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Tag: NBCUniversal

  • Fandango acquires Quantum Rewards, now #1 in movie ticket promotions

    Fandango acquires Quantum Rewards, now #1 in movie ticket promotions

    MUMBAI: Fandango announced late Tuesday that it has bought movie promotions rival Quantum Rewards, the number one provider of ticketing promotions and owner of Hollywood Movie Money.

    Fandango’s own movie promotions arm was number two prior to the sale agreement. The NBCUniversal-owned ticketing giant will now zoom to number one in movie promos and gift cards with Quantum added to the fold. The deal is expected to close by third quarter of 2013.

    Quantum’s Hollywood Movie Money currency, used worldwide in 28 countries, will now be accepted through Fandango’s website and apps which get over 41 million visitors monthly. The union also boosts Fandango’s movie ticket promotions reach to over 95 per cent of US theaters as well as international markets.

  • Universal’s ‘Despicable Me 2? crosses $800mn worldwide

    Universal’s ‘Despicable Me 2? crosses $800mn worldwide

    MUMBAI: Universal Pictures’ Despicable Me 2 continues to rake it in around the globe. The animated sequel surpassed the $800 million mark with Friday’s estimated domestic grosses of $349.9 million and $451.4 million international bringing the worldwide take to $801.3 million.

     

    The Universal and Illumination Entertainment pic has opened at No.1 in 45 territories and is the second highest grossing pic of 2013 worldwide behind Iron Man 3. Domestically it’s No.2 and internationally only third behind Iron Man 3 and Fast & Furious 6.

     

    Last month NBCUniversal chief Steve Burke declared Despicable Me 2 the studios’ most profitable film in history; it’s also Uni’s second highest grosser of all time worldwide behind Jurassic Park.

  • NBC Sports nabs NASCAR rights

    NBC Sports nabs NASCAR rights

    MUMBAI: NBCUniversal has secured the exclusive rights to a host of NASCAR races and events starting in 2015 and running through the 2024 season.

     

    The comprehensive agreement between NASCAR and NBC Sports Group covers the exclusive rights for the final 20 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races, final 19 NASCAR Nationwide Series events, select NASCAR Regional & Touring Series events and other live content.

     

    NBC’s 20 Sprint Cup race schedule includes becoming the exclusive home to the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, NASCAR’s final 10 races of the season. Of the 20 NASCAR Sprint Cup series events, seven will be carried on NBC annually, with 13 on NBC Sports Network. Four of the group’s 19 NASCAR Nationwide Series races will broadcast on NBC, with 15 on NBC Sports Network.

     

    “NBC is known for being an exceptional partner and delivering outstanding production quality and presentation of live sports, as well as its broad portfolio of broadcast and digital properties so we are thrilled with the commitment they have made to NASCAR and its future,” said Brian France, NASCAR’s chairman and CEO. “We know this partnership will yield great value to our entire industry, provide a premium experience to our most important stakeholders, the fans, and help us achieve a number of strategic growth objectives. Our new partnership with NBC and the recent extension by FOX validate the strength of our fan base and the many bold steps we have taken the last several years to provide fans with better, more accessible racing.”

     

    “Acquiring the rights and bringing NASCAR back to NBC comes at an important point in time for NBC Sports Network, NBC, and all of our distributors and affiliates,” said Mark Lazarus, NBC Sports Group’s chairman. “We look forward to working with Brian and his management team, who have brought a renewed focus to NASCAR’s intersection of sports and technology.”

     

    “We are excited about the cross-promotional opportunities NBC provides, especially in the timeframes right before NBC’s NASCAR schedule and during the Chase,” added Steve Herbst, NASCAR’s VP of broadcasting and productions. “We’re confident NBC will utilize its powerful Championship Season lineup, including the NHL Playoffs, Premier League, the French Open, the Kentucky Derby and other events, to build interest and excitement for NASCAR. Those opportunities, combined with the opportunity to lead into the number one show on television-NBC’s Sunday Night Football-for select Chase races, were both very attractive prospects when considering this partnership.”

  • NBCUniversal’s PictureBox gets UK relaunch

    NBCUniversal’s PictureBox gets UK relaunch

    MUMBAI: NBCUniversal has started offering its movie video on demand (VOD) service PictureBox Films direct to consumers in the UK and Ireland following a redesign and rebrand of the platform.

    With the relaunch, customers can directly access 60 films on their PC, Samsung Smart TVs and iOS and Android mobile devices for ?4.99 a month. Titles will be refreshed every week. The lineup includes The Eagle, The American, Bridget Jones‘ Diary, 2 Fast 2 Furious, Jarhead and The Bourne Identity.

    PictureBox first rolled out in the UK in 2006 in conjunction with various pay TV partners and is still accessible via Virgin Media, TalkTalk, BT Vision and Top Up TV. The service is also accessible in Poland, Russia, Latin America, Brazil and Singapore via local platform providers.

