Tiscali Boosts IPTV Service With New Film Channel
Tiscali has bolstered its IPTV service, Tiscali TV, with the addition of a new subscription on-demand film channel following an agreement between the company and Universal Pictures.
PictureBox will provide subscribers with a broad selection of current and library feature films through the Tiscali TV platform for a monthly fee of £5
Films will be refreshed constantly, with new titles being added each week. The PictureBox service will include a total of 28 feature films at any one time, such as The Interpreter; Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason; American Wedding; Love Actually; Shaun of the Dead and The Hulk, among others.
Jonathan Sykes, Tiscali UK managing director content strategy, said: “This is a great addition to the range of films currently available to Tiscali TV subscribers.
PictureBox on Tiscali TV is unique to the UK market. It allows the subscriber to choose from up to 28 films every month and watch them at their own convenience as many times or in as many sittings as they want without being tied to any scheduling or rental time constraints.
“The pedigree of titles that this deal gives our subscribers access to is unparalleled and we’re excited to add the PictureBox brand to our TV package.”
Belinda Menendez, president, NBC Universal International Television Distribution, added: “We’re very excited to be expanding the PictureBox brand in the UK. This agreement underscores the popularity of the service and how viewers are embracing the technology and variety of titles on offer.”
Recently, the Disney Channel signed a deal to supply its three Disney branded channels – Disney Channel, Playhouse Disney and Disney Cinemagic – to Tiscali TV subscribers (see Disney Channel Signs IPTV Deal With Tiscali).
Meanwhile, rumours suggest that Tiscali is close to agreeing a deal with BSkyB to carry the latter’s basic channels – including Sky One and Sky News – on its IPTV platform, after their removal from Virgin Media (see Virgin Media TV To Launch New Channel).
Tiscali TV launched in March following its acquisition of Homechoice’s IPTV service last summer. Tiscali says its TV offering will be available to over 10 million UK homes by the end of 2007 (see Tiscali Turns Homechoice Into Tiscali TV).
Tiscali: www.tiscali.co.uk