PKD
Active Member
Orlando's Write Up
Here is what was posted Tuesday by the Sentinel regarding the FREE On-Demand shows. SeaWorld will also be joining Disney in this new adventure.
NOTE: Brighthouse has said they WILL NOT have the channel at this time.
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SeaWorld Orlando and Walt Disney World are tapping into TV viewers' growing fascination with digital, on-demand cable channels and making them a new forum to sell a few more vacations.
Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, SeaWorld and a couple of cable network companies are hoping people will tune into free on-demand digital channels that provide entertaining looks at their theme parks and other destinations. In Disney's case, viewers will be just a remote click away from more information or even connecting with a travel agent.
Disney Parks and Resorts is developing TV programming specifically for the channels, with such episodic programs as Making the Magic, Disney Fact or Fiction and Disney Travel Insiders. The shows, some of which will feature celebrity hosts such as Michelle Kwan and Joey Fatone, will debut around the country later this month on two different cable networks, Time Warner Cable and Cablevision Systems. Neither system serves Florida.
Officials of Bright House Networks and Comcast, two companies that provide cable service for much of Central Florida, said they have no immediate plans to offer the channel or their own versions, though they could.
On Time Warner, which has about 7.5 million digital service subscribers, Disney and SeaWorld's parent company, Busch Entertainment, will share the channel called "Journey TV" with other tourism sponsors such as the U.S. National Park Service. Disney's viewers will be able to click a button on their remote and have vacation package information sent to them. Busch is considering adding the option.
On Cablevision, which has about 2.5 million digital cable customers in the metro-New York area, Disney has leased its own on-demand channel and arranged higher-tech interaction. With a click of the remote, viewers will be able to connect directly with Disney travel agents.
While the interactive digital cable technology is fairly new and emerging, the strategy is as old as Disney theme parks, said Disney Parks and Resorts Chairman Jay Rasulo. The programming is similar to what Walt Disney did in 1954 when he created the TV show Disneyland for ABC-TV -- mixing entertainment with enticing information to help promote the theme park he was building. Disneyland opened in 1955.
"This allows you to look back and think about how wonderfully Walt used completely new technology in television to tell the world about Disneyland, not by way of a travelogue, but by way of entertaining television," Rasulo said.
Busch will start with a show called The Making of Believe, about SeaWorld's killer whale show, for Time Warner. More shows will follow next month promoting Busch's other theme parks, including Busch Gardens Tampa Bay.
"We're just trying to put our products in front of potential customers," said Busch Entertainment spokesman Fred Jacobs. "I think people will like what they see, and it certainly will be good for our business."
Disney tested the channel earlier with Cablevision. That company has already had success with similar interactive, on-demand channels for the Navy and other advertisers. Barry Frey, Cablevision vice president for advanced platform sales, called the strategy the future of television.
"Disney has taken the innovative step of completing the continuum. You can actually see a Disney vacation, and push a button and immediately that will go right to Disney," Frey said.
Here is what was posted Tuesday by the Sentinel regarding the FREE On-Demand shows. SeaWorld will also be joining Disney in this new adventure.
NOTE: Brighthouse has said they WILL NOT have the channel at this time.
**********
SeaWorld Orlando and Walt Disney World are tapping into TV viewers' growing fascination with digital, on-demand cable channels and making them a new forum to sell a few more vacations.
Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, SeaWorld and a couple of cable network companies are hoping people will tune into free on-demand digital channels that provide entertaining looks at their theme parks and other destinations. In Disney's case, viewers will be just a remote click away from more information or even connecting with a travel agent.
Disney Parks and Resorts is developing TV programming specifically for the channels, with such episodic programs as Making the Magic, Disney Fact or Fiction and Disney Travel Insiders. The shows, some of which will feature celebrity hosts such as Michelle Kwan and Joey Fatone, will debut around the country later this month on two different cable networks, Time Warner Cable and Cablevision Systems. Neither system serves Florida.
Officials of Bright House Networks and Comcast, two companies that provide cable service for much of Central Florida, said they have no immediate plans to offer the channel or their own versions, though they could.
On Time Warner, which has about 7.5 million digital service subscribers, Disney and SeaWorld's parent company, Busch Entertainment, will share the channel called "Journey TV" with other tourism sponsors such as the U.S. National Park Service. Disney's viewers will be able to click a button on their remote and have vacation package information sent to them. Busch is considering adding the option.
On Cablevision, which has about 2.5 million digital cable customers in the metro-New York area, Disney has leased its own on-demand channel and arranged higher-tech interaction. With a click of the remote, viewers will be able to connect directly with Disney travel agents.
While the interactive digital cable technology is fairly new and emerging, the strategy is as old as Disney theme parks, said Disney Parks and Resorts Chairman Jay Rasulo. The programming is similar to what Walt Disney did in 1954 when he created the TV show Disneyland for ABC-TV -- mixing entertainment with enticing information to help promote the theme park he was building. Disneyland opened in 1955.
"This allows you to look back and think about how wonderfully Walt used completely new technology in television to tell the world about Disneyland, not by way of a travelogue, but by way of entertaining television," Rasulo said.
Busch will start with a show called The Making of Believe, about SeaWorld's killer whale show, for Time Warner. More shows will follow next month promoting Busch's other theme parks, including Busch Gardens Tampa Bay.
"We're just trying to put our products in front of potential customers," said Busch Entertainment spokesman Fred Jacobs. "I think people will like what they see, and it certainly will be good for our business."
Disney tested the channel earlier with Cablevision. That company has already had success with similar interactive, on-demand channels for the Navy and other advertisers. Barry Frey, Cablevision vice president for advanced platform sales, called the strategy the future of television.
"Disney has taken the innovative step of completing the continuum. You can actually see a Disney vacation, and push a button and immediately that will go right to Disney," Frey said.
