Interactivation has sold its video-on-demand service Concert TV to Stingray Digital, a Montreal firm whose existing music channels include VOD offering The Karaoke Channel.
The new owner plans to continue distributing Concert TV on VOD in this country and will offer it to cable, satellite and IPTV distributors in Canada.
Interactivation, based in New York City, bought the Mag Rack VOD service from Cablevision's Rainbow Media in 2008 and bought Concert TV in 2009. In April it bought The Patient Channel and The Newborn Channel, programming services available in hospitals.
While Interactivation increased distribution for Concert TV to more than 30 million homes, the live-music service's model is based on advertising (not subscription revenue) and faced tough genre rivals in the likes of MTV Networks' HD channel, Palladia.
"Our team has continued to strengthen Concert TV with added distribution and fine programming," Interactivation CEO Joe Covey said in a release. "As our focus moving forward is exclusively on health, education and interactive programming, we wish Stingray well with this terrific asset."
Stingray Digital properties include The Karaoke Channel, the world's largest licensed karaoke library and karaoke service on TV and Internet, available in 80 million homes, and Galaxie, a 45-channel linear digital music network, the leading digital music service on TV in Canada. It was founded by new media entrepreneurs Eric Boyko and Alexandre Taillefer and is financially backed by Telesystem and Novacap.
"Concert TV is a natural fit for Stingray Digital" Stingray Digital president Boyko said in the release. "Since its inception in 2003, Concert TV has grown to be recognized as an important brand that delivers compelling music content through video-on-demand services of digital television providers."
