ION Television teams up with RHI Entertainment

From: http://home.businesswire.com/portal/site/g...amp;newsLang=en

June 20, 2007 10:28 AM Eastern Daylight Time

RHI Movie Weekend to Debut on ION Television on June 29

Treasured Movies and Miniseries to Be Showcased Include Lonesome Dove, Cleopatra, In Cold Blood, Call of the Wild, Moby Dick and Larry McMurtry’s Dead Man’s Walk

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--RHI Entertainment, the global leader in the production and distribution of groundbreaking movies, miniseries and series for television, today announced the schedule for the launch and select program highlights of its content partnership with ION Media Networks. The RHI Movie Weekend premieres Friday, June 29th and includes the brand-new digitally re-mastered edition of the critically acclaimed Lonesome Dove.

Under the terms of an agreement announced last fall, RHI Entertainment will serve as ION’s exclusive primetime program supplier for Friday, Saturday and Sunday evenings, 7 PM to 11 PM. RHI’s exciting lineup of programming for ION will include the creation of exclusive original programming as well as quality library titles. The first of 12 originals is “Killer Wave,” an action-packed thriller in which nature’s deadliest ocean phenomenon-massive tidal waves-meet the dark nature of man by way of a terrorist plot.

The premiere of RHI/ION weekend features Broken Vows (Friday, June 29), starring Tommy Lee Jones and Annette O’Toole; Lonesome Dove, a digitally re-mastered edition of the blockbuster miniseries whose all-star cast includes Robert Duvall, Anjelica Huston, Tommy Lee Jones, Diane Lane, Danny Glover and Chris Cooper; and Cleopatra, the lavish miniseries that stars Timothy Dalton and Billy Zane, with Leonor Varela in the title role.

“The RHI Movie Weekend is the perfect showcase for our biggest productions and premieres,” said Robert Halmi, Jr., President and CEO of RHI Entertainment. “We are excited to be a part of the ION Television Network.”

“Our relationship with RHI is raising the bar for made-for-TV movies, and nothing speaks to that mission more than the decision to air the critically acclaimed ‘Lonesome Dove’ on RHI’s premier weekend on ION Television,” said Brandon Burgess, CEO of ION Media Networks. “We're giving our viewers the best miniseries and movies the industry has to offer and we are looking forward to continuing a strong rollout of high quality titles and originals that will be developed exclusively for ION Television.”

Select RHI/ION Television Programming Highlights:

Broken Vows – Friday, June 29 (7-9PM)

A parish priest finds himself involved in a murder mystery when he is summoned to give last rites to a stabbing victim.

Lonesome Dove – Saturday, June 30 (9-11PM); Saturday, July 7; Saturday, July 14; Saturday, July 21

One of the most honored programs in television history, Lonesome Dove will be presented for the first time in a brand-new digitally re-mastered edition. Lonesome Dove won seven Emmy® and two Golden Globe Awards.

Cleopatra – Sunday, July 1 (7-11PM)

Filmed at Morocco’s Atlas Studio and London’s Shepperton Studios, Cleopatra is a spectacular production, featuring a cast of thousands.

The Twilight of the Golds – Friday, July 6 (7-11PM)

The Twilight of the Golds features and all-star cast that includes Academy Award winner Faye Dunaway, Brendan Fraser, Gary Marshall, Rosie O’Donnell and Jennifer Beals.

In Cold Blood – Sunday, July 15 (7-11PM)

The third RHI/ION weekend is highlighted by unforgettable performances from Anthony Edwards, Eric Roberts and Sam Neill in Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood. The critically-hailed program is based on Capote’s famous true-crime saga about the murder of a Kansas farm family.

August program highlights include Patrick Stewart in Moby Dick (Sunday, August 12, 7-11PM), and the “prequel” to Lonesome Dove, Larry McMurtry’s Dead Man’s Walk (August 18, 25 and September 1, 9-11PM), starring David Arquette as Gus McCrae, Jonny Lee Miller as Woodrow Call, and a brilliant supporting cast that includes Academy Award winner F. Murray Abraham, Keith Carradine, Brain Dennehy, Edward James Olmos and Harry Dean Stanton.

About RHI Entertainment

RHI Entertainment, LLC, is the global leader in the production and distribution of groundbreaking miniseries and movies for television. Since the company’s inception, under the guidance of Robert Halmi, Sr. and Robert Halmi, Jr., RHI has produced and distributed over 4,000 hours of quality television programming, received more than 100 Emmy® Awards, and outperformed the competition annually in view ratings. Currently, RHI provides 40-60 new television movies and miniseries a year to networks worldwide.

About ION Media Networks

ION Media Networks, Inc. owns and operates the nation’s largest broadcast television station and ION Television, reaching over 90 million U.S. television households via its nationwide broadcast television, cable and satellite distribution systems. ION Television currently features popular TV series and movies from the award-winning libraries of Warner Bros., Sony Pictures Television, and CBS Television, among others. ION Media has also partnered with RHI Entertainment, which owns over 4,000 hours of acclaimed television content, to provide weekend primetime programming beginning in June 2007. Utilizing its digital multicasting capability, the company has launched several digital TV brands, including qubo, a television and multimedia network for children formed in partnership with several leading media and entertainment companies, and ION Life, a television and multimedia network dedicated to health and wellness for consumers and families. For more information, visit www.ionmedia.tv.

Also...

From: http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/conten...03fd6f602ba6c8f

‘Dove’ back to air with RHI-Ion dealBy Kimberly Nordyke

June 20, 2007

RHI Entertainment and Ion Media Networks are firming up the details of their expanded programming partnership announced in May, which will include a new digitally remastered edition of the miniseries “Lonesome Dove.”

The deal calls for RHI to be the exclusive primetime program supplier for Ion (formerly Pax Network) from 7-11 p.m. Fridays-Sundays. The programming, a mix of movies and miniseries, will include originals and library titles.

The weekends, dubbed “RHI Movie Weekend,” kick off June 29. “Dove” is set to premiere from 9-11 p.m. June 30 and continue July 7, 14 and 21. The mini stars Robert Duvall, Anjelica Huston, Tommy Lee Jones, Diane Lane, Danny Glover and Chris Cooper.

The premiere weekend also will feature “Broken Vows,” starring Jones and Annette O’Toole (7-9 p.m. June 29), and “Cleopatra,” starring Timothy Dalton, Billy Zane and Leonor Varela (7-11 p.m. July 1).

Other titles include “The Twilight of the Golds,” starring Faye Dunaway, Brendan Fraser, Gary Marshall, Rosie O’Donnell and Jennifer Beals (7-11 p.m. July 6); “In Cold Blood,” based on Truman Capote’s true-crime saga and starring Anthony Edwards, Eric Roberts and Sam Neill (7-11 p.m. July 15); “Moby Dick,” starring Patrick Stewart (7-11 p.m. Aug. 12); and the “prequel” to “Lonesome Dove,” Larry McMurtry’s “Dead Man’s Walk,” starring David Arquette and Jonny Lee Miller (9-11 p.m. Aug. 18 and 25 and Sept. 1).

“The ‘RHI Movie Weekend’ is the perfect showcase for our biggest productions and premieres,” RHI Entertainment president and CEO Robert Halmi Jr. said. “We are excited to be a part of the Ion Television Network.”

Added Ion Media Networks CEO Brandon Burgess, “Our relationship with RHI is raising the bar for made-for-TV movies, and nothing speaks to that mission more than the decision to air the critically acclaimed ‘Lonesome Dove’ on RHI’s premiere weekend on Ion Television.”

As previously announced, the action-thriller miniseries “Killer Wave” is the first of 12 originals