U goes digital in Japan

Studio pacts with TV Asahi, Asahi Shimbun, Hitachi for channels

By GREG REIFSTECK

Universal Studios Networks has received a license to broadcast two of its leading digital channels in Japan. It plans to launch Studio Universal and 13th Street at the end of 2001 on the new CS110 satellite, together with leading Japanese media companies TV Asahi, the Asahi Shimbun and Hitachi.

U competed against over 100 applicants to win the channel capacity awarded by the Japanese Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications.

Broadcast in Japanese, channels will be run and managed locally. Studio Universal will air top movies of Hollywood, Europe and Asia, while 13th Street will broadcast a mix of action, suspense, horror and crime series and films.

Both channels are already popular in other territories. The French version of 13th Street is one of the most-watched on Canal Satellite Digital, and Studio Universal is one of the leading webs on the Stream platform in Italy.

"Japan represents the conclusion of the first phase of Universal's strategy to have its channels in each of the major European markets and Japan," said Universal Studios Networks president Tony Garland.