Teen TV Network Launches.

Celebrating today’s youth and spirit, the world’s first and only television network dedicated to teens, VTV:Varsity Television, was officially launched on Galaxy 11, Transponder 13. VTV has now been added to Pod 14 of Comcast’s Headend in the Sky(R) (HITS), whose affiliates service nearly 7 million U.S. households. In addition, a letter of intent has been signed with the National Cable Television Coop, which has over 14.5 million basic subscribers.

VTV is set to capture one of the largest and most sought-after programming niches remaining in the television world. VTV fills the gap in youth programming between Nickelodeon (kids 3 to 12) and MTV (adults 18 to 34). The new network is co-founded by Joe Shults, a member of the executive team that launched MTV, Nickelodeon and VH1 as well as one of the original management members for E! Entertainment, and Kelly Hoffman, who brings more than two decades of financial and administrative experience in building start-ups into strong, profitable companies.

“The time has come for a network that is exclusively dedicated to teenagers,” said Shults, president. “This is a powerful, influential audience that deserves an entertainment channel all its own.”

The 24-hour network includes teen-oriented series and films developed by the most respected producers and distributors in the world, as well as original videos and films created by teens themselves. The teen-created content includes student films, short-form animation, music videos, documentaries and teen-produced news broadcasts. Companies from which VTV has acquired programming include ABC International, CBC, CTV, Granada, RDF International, and Universal Television.

Credited with $170 billion in annual spending influence, teens are the largest consumers of music, motion picture productions, DVDs, personal electronics, snacks and soft drinks, fast food, clothing and more. Advertisers seeking teens for their influence, high return on investment resulting from lifetime brand loyalty secured for consumer products during teen years, now have a targeted vehicle for reaching 13-18 year olds with VTV.

“As the head of a large agency representing clients with strong youth brands such as Pepsi, Frito Lay and Pizza Hut, we were constantly searching for an effective marketing platform to reach teenagers,” said Bruce Orr, VTV’s Vice President of Marketing and former CEO of Tracy Locke. “With VTV, I believe they finally have that platform.”

VTV has established relationships with high schools located in the top 100 television markets in the U.S. These schools maintain professional caliber audio/visual equipment and production facilities that deliver compelling, high-quality content directly to VTV. Thousands of clips have been received to date with a growing number of new program submissions arriving weekly from hundreds of high schools and related youth organizations. This content is then edited and packaged into stand-alone vignettes that air several times an hour throughout the programming day.

VTV has built a loyal and active audience through its website, MyVTV.com . VTV has been sneak previewed for the past two months, giving Multiple System Operators (MSO) executives and cable system operators a unique opportunity to view the network’s 24-hour signal. As a result, VTV is currently in final distribution negotiations with some of the country’s largest MSOs. “I saw the beginnings of a phenomenon in the early days of MTV and there are so many parallels between early MTV and VTV,” said Rod Allen, VP of Affiliate relations and former regional director for MTV. “The response from the cable television community has been overwhelming.”