NEW YORK, NEW YORK – November 10, 2003 – Mag Rack, the first television service created exclusively for video-on-demand (VOD), today announced a unique cross-promotional partnership with Universal Studios Pay-Per-View (USPPV) that supports the release of the Universal film, "2 Fast 2 Furious," as the lead November on-demand movie title for cable operators across systems.
Beginning November 6, Mag Rack?s popular "Your Next Car" video magazine airs original segments on NOPI tuner cars and Qualcomm racing in San Diego (legal street racing). A third, original segment from USPPV features tuner racing as depicted in the film, "2 Fast 2 Furious." In addition, each program is wrapped with cross-promotional segments driving viewers to the movies on-demand menu to order "2 Fast 2 Furious."
"We have learned from our own research that Mag Rack users are almost twice as likely to buy a movie on demand as non-Mag Rack users," said Beth Sanford, vice president of marketing for Mag Rack. "Our goal in this promotion is to attract and involve digital customers in our enthusiast programming and drive them to Universal?s hit film. By doing so, we are demonstrating to cable operators nationwide, the unique opportunities Mag Rack can offer to help promote on demand movie titles and generate additional revenue."
To support the partnership, USPPV will institute affiliate-marketing initiatives offering co-op and link to Mag Rack?s home page from Universal?s web site. Customized direct mail pieces are available as an added promotion to cable operators. So far, Insight Digital?s two largest markets, Columbus, Ohio and Louisville, Kentucky, have signed on for this campaign.
"Mag Rack has demonstrated proven effectiveness in driving awareness and understanding of VOD on the local consumer level." said Stacy Melle, vice president worldwide marketing, pay-per-view and video-on-demand for Universal ."We believe VOD is a compelling offering and we?re committed to exploring creative approaches to market this new medium to our customers. Mag Rack?s" Your Next Car" video magazine is the ideal promotional channel that reaches our target demographic for this film."
About Mag Rack
Mag Rack is the first service designed exclusively for on-demand television, launched by Rainbow Media Holdings, LLC in 2001. Mag Rack engages enthusiasts with a wide selection of "video magazines" about subjects that are personally relevant such as "Yoga Retreat," "Motorcycle Freedom" and "Inside Weddings." The service offers customers special interest programming not widely found on other channels with advanced DVD-like ability to fast-forward, rewind or pause the program. Mag Rack’s value to cable operators reaches beyond excellent programming to also serve as an expert resource for marketing, branding and affiliate sales. For more information, visit www.magrack.com.
About Universal Studios Pay-Per-View
Universal Studios Pay-Per-View (USPPV) licenses and markets its movies to pay-per-view and video-on-demand distributors on a worldwide basis. USPPV is a part of the Universal Television Group (UTG), a division of Vivendi UNIVERSAL Entertainment (VUE) (www.universalstudios.com), the U.S.-based film, television and recreation entity of Vivendi Universal, a global media and communications company.