Friday, April 18, 2008 12

Italian American Network Formed - Fearuring Video Clips and Webisodes

The ANNOTICO Report

 

The Italian American Network (I A NET) will provide online content, originally produced,  with video clips and webisodes ranging from 30 seconds to four minutes in duration per piece. ItalianAmericanNetwork.com will also include blogs, podcasts, interactive games and user generated content in the comedy, music and other categories.

 

The Clips will be dedicated to Food, Travel, Sports, Cooking, Must-See Videos, Phrase of the Day, Our Community, Restaurant Reviews, In Shape (health and fit living), Comedy, Music, Produce Pete, Video Blogs, and Behind the Scenes,

 

A substantial backer and participant is "The Italian Zone", an online retail and e-commerce platform that will offer a variety of quality products from Italy. The Italian Zone product line-up  will range from foods and gifts to cosmetics and specialty items.

 

Italian American Network Formed

 

Business Wire - Press Release

April 17, 2008

The Italian American Network (I A NET), a new, advertiser-supported, multi-platform media company, has been formed to provide Americans, for the first time, a vibrant daily window to the complete Italian and Italian American experience. The new company has today launched its first media leg with the premiere of its English language broadband video platform - www.ItalianAmericanNetwork.com. The company is also committed to developing and launching a high definition (HD) linear television network, a video-on-demand (VOD) offering, a mobile content platform, as well as home entertainment and publishing initiatives. The announcement was made today by Italian American Network Founder and CEO, Tony Ceglio.

A multiple Emmy Award winner, the Italian American Network's Mr. Ceglio remarked, "As someone who grew up in an Italian American household, I have an intimate understanding of the countless traditions and experiences that are part of a c ulture that millions of Americans have fallen in love with throughout the years. Embracing this experience, the Italian American Network will offer compelling, contemporary lifestyle programming featuring the beauty, pleasures and passions of a country and a culture that for more than 500 years have enriched our country with the same. There is no lifestyle that has become more admired and envied than the Italian La Dolce Vita - the sweet life." He added, "Beginning with its initial broadband video launch, I A NET will celebrate everything Italian in an entertaining and informative way, regardless of the media platform."

As part of this mission, the Italian American Network will appeal to both the 26 million Italian Americans as well as the nearly 70 million Italophiles in the U.S. who dearly embrace the belief that "there is a little Italian in all of us." According to a recent study conducted by the leading cable industry research group , Horowitz Associates, Inc., "One in five adults expresses a strong interest in watching a channel like the Italian American Network." As the first multi-platform media company devoted exclusively to serving this audience, I A NET will seek to serve both consumers and advertisers across several electronic media platforms through HD programming that is originally produced and developed by its in-house team, along with co-productions with leading production companies worldwide.

Advertising & E-Commerce

The Italian American Network's completely English-language broadband video platform is advertiser-supported, with charter sponsors including: the Piemonte Italy Regional Tourism Bureau, Perillo Tours and ShopWineandDine.com. To celebrate the launch, Perillo Tours is sponsoring a "Win a Trip to Italy" sweepstakes, with the grand prize winner receiving Perillo's "Roman Holiday" eight-day, six-night vac ation for two, including airfare, first-class hotel accommodations and more.

Also part of www.ItalianAmericanNetwork.com is The Italian Zone, an online retail and e-commerce platform that will offer shopping opportunities for a variety of quality products from Italy. The Italian Zone product line-up at launch will range from foods and gifts to cosmetics and specialty items that can be shipped directly to a home or office.

Original Programming

Initially, www.ItalianAmericanNetwork.com will feature originally-produced, English-language programming, updated daily and dedicated to multiple, in-depth content categories including: Food, Travel, Sports, Cooking, Must-See Videos, Phrase of the Day (Italian ones, of course), Our Community, Restaurant Reviews, In Shape (health and fit living), Comedy, Music, Produce Pete, Video Blogs, Behind the Scenes, and even... Italian Superstitions.

Nearly 100 percent of the online content is originally produced, world premiere programming, with video clips and webisodes ranging from 30 seconds to four minutes in duration per piece. ItalianAmericanNetwork.com will also include blogs, podcasts, interactive games and user generated content in the comedy, music and other categories.

Valerie Smaldone, a five-time Billboard Magazine award winner who is best known for successfully holding the #1 position in the New York radio market as the midday host of New York's 106.7 FM, hosts Valerie, an original video series that features candid and illuminating one-on-one interview segments with Italian Americans who are leaders in their chosen fields. Guests range from actors and athletes to musicians, noted physicians and authors.

At launch, other celebrity hosts for IA Net online content will inclu de former star football (soccer) player Giorgio Chinaglia, star actor/screenwriter Chazz Palminteri, television personality "Produce Pete" Napolitano, "Biker Chef" Christopher Coppola and recording artist/television host Rue DeBona.

About Tony Ceglio

Mr. Ceglio, prior to becoming the founder and CEO of the Italian American Network, had more than 30 years of experience in the broadcast television industry as well as a long history with the New York Giants. He joined the Giants staff as the team's first Film Director in 1976 and introduced such innovations as the installation of a state-of-the-art film laboratory and editing facility. He pioneered the process of in-house television program production in the NFL while serving as the Giants first director of broadcasting.

During his 27-year tenure with the Giants, Mr. Ceglio designed the premier video sports editing system in the NFL that was put online in 1986, the year that the Giants won their first Super Bowl championship. In 1986, he was elected as Chairman of the National Football League Video Directors Committee. In this role, he authored practices, policies and rules for all NFL video and, today most of the NFL teams employ a director of broadcasting who uses Mr. Ceglio's business model. Working with NFL Properties, Mr. Ceglio played a key role on the task force which orchestrated a $17 million deal with Sony for the league to switch from film to video. Mr. Ceglio, who has served as executive producer on programs that have garnered 14 Emmy Awards, went on to launch a sports film laboratory business based in Valhalla, New York. In less than two years, the company had built a roster of more than 100 clients.

About The Italian American Network

The new multi-platform media company was founded by its CEO Tony Ceglio to both entertain and inform Americans by providing the nation's first and only daily window to the complete Italian and Italian American experience. The Italian American Network has already received overwhelming interest and support from the Italian American community and, in turn, has established grassroots affiliations with millions of Americans through such noted organizations as: National Italian American Foundation, Order Sons of Italy, Columbus Citizens Foundation, National Trust of Italy, Center for Italian and Italian American Culture, New Jersey Italian American Heritage Commission, and UNICO, to name a few.

The company's headquarters are based in Paramus, New Jersey. For more information about The Italian American Network, its executive team and its content, please visit www.ItalianAmericanNetwork.com

 

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