Sundance Channel Makes International Debut

NEW YORK: Rainbow Media Holdings has scored a carriage deal with Numericable in France for the Sundance Channel, marking the service’s first international rollout.

The channel, which reaches more than 30 million U.S. subscribers, was launched by Robert Redford and has been owned by Rainbow Media since May 2008.

“Sundance Channel is a destination to discover new voices, new points of view, and new personalities; it also strives to be uniquely entertaining," Redford said. "Through the power of popular culture, Sundance Channel programming can provoke thought and foster understanding of worlds apart from our own. All of this makes the launch of Sundance Channel International in France particularly exciting and important to me."

Numericable, which reaches some 9.5 million households in France, will launch Sundance Channel initially as a VOD service, with subsequent debuts in SD and HD, in English with French subtitles.

“The product of Robert Redford’s vision, Sundance Channel has made immeasurable contributions to independent film, and has amassed a devoted following in the States,” said Ed Carroll, the COO of Rainbow Entertainment Services. “It is a momentous occasion to be able to expand that impact across oceans with the channel’s first distribution outside of the U.S. We’re eager to work with Numericable in creating an equally fervent fan base in Europe.”