. The company is headquartered in Los Angeles and is owned by Comcast Corporation. To learn more, log onto http://www.g4tv.com.
About Kadokawa Pictures USA
Kadokawa Pictures USA (KPUSA) the Los Angeles-based arm of the Japanese Kadokawa Group Holdings, Inc. (KHG, Inc) expands its brand of content in the growing international world of multimedia. KPUSA adapts books, remakes films and distributes its film libraries of live-action and anime from over 1700 film titles. KGH, Inc. includes Kadokawa Shoten Publishing, one of the largest publishers in Japan with over 60 year history, Japan’s major production and distribution division, Kadokawa Herald Pictures and a physical film studio, Kadokawa Daiei Film Studio.
KPUSA premiered its first DVD distribution with the release of the third season of popular animation series Full Metal Panic; The Second Raid on November 14th. The content expansion continues in 2007 with the worldwide release of One Missed Call through Warner Bros. and Kadokawa Herald Pictures.
Remakes from the Kadokawa library include “The Ring”, “The Grudge”, “Shall We Dance?”, “Dark Water” and “Pulse.”
About Lionsgate
Lionsgate (NYSE: LGF) is the leading independent filmed entertainment studio. The Company is a premier independent producer and distributor of motion pictures, television programming, home entertainment, family entertainment and video-on-demand content. Its prestigious and prolific library of more than 10,000 titles is a valuable source of stable, recurring revenue and is a foundation for the growth of the Company’s core businesses. The Lionsgate brand name is synonymous with original, daring, quality entertainment in markets around the globe.
About MTV Networks
MTV Networks, a unit of Viacom (NYSE: VIA, VIA.B), is one of the world’s leading creators of programming and content across all media platforms. MTV Networks, with more than 130 channels worldwide, owns and operates the following television programming services – MTV: MUSIC TELEVISION, MTV2, VH1, mtvU, NICKELODEON, NICK at NITE, COMEDY CENTRAL, TV LAND, SPIKE TV, CMT, NOGGIN, VH1 CLASSIC, LOGO, MTVN INTERNATIONAL and THE DIGITAL SUITE FROM MTV NETWORKS, a package of 13 digital services, with all of these networks trademarks of MTV Networks. MTV Networks connects with its audiences through its robust consumer products businesses and its more than 100 interactive properties worldwide, including GameTrailers.com, IFILM, Neopets, Xfire, Y2M, and online, broadband, wireless and interactive television services. MTV Networks also has licensing agreements, joint ventures, and syndication deals whereby all of its programming services can be seen worldwide.
About Palm Pictures
Palm Pictures (http://www.palmpictures.com) is a leader in the converging music, digital media, theatrical, home video and VOD markets emphasizing a compelling slate of music documentaries, arthouse and foreign cinema, and original audio/visual projects. Palm Pictures was founded in 1998 by Chris Blackwell, an innovator in the entertainment business who founded Island Records, Island Pictures and Island Outpost, and who was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2001. Palm Pictures’ entertainment properties include a film and music division, Arthouse Films, RES Media Group, sputnik7.com, and epitonic.com. Palm Pictures is headquartered in New York City with offices in London.
About Paramount Pictures Corporation
Paramount Pictures Corporation (PPC), a unit of Viacom (NYSE: VIA, VIA.B), is a global entertainment company that produces and distributes filmed entertainment through the Paramount Motion Picture Group which includes Paramount Pictures, Paramount Vantage, Paramount Classics, MTV Films and Nick Movies. PPC operations also include Paramount Pictures International, Paramount Home Entertainment, Paramount Digital Entertainment, Paramount Studios and Worldwide Television Distribution.
About Starz Media
Starz Media, LLC, is a programming production and distribution company operating worldwide. It includes the Film Roman, Anchor Bay Entertainment, and Manga Entertainment brands. Its units create animated and live-action programming — including theatrical films — and programming created under contract for other media companies. It distributes that programming, and programming acquired from outside producers, through home video retailers, theaters, broadcasters, ad supported and premium television channels, and Internet and wireless video distributors in the US and internationally. Starz Media is an operating unit of Starz, LLC, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of Liberty Media Corporation that is attributed to Liberty Capital Group, http://www.starz.com.