  • Amazon.com expands content licensing deal with NBCUniversal

    Amazon.com expands content licensing deal with NBCUniversal

    MUMBAI: Online retail major Amazon.com has announced an expanded content licensing agreement with NBCUniversal Cable and New Media Distribution that will bring programmes to Prime Instant Video.

    Prime Instant Video offers more than 40,000 movies and TV episodes for Prime members to stream on Kindle Fire, Kindle Fire HD, iPad, iPhone, iPod touch, Roku, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii and Wii U, among other connected TVs and devices – all at no additional cost.

    Prime members will have exclusive unlimited subscription streaming access to prior seasons of the following NBCUniversal shows:

    NBC‘s dark fantasy drama ‘Grimm‘, based on the collection of Grimm Fairy Tales
    USA Network‘s legal drama ‘Suits‘ and serialised spy thriller ‘Covert Affairs‘
    NBC‘s new psychological thriller ‘Hannibal‘, based on the novels by Thomas Harris and produced by Gaumont International Television, available later this year
    Syfy‘s new futuristic sci-fi and drama series ‘Defiance‘ will be available early next year
    In addition, the announcement will add several shows to Prime Instant Video including ‘Smash‘, as well as Syfy drama series ‘Alphas‘, ‘Eureka‘ and ‘Warehouse 13‘. Also available are children‘s programmes including ‘Curious George‘ and ‘Land Before Time‘, which will both be available in Kindle FreeTime Unlimited, the content service that brings together books, games, apps, movies and TV shows.

    Amazon director of digital video content acquisition Brad Beale said, “We listen carefully to our customers to find out which TV shows and movies they find the most entertaining. Our expanded agreement with NBCUniversal gives Prime members access to even more exclusive content that they can stream instantly, at no additional cost. Compelling shows like ‘Covert Affairs‘, ‘Defiance‘, ‘Grimm‘, ‘Hannibal‘ and ‘Suits‘ are big wins for our customers and we look forward to adding more titles soon.”

    NBCUniversal Cable and New Media Distribution president Frances Manfredi said, “We‘re excited to expand our relationship with Amazon by adding great NBCUniversal content to Prime Instant Video. With Amazon, we‘re giving our established viewers a chance to catch-up on what they missed while simultaneously reaching and engaging new audiences who may not have seen these great series on their premiering networks.”

  • BBC America, Twitter in branded video partnership

    BBC America, Twitter in branded video partnership

    MUMBAI: As part of its strategy to go beyond 140 characters, micro-blogging site Twitter has tied up with BBC America to offer the first in-Tweet branded video synced to entertainment TV series.

    This news comes after reports that Twitter was in talks with NBCUniversal and Viacom for content. Twitter has also launched a music service.

    Twitter already has partnerships with Time Warner‘s TBS, sports broadcaster ESPN and the Weather Channel.

  • NBCUniversal renews carriage deal with NCTC

    NBCUniversal renews carriage deal with NCTC

    MUMBAI: NBCUniversal has renewed its carriage deal with National Cable Television Cooperative (NCTC) that encompasses broad distribution for the programmer‘s full portfolio of cable and broadcast services, as well as a first-ever retransmission consent deal for NBC and Telemundo Owned Stations.

    With completion of this renewal agreement, NBCUniversal‘s national cable networks, including Bravo, cloo, Chiller, CNBC, CNBC World, E!, G4, Golf Channel, MSNBC, mun2, NBC Sports Network, Oxygen, Sprout, Style, Syfy, Telemundo, Universal HD and USA will be carried by NCTC‘s nearly 1,000 independent cable operator members nationwide.

    Included in the deal are rights to carry the Olympic Games, as well as on-demand content from NBCUniversal‘s cable and broadcast network portfolio, and access to live channels across multiple platforms, both in and out of the home.

    NBCUniversal EVP Content Distribution Matt Bond said, "NCTC‘s members will continue to have access to the best English and Spanish language cable network and broadcast programming. This agreement reflects NCTC‘s understanding of the value that NBCUniversal delivers to their members."

    NCTC EVP of Programming Judy Meyka said, "NCTC is pleased to extend our long relationship with NBCUniversal and provide members continued access to their linear networks. In addition, we are excited to add NBCU‘s broad portfolio of on-demand content for multiple platforms to the agreement. We had over 80 members participate in delivering the 2012 Olympics to multiple platforms, demonstrating that members have both the capability and interest in serving customers on new platforms. Including retransmission consent for NBC and Telemundo owned stations are another valued addition to this agreement."

    The agreement with NCTC follows NBCUniversal‘s recent distribution agreements with Cablevision, Mediacom, Suddenlink and Verizon.