Swiss-based iConcerts has brokered a ground-breaking distribution and co-production deal with China DTV Production Company Limited, a division of CCTV (China Central Television). The multi-faceted collaboration starting this Autumn, will see China DTV Production’s digital music channel broadcast an iConcerts branded programming block in prime-time to over 60 million households. As part of the process, China DTV Production will further syndicate the iConcerts branded block to its affiliate networks, setting the stage for the unprecedented distribution of international artist concerts in mainland China. As part of the deal, iConcerts and China DTV Production have also agreed to co-produce a series of concerts featuring a mix of international and local Chinese artists, in the spirit of a joint ‘East meets West’ vision. “iConcerts has significant synergies with our channel and we are very pleased to work with them to feature concerts as well as live TV performances from top international artists. We are also exploring the coproduction of new formats with iConcerts, such as ‘Beijing Live’ and ‘China Beach Concerts’ for the Chinese market. We look forward to supporting iConcerts development in China,” commented China DTV Production. To further ensure the cross-platform distribution of its innovative live music offerings, iConcerts has also entered into a partnership agreement with CIBN (China Information Broadcast Network Co.Ltd) to launch www.iConcerts.cn, a Chinese version of the company’s on-demand site in November 2010. “China presents us with great growth opportunities. We are delighted to be part of this historic collaboration, which we hope will bridge the gap between the music lovers in China and the West,” said Etienne Mirlesse, Transmedia CEO. “We will work with China DTV Production and CIBN to not only showcase the best of the international music talent across China, but also feature the best of Chinese artists across our global digital channels.” The two deals mark iConcert’s first foray into Continental China, where its brand was officially recognised by the Chinese Patent office earlier this year. Already deployed as a 360 degree digital channel in Europe and the Middle East, iConcerts has actively been pursuing its cross-platform strategy, launching its HDTV channel on Measat-3D, and striking distribution agreements in Asia with Echostar Dish HD service in Taiwan, as well as VOD partnerships with WOW TV (Singapore), SK Broadband (Korea) and Reliance Big TV (India). In further news, and following a series of franchise deals, localised versions of the iConcerts (www.iConcerts.com) online content store will also launch later on in the year in Japanese and Korean.