GRIT & ESCAPE ACQUIRE RIGHTS TO 157 MOTION PICTURES FROM NBCUNIVERSALTELEVISION & NEW MEDIA DISTRIBUTION
ATLANTA (June 24, 2014) – The country’s first-ever male-centric and female-centric over-the-air broadcast television networks — Grit (For Men) and Escape(For Women) — have acquired the television rights to 157 demo-targeted motion pictures in a multi-year licensing agreement with NBCUniversal Television & New Media Distribution, U.S. & Canada, it was announced today.
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 theatrical motion pictures. Grit lands numerous NBCUniversal genre-targeted titles starring iconic male stars such as Clint Eastwood (High Plains Drifter, The Eiger Sanction), Arnold Schwarzenegger (Conan The Barbarian, Conan The Destroyer), John Wayne (Rooster Cogburn, War Wagon), Sylvester Stallone (Nighthawks, Daylight), Gregory Peck (MacArthur, Shootout), Bruce Willis and Richard Gere (The Jackal), Robert Redford (Tell Them Willie Boy is Here), Charlton Heston and Henry Fonda (Midway), Gary Cooper (The Plainsman), Burt Reynolds (Smokey and The Bandit II and III) and Jean Claude Van Damme (The Quest).
Escape will target women 25-54 with a brand of programming anchored in stories of crime and mystery. The NBCU drama and mystery titles earmarked for Escape include: Nicole Kidman on the run after overhearing an assassination plot in The Interpreter; The Bone Collector starring Angelina Jolie; the multiple-award winning mystery Swimming Pool with Charlotte Rampling; Thandie Newton discovering The Truth About Charlie; two David Lynch films, the hypnotic Mulholland Drive starring Naomi Watts and Lost Highway; Watts in Eastern Promises; It’s All About Love starring Claire Danes; The Return, headlined by Sarah Michelle Gellar as well as Play Misty for Me, A Kiss Before Dying, Waking The Dead, The Black Dahlia and more.
This is the second 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. Warner Bros. drama and thriller titles to air on Escape include: Body Heat, Presumed Innocent, Disclosure, Misery, Dead Calm, Malice, Dolores Claiborne, Star 80 and more. Among the stars and titles headed to Grit in the WBDTD agreement: Clint Eastwood (Sudden Impact, Kelly’s Heroes, Bronco Billy); John Wayne (Cahill, U.S. Marshall, Chisum, The Cowboys);Sylvester Stallone (Cobra, Demolition Man, Victory); Jackie Chan (Rumble in the Bronx, Jackie Chan’s First Strike) and more.
Grit and Escape will launch later this summer and are currently cleared to be seen in 45% of the country, with more distribution to be announced shortly. Univision Television Group, which owns and/or operates television stations in major U.S. markets, will carry both Grit and Escape in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Dallas, Houston and Miami and other markets. Raycom Media will carry one or both of the networks in markets including Cleveland/Akron, OH, Charlotte, NC, Cincinnati, OH, West Palm Beach, FL, Birmingham, AL, Memphis, TN, Louisville, KY, Knoxville, TN, Honolulu, HI, Tucson, AZ, Columbia, SC, Huntsville, AL and others.
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.
About NBCUniversal Television & New Media Distribution, U.S. & Canada:
NBCUniversal Television & New Media Distribution, U.S. & Canada is responsible for the sales and distribution of NBCUniversal product to all forms of television within the U.S. and Canada. This includes current television and film product as well as content from NBCUniversal’s vast library (Universal Pictures, Focus Features, Universal Television, Universal Cable Productions, NBC Late Night properties, etc.) distributed in linear free television, basic cable, pay cable and subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) markets. Current off-network cable distribution programming includes “30 Rock,” “House,” “Law & Order,” “Law & Order: Criminal Intent,” “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit,” “Monk,” “The Office” and “Saturday Night Live,” as well as Universal Pictures film content. The division is also responsible for the sales of NBCUniversal content to non-theatrical markets including airlines worldwide.