FEARnet and Ford Models Also New Partners; Content Now Includes Full Length Movies, TV Episodes, Music Videos and Trailers
Las Vegas (CES booth 14200), Jan. 6, 2008 – Sony Bravia Internet Video Link users will soon have access to an extensive collection of Internet video content including full episodes from America‘s Most Watched Network as a new agreement was announced today with CBS Interactive.
Sony also announced that FEARnet and Ford Models, Inc. will now provide content to the BRAVIA Internet Video Link Service, in addition to a new Music Videos channel and a Movie Trailers channel. The new content adds to existing channels including Yahoo!, AOL, Sports Illustrated, blip.tv, CondéNet‘s Style.com, Men.Style.com, Epicurious and Concierge.com channels, and Sony Pictures‘ Crackle, The Minisode Network and Inside Sony Pictures channels.
In the coming weeks, CBS, FEARnet and Ford Models content, as well as the new movie trailer and music video channels, will be available. BRAVIA Internet Video Link users will automatically see the new content provider logos appear on their menu system; no upgrade is necessary.
As for CBS, when connected to a compatible Sony television, the BRAVIA Internet Video Link module will stream selected content free and on-demand, including full television show episodes; brief clips; and highlights from select entertainment, news and sports programming. In addition, Showtime and made-for-the-web shows, such as “Wallstrip,” will be offered.
“Last year, Sony led the industry into a new era as the first TV manufacturer to bring Internet video directly to its televisions without the need for a PC. The addition of CBS content including full length episodes brings the best of the network‘s Internet video content directly to the living room,” said Randy Waynick, senior vice president of Sony Electronics‘ Home Products Division in the U.S. “We are excited to be working with CBS and our other new content providers in bridging the gap between the online video experience and traditional broadcasting.”
Available CBS content will include clips and full episodes of such primetime shows as “CSI,” “How I Met Your Mother” and “The Unit,” as well as daytime programming like “The Price Is Right,” “The Young and the Restless” and “As the World Turns.” Also offered will be select CBSSports.com content, clips from Showtime originals like “Weeds,” “Dexter” and “Showtime Championship Boxing,” plus such classic programs as “Melrose Place,” “Dynasty,” “Hawaii Five-O” and “The Love Boat.”
FEARnet, a premier online and on-demand destination for thriller and horror content, will offer a variety of original programming and full length feature films. At launch, FEARnet content will include the original mini-series “30 Days of Night: Blood Trails,” created in partnership with Ghost House Pictures production company.
FEARnet will also feature full length horror film favorites, including “Night of the Living Dead,” “Mary Shelley‘s Frankenstein,” “976-EVIL,” “Mindwarp” and “30 Days of Night: Blood Trails the Movie.” The channel will refresh content every month with original series and full-length movies. The FEARnet channel will also feature select movie trailers.
Ford Models, the world‘s leading fashion talent management company, will stream select content from the company‘s Fordmodels.tv site. The site features 60 to 90-second clips of unscripted, original content centered on its talent in the worlds of fashion, beauty, travel, fitness and model lifestyle. Programs like “Ford Model Changing Room Confessions,” “Ford Model Fitness,” “Ford Model Fashion Flash” and “Ford Models Beauty Tips,” which are currently available across the Web — as well as on the Fordmodels.tv web site — will be part of the content offering at launch. Users will have access to this unique content that can not be found on standard broadcast television.
Sony will also launch a new Movie Trailers and a Music Videos channels streaming popular clips from the providers SingingFool and VideoDetective. SingingFool, a leading independent music video site features more than 14,000 music videos, while VideoDetective features a catalog of about 19,000 movie trailers. According to the Online Publishers Association, movie clips, trailers and music videos are among the nation‘s top 10 types of online videos.
Sony‘s BRAVIA Internet Video Link module is currently available for about $300. It can be purchased online at sonystyle.com, at Sony Style retail stores and at Sony authorized dealers across the country. The module used with a consumer‘s existing broadband Internet connection is compatible with a majority of the latest 2007 BRAVIA televisions, as well future models for 2008 also announced here today.