ReelzChannel Selects Ascent Media Network Services

ReelzChannel, a cable and satellite network that is “dedicated to everything movies, 24/7” chose Ascent Media Network Services (AMNS) to provide end-to-end services in support of and following their September 27th launch. In terms of actual subscribers, the ReelzChannel launch will have been the largest of any new network in history, and will be delivered via the new AMNS cable platform on Galaxy 15, one of the premiere neighborhoods for the cable and satellite industry.

“Ascent Media’s ability to provide systems integration, deployment and maintenance of the receive systems as well as the full delivery infrastructure—from network origination to satellite space segment—made Ascent Media the clear choice to help make this channel a reality,” said Gary Thorne, President and Chief Operating Officer, ReelzChannel. “In addition, their multiple service locations throughout the US were a perfect fit for the requirements of our localization network.”

The AMNS content distribution facility in Burbank, CA will provide comprehensive origination and playback services, using redundant servers and an archive management system. Programming and interstitial material will be transferred as files from ReelzChannel’s Los Angeles facility via a dedicated DS-3 circuit, which also has live video capabilities for breaking news stories.

AMNS’s Systems & Technology Services group is helping design and integrate ReelzChannel’s new studio in the Los Angeles Center Studios, as well as the associated production and audio control rooms. The facility will produce programming that is both “live to server” and “live to air.”

Ascent Media’s national field service organization will install, troubleshoot, and maintain IRDs (integrated receiver/decoders) and edge servers at each headend, enabling localized information in the form of graphics, text, audio, and video to be aggregated, stored and played out from each affiliated cable system and satellite provider.

“AMNS worked with ReelzChannel to provide a high level of on-air flexibility to accommodate a variety of scenarios,” said Peter Brickman, AMNS Managing Director Content Distribution North America. ”We are thrilled to have ReelzChannel as a charter member our West Coast Galaxy 15 platform, which is a strong complement to our very popular cable platform on Galaxy 11.”