British Newspaper, Mercury Media in TV Broadband Partnership

LONDON, February 11: Mercury Media
has teamed up with the British newspaper The Independent for the launch of its new joiningthedots.tv (JTD) service,
which will offer a range of independent documentaries over broadband.

The partnership will create an
independent online ‘shop-window’ into (JTD), as well as see the promotion of
the service and specific documentaries within the newspaper and www.independent.co.uk.

Launching this spring,
joiningthedots.tv, with the motto of “independent films for independent
people,” will offer documentaries that address a broad spread of today’s
issues, from the environment to Iraq, through drugs and the death penalty, to
personal issues like infertility and debt.

Tim Sparke, joiningthedots.tv’s
managing director, said: “We are delivering something new for people who seek
broader truths about today’s important issues, a space where print journalism,
subscriber interaction and DVD-quality documentary converge to create a new
hybrid media. We have award-winning films including Oscar winners from Roco,
Verve, Minotaur, John McClean, TVF, Hopscotch, Global-vision, Grain De Sable
and Wisywyg. With these films, we will create a unique broadband experience
with a strong print and online partnership in The Independent. Collectively our aim is to provide an complement to
traditional TV and media offerings with an on-demand service which is genuinely
independent, uniquely innovative and creatively satisfying.”

Bill Swanson, the general manager
of independent.co.uk, said: “One of the main reasons readers come to our
website is that we have unique and insightful content and independent views.
Users continue to consume content in many ways. Online is an arena where this
can be offered in a variety of formats. By opening up a video-on-demand channel
we can add further insight and opinion on the key issues covered by our
journalists. The Independent and
independent.co.uk provide views and opinions that go beyond the issues of the
day and this unique partnership with joiningthedots.tv will give readers
greater insight about real issues.”

—By Irene Lew