AETN in Asian Alliance with Astro

NEW YORK/KUALA LUMPUR/SINGAPORE, April 17: A&E
Television Networks has formed a joint venture with Malaysia’s Astro All Asia
Networks to roll out branded channels and services across Southeast Asia, Hong
Kong and Taiwan.

The venture, AETN All Asia Networks, will be
headquartered in Singapore with operations in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It is set
to launch The History Channel and Crime & Investigation Network in Singapore,
Hong Kong, Thailand, the Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei in the second and
third quarters of this year. The channels will roll out in Taiwan before the
end of this year. Both will be fully language-versioned in Bahasa Malaysia,
Bahasa Indonesia, Thai and Chinese, and both will feature local acquisitions
and productions.

AETN All Asia Networks also plans to launch The
Biography Channel in the region, and to deploy the brands and programming via
VOD, mobile, broadband and HD.