Grit & Escape Channels in NBCU Deal

ATLANTA: The upcoming Katz Broadcasting over-the-air TV networks Grit and Escape have picked up the rights for 157 movies in a multiyear licensing deal with NBCUniversal (NBCU) Television & New Media Distribution in the U.S. and Canada.

Genre-targeted titles headed to the male-skewing Grit will star such popular actors as Clint Eastwood (High Plains Drifter, The Eiger Sanction), Arnold Schwarzenegger (Conan The Barbarian, Conan The Destroyer), John Wayne (Rooster Cogburn, War Wagon), Sylvester Stallone (Nighthawks, Daylight), Gregory Peck (MacArthur, Shootout), Bruce Willis and Richard Gere (The Jackal), Robert Redford (Tell Them Willie Boy is Here), Charlton Heston and Henry Fonda (Midway), Gary Cooper (The Plainsman), Burt Reynolds (Smokey and The Bandit II and III) and Jean Claude Van Damme (The Quest).

Escape, meant for women between the ages of 25 and 54, is acquiring motion pictures featuring a number of accomplished actresses, including Nicole Kidman (The Interpreter), Angelina Jolie (The Bone Collector), Charlotte Rampling (Swimming Pool), Thandie Newton (The Truth About Charlie), Naomi Watts (Mulholland Drive, Eastern Promises), Claire Danes (It's All About Love) and Sarah Michelle Gellar (The Return), among others.

Grit will focus on western, war and action theatrical films, while Escape will concentrate on crime and mystery. Both channels are scheduled to premiere later in the summer. They are currently cleared to be seen in 45 percent of the country, with deals in place with Univision Television Group and Raycom Media.