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Akimbo in Deal to Offer BBC Programming
Akimbo Systems has secured more content for its broadband Internet-based VOD service via a distribution deal with BBC Worldwide Americas. The deal will see the company -- which last month announced similar deals with A&E Television Networks and National Geographic Television & Film, and whose other content providers include Turner Broadcasting System, Granada International, Varsity Television, Quiksilver Entertainment, and indie film distributors, Undergroundfilm, GreenCine, Amaze Films, and IFILM --offering BBC programs in a range of genres, including comedy, documentary and drama.
According to Akimbo, a number of the programs will have never aired before in the US. BBC programs scheduled to launch on Akimbo's service later this year include "Porridge," the classic sitcom based in a prison; the youth-oriented comedy series, "Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps"; the literary adaptations, "Jane Eyre" and "Sense and Sensibility"; the children's series, "The Secret Garden," "Little Lord Fauntleroy," and "The Animals of Farthing Wood"; the drama series, "Blue Boy," "Man and Boy," and "The Great Kandinsky"; and the 26-episode documentary series, "Secrets of World War II." |
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Akimbo's service--which the company's marketing materials, at least for now,
position as "an enhancement to traditional television rather than a
replacement for it"--is accessed via a special set-top box, called the Akimbo
Player (offered by Amazon.com for $229.99), and is priced at $9.99 a month.
The box, which utilizes Microsoft's Windows Media 9 compression and
digital rights management technologies, is equipped with an 80GB hard
drive, capable of storing up to 200 hours of downloaded content, and with
an EPG that features extensive information on and video previews of
available programming offerings: Akimbo subscribers use the EPG to select
programs from the service's library, which are then automatically downloaded
to the box for future viewing. In addition to an Akimbo Player and an Akimbo
subscription, Akimbo customers need a DSL or cable connection and a wired
or wireless home network to use the service.
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