Zinc Media Regulatory News (ZIN)

13 Jun 2006 07:01

Ten Alps PLC13 June 2006 RNS: Ten Alps Plc - Production News Ten Alps Plc ('Ten Alps') announces its first entertainment commissions, agroup-wide DVD deal and its plan to launch the public sector video websitePublic TV. Entertainment commissions won & launch of formats business Ten Alps TV has gone into production on a six-part entertainment series forChannel 4 called Get Your Act Together, and a ten-part entertainment series forAnimal Planet (Discovery Networks Europe) called Top Dog, for which it producedan on-air pilot in 2005. The commissions represent Ten Alps' first significant step towards developing aTV entertainment formats business. Co-founder Bob Geldof was previouslyshareholder in Planet 24, the production company behind the Big Breakfastformat, and maintains a shareholding in the company behind the Survivor format,one of the major US entertainment TV hits of the past 6 years. Group-wide deal with major DVD distributor 2 entertain Ten Alps plc has signed a group-wide DVD deal with 2 entertain, the UK's leadingTV DVD distributor. The deal links Ten Alps and 2 entertain in a publishing partnership for DVDexploitation of factual TV projects from Ten Alps-owned production companiesBrook Lapping, 3BM TV, Blakeway Productions, Hart Davies TV and Ten Alps TV. 2 entertain is the distributor of a wide range of DVDs across a number ofgenres; TV Drama, Comedy, Natural History, Science, Sport, Fitness, ScienceFiction and Special Interest, including some of the UK's best-known programmesand brands, Little Britain, Dr Who, Pride and Prejudice, Thomas The Tank Engineand Manchester United to name but a few. As well as targeting DVDs from new projects, Ten Alps and 2 entertain plan tomine Ten Alps' back catalogue for past programmes which can translate to DVD,particularly those that definitively cover recent historical events such as theRoyals, peace efforts in Northern Ireland and the Middle East and terrorism - onall of which Ten Alps has a significant library. "The DVD market is very significant to us, in view of the depth and quality ofsome of our catalogue," said Alex Connock, Ten Alps Chief Executive. "Webelieve that DVD is an excellent way to distribute documentaries to ageographically disparate but committed, global audience, and we are sure that 2entertain, with their scale and clout, are the right people to be working with." Richard Green, CEO, 2 entertain said, "We are delighted that Ten Alps has chosen2 entertain as a publishing partner. Their choice of 2 entertain is anendorsement of our mission to champion the very best of UK productions on DVDand CD around the world." Plan to launch Public TV as UK public sector video website Ten Alps' internet and digital TV division, headed by Nigel Dacre, will towardsthe end of 2006 launch Public TV (www.public.tv). The website will aim to be a video portal bringing together all Ten Alps' publicsector websites and internet TV operations under a single banner. Public TV will aim to serve the UK's 5.8 million public sector workers with asingle point at which they can search for high-quality training and professionaldevelopment video material. Ten Alps' view (which is one widely held in the internet industry) is that overtime professional training videos will be likely to be viewed online, and thatboth websites and specialist magazines will gravitate towards more video-basedofferings. Broadband penetration is now running at 64% in the UK and is set togrow, and download speeds of 1MB+ facilitate video viewing. Ten Alps already has a position within the public sector internet TV space, byvirtue of it being the principal shareholder in the consortium operating theTeachers' TV project for the Department for Education and Skills. Teachers' TVhas a very substantial internet presence, with over 1000 programmes hostedonline, and well over 100,000 video downloads per month at present. www.tenalps.com Contact Parkgreen Communications, Paul McManus0207 786 9600 Alex Connock - Chief Executive, c/o Moira McManus0207 878 2311 Nitil Patel - Finance Director0207 428 3182 Nigel Dacre - Ten Alps Digital0207 878 2413 This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange