NGCI To Launch 24-Hour Music Channel

WASHINGTON, D.C., August 21: National Geographic Channels
International is launching a 24-hour music channel, Nat Geo Music, beginning in
Italy on the SKY Italia platform on October 15.

Reaching 4.2 million subscribers in Italy, with further
global rollout expected, Nat Geo Music will feature top artists from
international as well as local repertoires. Nat Geo Music’s major label
partners include EMI Arabia, Warner Music Latin America, Sony/BMG Asia and
Universal Italy. Along with major label partnerships, Nat Geo Music has also
secured deals with prominent independent labels such as Razor & Tie,
Because, Wrasse and Gallo Music Group. Featured artists will include Ben
Harper; Beninese chanteuse Angelique Kidjo and the acclaimed Spanish band Ojos
De Brujo.

The programming lineup will include music videos, concerts,
interviews and documentaries. Titles include Geo Sessions, 30-minute programs that feature intimate acoustic
concerts with artists like Ben Harper, Bebel Gilberto, K’naan, Michael Franti
and Gogol Bordello. Weekly hour-long prime-time scheduling blocks include Place
Jam, focusing on music from a specific
country; We Love, dedicated to
certain artists or genres; and Music Nomad, connected to traveling to music. Fridays and Saturday nights will
feature a two-hour dance block called Untz.

“Nat Geo Music fills a significant void in current
conventional music offerings,” said David Haslingden, the CEO of NGCI. “With
its international scope, not only are viewers able to explore their world using
music as a vehicle, they are tuned in to ground-breaking sounds that are
transforming the industry globally.”

Nat Geo Music complements the recent launch of National
Geographic's Music and Radio unit, created to inspire people to care about the
planet through music. For much of its programming and its events, the channel
will partner with the new division as well as with the National Geographic
Live! event group.