Next 1 Interactive Acquires Interactive TV Channel, Resort & Residence TV

Next 1 Interactive--which bills itself as an interactive media company specializing in travel and real estate--announced Monday that it has completed its acquisition of Resort & Residence TV from Televisual Media Works, a company owned by Gary Turner, the founder and former chairman and CEO of defunct interactive TV advertising and channels company, The Media Group (which was originally called Turner Media Group, and which for a long time served as EchoStar/DISH Network's ad sales rep company). According to Next 1 Interactive, the purchase includes all the channel's branding elements and interactive applications, including apps that allow viewers to use their remotes to interact with advertising, make RFI's and engage in tcommerce. The company says that the "real quantifiable data" provided by the interactive apps will be of "significant benefit" to advertisers.

Resort & Residence TV was distributed by The Media Group in over 17 million homes on DISH Network and in various cable markets between 2005 and 2007, and, according to Next 1 Interactive, generated a profit. It went off the air following a dispute with DISH Network (then EchoStar) that saw the satellite TV operator drop all of The Media Group's transactional interactive TV channels, and resulted in the latter company filing Chapter 11 bankruptcy (note: for more on the demise of TMG, see [itvt]'s interview with the company's former SVP of corporate development and marketing, Jodie McAfee, in Issue 6.88).

Following the acquisition, Next 1 Interactive has changed the name of its Home & Away Channel to Resort & Residence, and expects to launch an interactive TV-enabled channel, based on the merger of the two, in the fall. "The interest by both advertisers and cable/satellite distributors in Resort & Residence over the past 60 days puts Next 1 Interactive in a position to become a leader in the digital media space with Resort and Residence TV network enhanced with video-on-demand, interactive applications and transactional Web and mobile applications," Next 1 Interactive vice chairman and CEO, Bill Kerby, said in a prepared statement. "The digital media platforms leverage the company's assets in travel and real estate. Next 1 Interactive is finalizing R&R's fall launch plan and is completing agreements with sponsors and programmers." Added Televisual's Gary Turner: "A successful programming network today has targeted content and the support of a vertical industry on multiple distribution platforms, enhanced by interactive applications and video-on-demand. I believe that Next 1 Interactive has the right assets and relationships to leverage and grow the base that Resort & Residence established. This is the right blending of assets."