NCTC Members to Carry Entertainment Studios' Cable Nets

The National Cable Television Cooperative will offer to its members carriage of six of Entertainment Studios' high-definition cable networks in a multi-year deal, Entertainment Studios said Monday.

The NCTC is a not-for-profit association that provides its member cable operators access to programming and technology by negotiating group deals. In this deal, member companies can choose to add Entertainment Studios six networks -- Cars.TV, Comedy.TV, ES.TV, MyDestination.TV, Pets.TV and Recipe.TV -- to their services.

"The NCTC plays an important role in representing independent cable operators," said Byron Allen, Entertainment Studios' founder, chairman and CEO, in a statement. "Our goal and commitment has always been to make our HD networks the very best in their categories, and our new affiliation arrangement with NCTC is another big step in bringing our HD networks to more viewers. All content is originally produced in-house to insure the highest level of creative quality."

"NCTC is pleased to announce our new relationship with Entertainment Studios Networks and provide members access to their suite of linear HD networks," said NCTC president Rich Fickle, also in a statement. "Byron Allen's approach to the business is unique and welcomed at a time when there are many pressure points on rising programming expenses."

Besides the six networks mentioned above, ES also programs two other networks: JusticeCentral.TV and Legacy.TV.

Paige Albiniak

Contributing editor Paige Albiniak has been covering the business of television for more than 25 years. She is a longtime contributor to Next TV, Broadcasting + Cable and Multichannel News. She concurrently serves as editorial director for The Global Entertainment Marketing Academy of Arts & Sciences (G.E.M.A.). She has written for such publications as TVNewsCheck, The New York Post, Variety, CBS Watch and more. Albiniak was B+C’s Los Angeles bureau chief from September 2002 to 2004, and an associate editor covering Congress and lobbying for the magazine in Washington, D.C., from January 1997 - September 2002.