ESCAPE & GRIT ANNOUNCE LICENSING AGREEMENT WITH PARAMOUNT PICTURES FOR NEARLY 200 FEATURE FILMS
Renowned Classics and Contemporary Favorites Featuring Some of Cinema’s Biggest Stars Headed to the First-Ever Over-The-Air Broadcast Television Networks
Programmed Specifically For Women & Men
ATLANTA (July 22, 2014) – The country’s first-ever female-centric and male-centric over-the-air broadcast television networks – Escape (For Women) and Grit (For Men) – have entered into a multi-year licensing agreement with Paramount Pictures to broadcast nearly 200 demo-targeted motion pictures, it was announced today.
Escape will target women 25-54 with a brand of programming that’s anchored in stories of crime and mystery. The network’s agreement with Paramount delivers numerous titles and stars perfect for the demo, including: Jodie Foster’s Academy Award®-winning performance in The Accused; Susan Sarandon’s Oscar®-winning role in Dead Man Walking; the suspenseful thrillers Basic Instinct, Sliver and Intersection starring Sharon Stone; The Hours starring Meryl Streep and Nicole Kidman; Angelina Jolie in Beyond Borders and Foxfire; The Virgin Suicides starring Kirsten Dunst; Michelle Pfeiffer in What Lies Beneath; Joan Allen in the political thriller The Contender; Dead Again with Emma Thompson, and more.
Action-oriented Grit will reach men 25-54 and be built around the classic male hero archetype with a heavy focus on western, war and action movies. Titles headed to Grit under the new agreement feature a who’s who of some of the most popular stars, heroes and box-office performers in Hollywood history, including: Clint Eastwood (Escape From Alcatraz), Tom Cruise (Top Gun), Arnold Schwarzenegger (The Running Man), Gary Cooper (High Noon), Steve McQueen (Hell is for Heroes), Sylvester Stallone (Lock Up), Harrison Ford (K-19: The Widowmaker), Chuck Norris (Delta Force II: The Colombian Connection, Firewalker, Braddock: Missing in Action III) and Jean-Claude Van Damme (Universal Soldier, Death Warrant).
Grit also will air nearly 30 films featuring two of the greatest screen cowboys of all time: John Wayne and Roy Rogers. Among The Duke’s films coming to Grit as part of the agreement are Sands of Iwo Jima, The Quiet Man, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, Hondo, The Sons of Katie Elder, Rio Grande and The Shootist. Titles coming to Grit starring “The King of The Cowboys,” Roy Rogers, include Don’t Fence Me In, My Pal Trigger, The Golden Stallion, Grand Canyon Trail, Pals of the Golden West and Trigger Jr.
This is the third major film licensing agreement for Grit and Escape. The two networks just recently acquired the television rights to 135 demo-targeted motion pictures in a multi-year licensing agreement with Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution and 157 motion pictures in a multi-year licensing agreement with NBCUniversal Television & New Media Distribution, U.S. & Canada.
Grit and Escape will launch later this summer and are currently cleared to be seen in 50% of the country, with more distribution to be announced shortly. The networks will be seen in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, Dallas, Washington, D.C., Cleveland, Houston, Miami, San Francisco and other major markets. Grit and Escape are part of Katz Broadcasting, a new company established by current Bounce TV founder/COO and former Turner Broadcasting executive Jonathan Katz.