Mnet expands to greater Asian American audience

Mnet (www.mnet.com), the only 24/7 English-language nationwide television network in the U.S. targeting Asian Americans and fans of Asian pop culture, has reached a significant new carriage agreement with Comcast, expanding its existing relationship with the cable operator. The deal calls for the network to be launched on the D1 digital tier in the major markets of Chicago, Boston, San Francisco and Sacramento by September 1, 2011.

The launch in these four key markets will solidify Mnet as the only nationally distributed network targeted to English-speaking Asian Americans and fans of Asian pop culture with overall distribution to include nine out of the top ten DMAs, as well as nine of the top ten Asian American DMAs. The announcement was jointly made today by Adam Ware, Acting President & CEO of Mnet, and David Jensen, Vice President of Content Acquisition for Comcast.

Mnet’s target audience includes the most upscale and most digitally savvy consumers in the country. According to the recently released 2010 census data, the Asian American population in the U.S. has grown significantly in the last decade, up 43.3 percent to 14.7 million compared to 10.2 million in 2000. Based on this new data, Asian Americans currently make up 4.8 percent of the total U.S. population.

“We applaud Comcast’s clear commitment to the Asian American community and are thrilled that they chose Mnet as the network to serve their subscribers in these strategic markets. We look forward to working closely with its local systems to bring the Mnet brand to the widest possible audience,” said Mr. Ware. “Mnet’s carriage commitments have established the network as the definitive Asian pop culture network in the U.S. This is a great next step for us and we look forward to growing our partnership with Comcast in the months and years to come.”

“Broadening our distribution of Mnet is part of our corporate commitment, made in connection with our NBCUniversal transaction and reflected in our agreements with leading diversity organizations and the FCC, to continue expanding distribution of content by and for diverse populations,” said Mr. Jensen. “The addition of Mnet will further enhance the already robust lineup of multicultural programming we offer and deliver even more choice to our customers.”

As a broad entertainment network focusing on Asian pop culture, Mnet airs a variety of programming that plays to the influence of K-pop music as well as anime, horror, drama and all facets of a style of pop culture that has steadily been growing in popularity not only throughout Asia, but into America and around the world. The network is uniquely committed to content that showcases Asian American artists both in front of and behind the camera. This includes original programs being launched in the coming months such as:

* Beats Per Mnet (BPM) – Based out of Mnet’s Los Angeles studio, BPM is a one-hour series which will air daily Monday through Friday in primetime, highlighting the latest beats in Asian Pop culture from music and fashion to toys, film and food. Hosted by famed stand-up comedian Paul Kim, the show will feature the latest music videos, behind-the-scenes segments, celebrity interviews and more.
* Short Notice – Produced in Los Angeles and scheduled to premiere in spring 2011, each episode of this weekly, one-hour, original primetime series features six to seven shorts created by Asian American filmmakers.

Other primetime programming includes M Countdown Remix (the number one-rated music TV series in Korea, and also syndicated internationally), a weekly anime block from leading U.S. distributor of popular Japanese anime Bandai Entertainment, dramas and feature films.