Granada TV Scores Further Asian Carriage

HONG KONG: ITV Studios Global Entertainment is to launch the general-entertainment channel Granada TV on Astro in Malaysia.

The channel offers a lineup of contemporary dramas, comedy, reality programming and talk and entertainment shows. Programs available to Astro viewers as part of Granada TV’s 2010 schedule include Prime Suspect, a crime drama series starring Helen Mirren; Super Agents, a reality show set in the world of modern sports management; The Crunch, a challenge show; and the Royal Variety Performance 2009, in which celebrity performers from around the world gather to entertain Queen Elizabeth II. Granada TV will be available to all 2.8 million Astro subscribers as part of the Astro Family Pack, starting December 21.

Henry Tan, the COO at Astro, said, “Our channel portfolio delivers to our customers a broad range of entertaining and high-end programming from around the world. As a tribute to our customers for their continuous support of Astro, we are pleased to offer Granada TV on our platform. We are happy to announce that Granada TV will be available to all our viewers starting from December 21, 2009. The channel contains many of the U.K.’s best shows and we are sure our growing audiences will enjoy what this exciting new channel has to offer.”

James Ross, the regional director for Asia at ITV Studios Global Entertainment, added, “The launch of Granada TV on Astro caps off a terrific year in distribution for the channel and follows our recent launches in Korea, Singapore and Thailand. Being a part of the Astro DTH platform is also a further endorsement in our channel proposition of fresh contemporary entertainment, drama and reality programming. Astro customers will, for the first time, have access to an extraordinary range of fresh entertainment programming from ITV, one of the world’s leading TV broadcasters and producers. The footprint of Granada TV continues to grow with more carriage agreements to be announced at the start of 2010.”