ION Television to Provide Broadcast Premieres for Multiple Blockbuster Theatrical Releases

Tue Oct 27, 2009 11:53am EDT
 
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ION Secures Broadcast Premiere Rights to Award-Winning "March of the Penguins"
from Warner Bros. Domestic Television and "The Return," "Breach" and "Miami
Vice" from NBC Universal
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla.--(Business Wire)--
ION Television has finalized multiple film agreements that provide the Network
with the broadcast premiere rights to four new titles. The agreement with Warner
Bros. Domestic Television Distribution (WBDTD) provides ION Television with the
broadcast premiere rights to the Academy Award-winning feature film "March of
the Penguins." In addition, ION Television has inked a deal with NBC Universal
Domestic Distribution (NBCU) for the broadcast premiere rights to the theatrical
releases "The Return," "Breach"and "Miami Vice."

"As part of ION Television`s effort to build its primetime line-up, we also want
to regularly offer our viewers top quality movies," said Leslie Chesloff,
Executive Vice President, Programming, for ION Media Networks. "We`re thrilled
to be able to offer our viewers the opportunity to watch this diverse line-up of
films, particularly "March of the Penguins" - which will be a nice holiday
treat." 

The broadcast premieres will roll out beginning the end of this month through
December: 

In "The Return," which premieres Saturday, October 31 at 9:00 pm, ET Sarah
Michelle Gellar stars as a young woman who, after a car crash when she was 11
years old, has visions of a town she`s never been to and of people she`s never
met. She finally decides to go to the town and investigate exactly why she keeps
having vivid visions of a murder that took place 15 years earlier. When Joanna's
visions start to add up and she puts them together, she realizes who the
murderer is and the murderer realizes that she knows who he is as well. Sam
Sheppard also stars. 

"Breach," debuting on Sunday, November 1 at 8:30 pm, ET stars Chris Cooper,
Laura Linney and Ryan Phillippe. Based on a true story, FBI upstart Eric O'Neill
enters into a power game with his boss, Robert Hanssen, an agent who was
ultimately convicted of selling secrets to the Soviet Union. The film tells the
riveting story of the investigation that brought down the most damaging spy in
U.S. history. 

"Miami Vice" will air on broadcast television for the first time on Sunday,
November 8 at 8:00 pm, ET. This update of the iconic 1980's TV action/drama
stars Colin Farrell as Sonny Crockett and Jamie Foxx as Ricardo Tubbs. When an
informer, his family and two FBI agents are killed by an international gang of
drug dealers, Crockett and Tubbs are assigned to work undercover for the FBI in
a joint operation to disclose which agency leaked the information to the
criminals. The intensity of the case pushes Crockett and Tubbs out onto the edge
where identity and fabrication become blurred, where cop and player become one. 

The acclaimed hit documentary "March of the Penguins" debuts on ION Television
on Saturday, December 12 at 7:00 pm and 9:00 pm, ET. Directed by Luc Jacquet,
the film is a remarkable look at the annual journey of the Emperor Penguins, as
they march to their traditional breeding ground. Situated in the pitiless ice
deserts of Antarctica, the most inhospitable terrain on Earth, the film
chronicles a truly remarkable journey that takes place as it has done for
millennia. 

About ION Television

ION Television (www.iontelevision.com) is a general entertainment network which
reaches over 96 million U.S. television households via its nationwide broadcast
television, cable and satellite distribution systems. Launched in 2006, ION
Television features popular TV series and movies from the award-winning
libraries of RHI Entertainment, CBS Television, NBC Universal, Sony Pictures
Television, Twentieth Television and Warner Bros. Parent company, ION Media
Networks, Inc., owns and operates the nation's largest broadcast television
station group. Using its digital multicasting capability, ION Media Networks has
launched the digital TV brands qubo, a channel for children focusing on literacy
and values, and ION Life, a channel dedicated to active living and personal
growth. It also has launched Open Mobile Ventures Corporation (OMVION), a
business unit focused on the research and development of portable, mobile and
out-of-home transmission technology using over-the-air digital television
spectrum. For more information, visit www.ionmedia.com.

ION Television
Amelie Tseng, 973-897-8868
amelie.tseng@verizon.net
or
Sayles & Winnikoff Communications
Alan Winnikoff, 212-725-5200 x111
alan@sayleswinnikoff.com
or
Carina Sayles, 212-725-5200 x210
carina@sayleswinnikoff.com

Copyright Business Wire 2009

 

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