TUNE news - not on Yahoo yet>>>>
Million Subscribers Given Easy Access to www.thebox.com
MIAMI BEACH, Fla., Dec. 16 /PRNewswire/ -- The Box Music Network and America Online (AOL) have a new relationship that offers AOL's more than 14 million subscribers easy access to The Box Music Network's Web site, www.thebox.com , where they can preview music videos and order them for full-length play on television.
The new agreement was forged by The Box Music Network's sister company, SonicNet, which signed on last week as an anchor tenant on the world's #1 provider of online services. As an anchor tenant on AOL's Music Channel, SonicNet now hosts The Box Music Network as well as other TCI Music subsidiaries.
"TheBox" is now an official keyword as well. When AOL subscribers type in "TheBox," a Box page ("Welcome Mat") appears on screen that highlights The Box National Top Five Videos and the latest music news. Users can then click on different sections of this page and they are taken directly to www.thebox.com . Users can then enjoy the full features of the Web site, especially previewing videos and then ordering them for full-length play on their local cable systems that carry the channel. This week The Box Music Network completed its technical rollout, resulting in this popular feature now being available on all Box Music Network systems for customers across the country.
Consumers are provided with a complete playlist of music videos on their localized BOX so that they can check out the hottest and latest in music videos. A video can then be selected for a 30-second preview and ordered online for full-length play on television.
Internet users can register online with their local Box, which will welcome them by name each time they enter the site. They set up a credit card account with a minimum $25 music video package. When they order full-length music videos, the cost is debited from their account. When an ordering pattern is established, new music videos will be offered to them that match their tastes and order history.
"We are enthusiastic about our new relationship with America Online," says Greg Willis, Senior Vice President of Affiliate Sales and Marketing at The Box Music Network. "Having us listed as a keyword offers AOL subscribers quick, easy access to our state-of-the-art Web site where they will find an array of outstanding features all focusing on music. We're confident that this agreement with AOL will increasingly drive traffic to our site since this is an audience that might not have had an opportunity to visit www.thebox.com ."
Users can access the SonicNet site through the keyword "music" or "SonicNet" and then access www.thebox.com by clicking on The Box Music Network icon on the site.
"This is just one more feature that makes us a distinctive music network," Willis says. "We want to provide online users and our viewers with the best music product available. AOL just makes The Box Music Network easier to find and more accessible to its 14 million subscribers."
The Box Music Network is the only interactive, 24-hour all-music network currently reaching more than 50 million households worldwide. The Box Music Network (www.thebox.com ) presents the newest and most diverse selection of music on television through the use of 130 digital file servers throughout the U.S. The Box Music Network is available in the United States, Europe, Latin America, and the Pacific Rim.
The Box Music Network originates programming uniquely tailored to each market it serves. Viewers have the option to call in and request a video from a menu of up to 200 selections, with the charges (average $1.99 per video) appearing on their phone bill. Viewers can also simply watch the videos and BOX programming free of charge.
A number of artists have credited The Box Music Network for successfully launching and solidifying their careers. Artists who have recently acknowledged The Box Music Network as key to their success include The Backstreet Boys, Fuel, K.P. & Envyi, She Moves, and Dakota Moon.
The Box Music Network was the first music service to launch a variety of themed music channels designed specifically for the next generation of digital cable. Marketed under The Box Set brand, these services are available on TCI's Headend In The Sky (HITS) and are strategically packaged with other programming services targeted to specific audiences. The Box Set channels currently include Box Edge, Box Pulse, Box Classic, Box Urban, Box Exitos, and Box Tejano.
The Box Worldwide, Inc. was acquired by TCI Music in December 1997 and is traded through its TCI Music Series A Common Stock, Nasdaq: TUNE and TCI Music Series A Convertible Preferred Stock, Nasdaq: TUNEP, on the Nasdaq SmallCap Market.
SOURCE The Box Music Network
CO: The Box Music Network; America Online; TCI Music; The Box Worldwide, Inc.
ST: Florida
IN: ENT MLM
SU: JVN
12/16/98 15:46 EST prnewswire.com
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