ION Television Expands Movie Lineup

WEST PALM BEACH: Miami Vice and March of the Penguins are among the theatrical features slated to air on ION Television, following new package deals with NBC Universal Domestic Television and Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution.

ION has shored up more than 40 new feature films via its new studio packages. The titles are set to begin airing later this month and will continue rolling out though the fall and into 2010. The NBCU package covers The Break Up with Jennifer Aniston and Vince Vaughn, Miami Vice starring Colin Farrell and Jamie Foxx, I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry, the Back to the Future trilogy, Inside Man and The Hitcher, among others. The network has also expanded on its existing agreement with Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution. The 30-plus additional films in the new package include March of the Penguins, Troy, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, The Matrix Revolutions and Taking Lives.

“As ION Television continues to build its schedule, these first-rate theatrical features are the perfect complement to our growing lineup of original and acquired series,” said Leslie Chesloff, the executive VP of programming at ION Media Networks. “These proven hits have outstanding appeal and will be particularly popular with our core 25-54 demographic.”