MUMBAI: Tiger Gate, the Asian media venture started by William Pfeiffer and Paul Presburger and backed by Lionsgate, has launched the action channel KIX and the thriller/horror/suspense channel Thrill to serve the pan-Asian marketplace of more than two billion consumers.
Tiger Gate has also brought on board Asian financial partners Asia TMET Fund Management, an Asian-Pacific private investment firm, and Meadow Technology Partners, a China-based investment company.
As the first step in its planned territory-by-territory rollout, Tiger Gate has teamed with Indovision, the Indonesian digital satellite provider and pay TV market leader, to serve the Indonesian market of over 250 million consumers. The KIX and Thrill channels will be launched on the remaining Indonesian platforms later this month and will follow with launches in Singapore and Hong Kong before the end of the year, with other Asian territories slated to follow in 2010.
Tiger Gate is also producing local feature film and television content that focuses on the action and thriller/horror genres and complements its channels business. In addition to being featured on the KIX and Thrill channels, this content will be distributed by third party platforms around the world.
The Tiger Gate venture will be backed by Lionsgate.
"The future of the television business lies in its ability to identify and capitalize on new areas of growth worldwide. We see great opportunities in branded international channel platforms, and the horror and action markets are a space we know well. I’ve worked closely with William and Paul since our Sony days, and we believe that Tiger Gate is well positioned to have an immediate impact in this large and growing niche," said Lionsgate co-chairman and CEO Jon Feltheimer.
Tiger Gate CEO William Pfeiffer added, "The pan-Asian television market offers tremendous opportunities for branded channels that can distinguish themselves from the competition with a targeted approach, a long-term vision and distinctive, compelling programming. One of Lionsgate’s greatest strengths has been its ability to focus on large, underserved niche audiences with branded content custom-tailored to their tastes. Whether with the Saw and Tyler Perry franchises, success in delivering original programming to emerging cable networks, or its recent channel initiatives, Lionsgate has consistently shown the ability to bring its content, marketing and branding skills to bear on well-defined market opportunities and to achieve success. I believe that Tiger Gate’s two branded channels will create a compelling long-term value proposition for Asian consumers, and I am delighted to welcome Mark Pawley at Asia TMET Fund Management and Tony Zheng at Meadow Technology Partners as financial partners to help us build the diversified Tiger Gate media platform."
