CULVER CITY: Sony Pictures Entertainment's (SPE) action and adventure channel AXN is expanding its reach. AXN launches in six East European countries - Poland, Hungary, The Czech Republic, Slovakia, Romania and Bulgaria - on 17 October.
AXN general manager for Central Europe Tom Davidson made the announcement yesterday.
AXN will feature top Hollywood, European and international programming that includes action series and movies, adventure reality and action animation aimed at thrill-seeking, advertiser friendly 18-34 year olds, says a company release. The subscription and ad-supported basic channel, will deliver local language versioned content to viewers across the region, an official release says.
While making the announcement, Davidson stated, "The response to AXN has been phenomenal. To exit the gate with one million total subscribers is a testament to the strength of the AXN proposition and confirmation that our strategy to localise in each market has been embraced by cable operators across the region."
AXN's primetime schedule will feature action with the latest US adventure, sci-fi and animated-action series featuring the regional premiere of Spider-Man: the Animated Series; Street Time, the urban action drama starring Rob Morrow (Northern Exposure ); Odyssey 5, the first-run, outer space adventure series starring Peter Weller (Robocop ); and the global sci-fi hits Mutant X and Gene Roddenberry's Andromeda.
Primetime will also feature a movie line-up of star-studded Hollywood and independent films like the acclaimed Boyz n the Hood with Academy Award winner Cuba Gooding Jr., Jerry McGuire, the gritty crime drama Where The Day Takes You, with Christian Slater, Lara Flynn Boyle and superstar Will Smith (Men in Black I and II ); and Body Double - the Brian de Palma classic starring Melanie Griffith.
Wednesdays on AXN will take reality into a new dimension with series such as Ripley's Believe It Or Not!, hosted by Dean Cain (Lois & Clark: the New Adventures of Superman), and Worst Case Scenario - based on the global best-selling book of the same name. Adventure programming combines the best in human endeavor with breathtaking scenery from around the world in North Face Expedition, Global Adventures and the AXN global franchise property, Eco-Challenge, the world's premier expedition race, created by Mark Burnett (Executive Producer of Survivor), added the release.
With the new launches, AXN will now reach more than 87 million households in over 46 countries throughout Asia, Europe and Latin America, the release says.