Television
May 8, 2009
Jupiter Entertainment Co., Ltd. Acquires More Than 80 Feature Film Titles For Broadcast On Movie Plus In Japan Via Multiyear Licensing Agreement With Warner Entertainment Japan Inc.
(May 8, 2009 - Tokyo and Burbank, CA) – Jupiter Entertainment Co. Ltd. has acquired the rights to a slate of more than 80 theatrical motion picture titles for broadcast in Japan on its movie specialty channel Movie Plus via a three-year licensing agreement with Warner Bros. International Television, a division of Warner Entertainment Japan Inc. The announcement was made today by Hiroyuki Nakatani, Representative Director and President, Jupiter Entertainment Co., Ltd.; and Mitsuru Oda, Vice President and General Manager, Warner Bros. International Television, a division of Warner Entertainment Japan Inc.
Under terms of the agreement, Jupiter will have the rights to broadcast, on its Movie Plus CS basic channel, a number of recent high-profile, hit feature films distributed by the Studio, as well as a slate of pictures from the Warner Bros. Entertainment collection, beginning in spring 2009.
Titles licensed for Movie Plus include multiple Oscar® winner “The Departed,” directed by Martin Scorsese and starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Jack Nicholson and Mark Wahlberg; “Blood Diamond,” starring DiCaprio, Jennifer Connelly and Djimon Hounsou; “The Bodyguard,” starring Kevin Costner and Whitney Houston; and the Steven Spielberg–presented/Richard Donner–directed “Goonies,” among many others.
“It is expected that the multiyear licensing agreement with Warner Bros. will enhance customer satisfaction for Movie Plus, the largest movie specialty channel in terms of its viewing households, and contribute to the further growth of the multi-channel market in Japan,” said Nakatani.
“Quality feature films continue to prove a hit with viewers around the world, and we are happy to announce this multiyear deal with Jupiter’s Movie Plus channel,” said Oda. “We look forward to working closely and successfully with Jupiter to make our blockbuster movies hits with consumers in Japan.”
Warner Bros.–distributed hit films such as “I Am Legend,” “The Dark Knight,” “Sweeney Todd, The Demon Barber of Fleet Street” and “The Bucket List,” ranked number one in total Japan box office among the major studios in 2008.
Movie Plus started service as a cable TV channel in 1989 and is going to mark its 20th anniversary in 2009. Movie Plus is Japan’s largest movie specialty channel, reaching 7.58 million homes as of the end of March 2009 and ranked in the top five of CS thematic channels selected by the channel-viewable households. In the CS thematic channels joint audience measurement by people meter conduced by Video Research Ltd. in 2008, Movie Plus topped the list of foreign film channels in average ratings (household) earned. Also, in digital broadcasting ratings measured by Jupiter Telecommunications Co., Ltd.’s survey on subscribers to “J:COM TV digital,” Movie Plus ranked the top of basic movie specialized channels.
Movie Plus will endeavor to enrich its program lineup by further deepening its relationship with content holders in the future. # # #