Television
February 16, 2010
Onet.pl Group Launches Video-On-Demand Platform In Poland With Programming From Warner Bros. Entertainment
(February 16, 2010 - Warsaw, Poland and Burbank, CA) – Onet.pl Group has launched a new video-on-demand service (vod.onet.pl) in Poland featuring television series licensed by Warner Bros. International Television Distribution (WBITD). Additionally, Warner Bros. International Branded Services has launched its first WarnerTV subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) branded service in Central and Eastern Europe, within the new Group Onet.pl VOD platform. The joint announcement was made today by Lukasz Wejchert, VP Online, TVN Group & CEO, Onet.pl Group; Jeffrey R. Schlesinger, President, Warner Bros. International Television; and Malcolm Dudley-Smith, Executive Vice President–Business Management, Warner Bros. International Branded Services.
This deal marks the first launch of the WarnerTV branded service in Central and Eastern Europe, and extends the on-going relationship between TVN Group and WBITD in which TVN’s linear TV channels have an existing programming output deal with WBITD.
Under the terms of the agreement, television series from Warner Bros. Entertainment will be made available on-demand to customers in Poland through the vod.onet.pl platform. The platform will showcase episodes of hit series from WBITD – including “The Big Bang Theory” and “Gossip Girl” – shortly after their U.S. premieres, offering fans in Poland the chance to view online their favourite U.S. shows for the very first time.
Also within the vod.onet.pl platform, television and film enthusiasts will be able to subscribe to WarnerTV, a branded service offering around-the-clock, on-demand access to episodes of drama, comedy and sci-fi television series, as well as a slate of more than 300 theatrical motion pictures in the first two years. Programs featured on WarnerTV will include “Gilmore Girls,” “The O.C.,” “Two and a Half Men,” “One Tree Hill,” “ER” and “Friends,” as well as early seasons of “Gossip Girl,” “Fringe” and “The Big Bang Theory.” Featured movies will include such worldwide hits as “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone,” “Ocean’s Eleven” and “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy, as well as timeless film classics such as “Ben-Hur,” “Dirty Harry” and “A Clockwork Orange.”
“We have had a long and successful association with TVN’s linear channels in Poland, and we look forward to delivering even more programming to viewers there in new ways as Onet.pl Group launches its video-on-demand service,” said Schlesinger.
“The WarnerTV branded service within vod.onet.pl will bring hundreds of hours of hit television series and feature film programming to viewers in Poland, in a convenient and compelling way on an on-demand basis. It’s all about giving viewers what they want whenever they want it,” said Dudley-Smith.
“vod.onet.pl combines the TV format with cinema attraction and opportunities of the web. Together with Warner Bros., we bring the highest quality legal video content to Polish net users, and we will be Poland’s first offering of overseas video content on this scale,” said Wejchert.
WarnerTV programming can be ordered by Poland-based Internet users via the vod.onet.pl service as part of the Library Series, The New Series and Feature Films packages.
About vod.onet.pl
Onet.pl Group's latest web-based project that offers Polish Internet users access to high quality video content, like TV series, TV shows and theatrical motion pictures both Polish, produced by TVN and overseas including series and film licensed by WB. Vod.onet.pl employs top-of-the-notch Microsoft's Silverlight, Smooth-Streaming and Play-Ready technologies, adjusting the quality of the video stream to the bandwidth in real time thus giving the best quality of video and audio. Vod.onet.pl is accessible simple by using internet browser.
About Onet.pl Group
Onet.pl Group operates a range of leading Polish web properties including: Onet.pl (largest horizontal portal); Sympatia.pl (leading dating site), Onet Blog and Blog.pl (the largest blogging communities) and Zumi.pl (map based “yellow page” business). Onet.pl Group is owned by TVN Group – Poland’s leading media group integrating TV broadcasting, DTH platform and online businesses.
About WarnerTV
WarnerTV features around-the-clock, on-demand access to drama, comedy and sci-fi television series and theatrical motion pictures. This deal continues Warner Bros. International Branded Services’ strategic expansion into branded SVOD (subscription video-on-demand) and AVOD (advertiser-supported video-on-demand) channels around the globe. WarnerTV has previously launched on over 15 platforms in nine EMEA territories, including Top Up TV, Talk Talk TV, Virgin Media and BT Vision in the U.K.; FASTWEB in Italy; Videoload and Maxdome in Germany; Telekom Austria in Austria; Elisa in Finland; Ziggo in the Netherlands; Free in France and USEN Corporation’s GyaO in Japan. Additionally, Warner Bros. International Branded Services recently announced plans to launch a WarnerTV-branded 24-hour, linear general entertainment channel throughout Asia in 2010, with distribution handled by HBO Asia.
About Warner Bros. International Television Distribution Warner Bros. International Television Distribution is one of the world’s largest distributors of feature films, television programs and animation to the international television marketplace (broadcast, pay cable, basic cable, satellite, pay-per-view, video-on-demand, digital platforms, etc.). It licenses some 50,000 hours of programming (including more than 6,000 features and 70+ current series), dubbed or subtitled in more than 40 languages, to telecasters and cablecasters in more than 175 countries. # # #