iN DEMAND has partnered with Seven Stars Media Limited, a leading Chinese media company run by Bruno Wu and Bob Benya, to deliver its content services for distribution in China. The content is planned to feature sports, music programming and extensive lifestyle content covering areas such as travel, home and garden, and parenting. The content delivered is set to expand over time to supply a broad variety of other niche channels.

iN DEMAND will license, process and deliver content to Seven Stars, who plan to distribute via branded blocks on cable through MSO’s in China with a target audience of 80 million households, and through OTT / IPTV operators and web portals to reach China’s 500 million web users.

In addition, iN DEMAND will provide Chinese language on demand movies to cable systems in the U.S. through its digital and set-top VOD platforms.  This agreement signals a partnership between the two parties which is expected to evolve and add multiple projects across the media landscape, including expanded content packages. The first programming is expected to begin distribution later in 2013.  

“The marketplace in China for cable programming holds tremendous promise,” said Mr. Benya. “With nearly 200 million cable TV households – of which 70 million are expected to be VOD-enabled within two years – we are laying the groundwork to provide a range of entertainment to China’s growing TV viewer base.  We are thrilled to be embarking on our international expansion with Bruno Wu’s Seven Stars, one of the most entrepreneurial and innovative media entities in China.” 

According to Mr. Wu, “iN DEMAND has an impressive and long-standing record as the best in the business of content aggregation and preparation. They have the relationships, industry knowledge, creativity and technical proficiency to help us grow our entertainment offerings to Chinese viewers.”