The Jewish Channel Comes to Virginia -- Channel 900 on Verizon FiOS
Comes to Virginia
On Verizon FiOS TV
Channel 900
New York, NY (July 14, 2008): The Jewish Channel (TJC) today announced
that it is available to Verizon FiOS TV subscribers on a subscription
on-demand basis.
“Many have described us as a Jewish HBO,” said Aaron Hornung,
a spokesman for TJC, noting that the channel is “like a Jewish film festival
in your living room.”
Providing unlimited access to dozens of movies of Jewish
interest every month, as well as original series focusing on current
events, politics, culture and food, TJC has programming “for every kind
of Jew,” Hornung said.
The TJC team is comprised of seasoned industry executives with backgrounds
at major cable networks and media companies, including Showtime, The
Food Network, Rainbow, and Time Warner, among others.
“We’ve had a great response to our channel in the six months we’ve been
available,” Hornung said. “For any Jewish media to reach tens of thousands
of viewers every month in so short a time is nothing short of astonishing,
and reveals just how fascinated Jewish consumers are with our content;
what’s more, the word-of-mouth is amazing, it’s the most potent form
of advertising we could have hoped for.”
TJC subscribers will be able to see a wide range of award-winning films
and documentaries that deal with Jewish culture, most of which are not
readily available anywhere in the U.S. They aren’t at the local megaplex
and aren’t available as rentals.
“In crafting TJC’s slate of content, our management was highly conscious
of the fact that the Jewish subscriber is a very sophisticated consumer,”
said Hornung, noting that “we have to acknowledge that we’re competing
for their attention with the best that television has to offer and our
content reflects that mindset; that’s why we’ve created such a strong
lineup. Most people probably aren’t aware that there’s Jewish content
produced at this level of quality.”
TJC’s launch content features award-winning movies like the 2002 thriller
Amen -- from Oscar-Award-Winning Director Costa-Gavras -- a chilling
portrayal of the SS chemist responsible for the production of Zyklon
B and his fight to thwart Nazi gas chambers. Also included will be films
that offer fun perspectives on Jewish life, like Awake Zion, which explores
similarities among Judaism and Rastafarianism.
In addition, TJC subscribers can look forward to groundbreaking original
programming, like in-depth news from our team of award-winning journalists,
lifestyle shows, holiday, children’s programming and much more.
Already airing are three original series in partnership
with award-winning national Jewish newspaper, the Forward. The Forward
Forum brings together the editors and reporters of the historic newspaper
for a regular discussion of what’s making headlines in the Jewish world.
Inside the Issues is a public affairs show with the newspaper’s much-acclaimed
editorialist, J.J. Goldberg; recent guests include political consultant
Hank Sheinkopf and Israel scholar Stephen P. Cohen. Movie Talk is Forward
Arts & Culture Editor Alana Newhouse’s in-depth and intriguing look
at TJC’s film library, through interviews and visits to legendary Jewish
locales.
Rabbis Roundtable is a groundbreaking series bringing together
Jewish clergy from a diverse range of denominations, geographies, and
perspectives. “We put together a truly broad array of rabbinic opinions
on world and domestic events,” said Friedman. While interdenominational
dialogue is an occasional event in most of the Jewish world, TJC subscribers
will have the opportunity to see the fruits of these discussions on a
monthly basis. Recent panelists include Rabbi Ammiel Hirsch of the Stephen
Wise Free Synagogue, Rabbi Ayelet Cohen of Congregation Beth Simchat
Torah, Rabbi Kenneth Hain of Congregation Beth Sholom, and Rabbi Jay
Rosenbaum of Temple Israel of Lawrence.
For a monthly cost of $5.99, FiOS TV subscribers will have
unlimited access to all of TJC’s content, which features award-winning
movies and groundbreaking programming, including in-depth news from a
team of award-winning journalists, lifestyle shows, holiday, children’s
programming and much more.
After nearly a year of winning the hearts and minds of the New York,
New Jersey and Connecticut Jewish community, TJC is expanding its coverage
nationally as it becomes available to the more than 1.2 million Verizon
FiOS TV subscribers.
TJC has been available to Cablevision’s 3.1 million households since
late 2007, and to Time Warner Cable’s 1.4 million households in New York
and New Jersey since June, 2008.
The subscription-based channel is in more than 20,000 homes.
FiOS TV, which is delivered over the nation’s most advanced fiber-optic
network straight to customers’ homes, is currently available in 13 states:
California, Delaware, Florida, Indiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, New
Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Oregon, Texas and Virginia.
TJC will join Verizon’s industry-leading video-on-demand library, which
offers more than 10,000 titles per month, 70 percent of which are free.
In addition, the library includes an increasing number of high-definition
titles, with 1,000 HD titles per month by year-end.
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