Hubbard, Weinsteins Acquire Ovation Cable Channel

MINNESOTA, August 30: Hubbard Media Group and The Weinstein
Company are part of a consortium that has acquired Ovation, a U.S. cable and
satellite channel devoted to the arts that reaches about 5 million homes.

"This is just part of our strategy to show the world that
we are more than just filmmakers," Harvey Weinstein told the Los
Angeles Times. "Ovation puts us into
the cable world."

Reports indicate that the consortium, which includes Perry
Capital, Corporate Partners II and Arcadia Investment Partners, shelled out
about $55 million to acquire the network.

Hubbard Media Group, a division of Hubbard
Broadcasting—which operates TV and radio stations in partS of the
U.S.—will be the controlling shareholder of Ovation. This is Hubbard’s
second foray into the cable market, with plans to launch MovieWatch, a cable
channel about movies, later this year.

Overseeing Ovation as chairman will be Ken Solomon, who is
also chairman and CEO of The Tennis Channel [an independent entity.] Charles
Segars, a founder of the Fine Living Network, will be chief executive. The
channel will be relocated to Los Angeles from Virginia.

Wire reports indicate that the new owners want to rapidly
expand the channel’s distribution beyond its current 5.3 million homes in New
York, Chicago and Atlanta. "We are going to be on the radar screen of some
very big corporate supporters of the arts that wouldn't normally look at a
channel of this size," Hubbard’s chairman, Stanley Hubbard, is quoted as
saying in the Los Angeles Times.

The channel, focused on performances, biographies and docs
related to music, dance, theater, literature and visual arts, also plans a
relaunch next year. Hubbard told Star Tribune of Minneapolis: "Our vision is to take Ovation to a whole new
level. We won't just focus on the highbrow stuff—and I don't mean that in
a demeaning way—we'll expand it."