Ovation Secures DIRECTV Carriage

LOS ANGELES, February 14: The arts network Ovation TV has
secured carriage on DIRECTV, nearly tripling its subscriber base.

The deal comes about six months since the cable network was
acquired by a consortium led by Hubbard Media Group as controlling shareholder,
as well as The Weinstein Company and a number of investment firms.

Currently reaching 5.3 million subscribers in New York,
Chicago, Washington D.C., Tampa, Orlando, San Diego, San Antonio and Austin,
Ovation is slated to launch on DIRECTV in the middle of this year, bringing it
to a further 16 million subscribers nationwide.

“This singular agreement with DIRECTV vaults us well past
even our own most optimistic projections for 2007,” said Charles Segars, the
channel’s CEO. “This is a valuable endorsement of our operating strategy and
positions us to fulfill our goal of making the arts accessible to viewers as never
before.”

Ken Solomon, the channel’s chairman, added: “With this
agreement Ovation TV has achieved something it has never had—a true
national television footprint. We’re thrilled that DIRECTV sees Ovation TV as a
solution for filling the void in the television landscape for art-related
programming and recognizes the importance of this program category in the lives
of viewers across the nation.”

Segars and Solomon led and enlisted the group of investors
who purchased the network in August 2006.

Ovation TV is planning a relaunch this year. First launched
in 1996, it showcases the world’s greatest artists in music, popular arts,
theater, dance, opera, literature, film, visual and fine art, design,
photography and architecture. It plans to aggressively expand its reach via
cable, satellite and online platforms and is forming partnerships with the
leading cultural and arts institutions and organizations in the world for new
content initiatives.