Cinedigm has launched The Elvis Presley Channel, a new dedicated channel featuring the King of Rock 'n’ Roll films, specials and more, on seven streaming platforms.
Those platforms include LG Channels, Amazon’s Freevee, Vizio, Dish’s Sling TV, Comcast’s Xumo, Plex, and Allen Media Group’s Local Now. With the distribution partners, the free ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) channel has reach of more than 100 million devices.
Along with content featuring Elvis Presley, the channel also has series and lifestyle programming inspired by the late music icon, including new original series that’s in development.
The launch has been in the making as Cinedigm disclosed roughly a year ago it would create a dedicated channel focused on Presley, who died in 1977, in partnership with Elvis Presley Enterprises and ABG Entertainment.
In addition to the seven streaming platforms, Xfinity’s What to Watch channel on Xumo will host a curated collection of films and documentaries from the Elvis channel during primetime, starting July second weekend and then continuing weekly through the rest of the month.
"Elvis Presley is an iconic performer whose global appeal transcends across generations and a diverse range of fans," said Erick Opeka, President of Cinedigm Digital Networks. "We see his ongoing influence today in music, movies, fashion and culture."
The aim of the channel is not only to appeal to existing fans “but to engage new generations of fans through our curated and creative program line-up," Opeka continued.
And Cidedigm pointed to 2022 as a big year for fans of the legendary artist, pointing to Warner Bros. Pictures’ cinematic drama ELIVS by film maker Baz Luhrmann (which battled at the North American box office this weekend where it brought in $30.5 million and tied blockbuster Top Gun: Maverick for first place) , and the forthcoming Netflix Elvis action-comedy animated series “Agent King,” along with two planned Elvis albums from Sony later this year.
2022 also marks the 45th anniversary of Elvis’ death, with Graceland honoring the date with Elvis Week from August 9- August 17 in Memphis.
Cinedigm is catering to an enthusiastic fan base.
“We are thrilled for fans to immerse themselves in Elvis' world with the launch of The Elvis Presley Channel," said Matt Abruzzo, senior director of Brand Management, Entertainment, at Authentic Brands Group (ABG), owner of Elvis Presley Enterprises, in a statement. "The Elvis fandom is incredibly passionate, and when it comes to serving enthusiastic fan bases, no one does it better than Cinedigm."
Programming details
For the new FAST channel Cinedgim is promising a mix of new and classic programming, with content refreshed monthly with hundreds of hours of films and series.
Films, series and documentaries will be exclusively streamed such as the Elvis ’68 Comeback Special, Elvis Aloha from Hawaii and broadcast and unedited versions of Elvis, by the Presley’s. Other artists and related content will also be featured in themed programming blocks such as Elvis’s favorites, Elvis Inspired Reality, African American Artists that Inspired Elvis and 50s Rock N’ Roll Rebel Movies.
The channel is serving up some of the music star’s own favorite TV and films, including “The Beverly Hillbillies,” John Wayne movies “Angel and the Badman,” “Blue Steel” and “Riders of Destiny,” and Bruce Lee films “Warrior’s Journey” and “The Man The Myth.”
For Cinedigm, the launch marks the latest addition to its growing portfolio of FAST and subscription-based channels. Earlier in June it turned up The Bob Ross Channel en Español on The Roku Channel’s new Espacio Latino offering – tapping AI technology from Papercup for a dubbed Spanish-language version of the beloved painting series. The company counts 22 other dedicated channels spanning a variety of genres, such as anime (CONtv anime) Latinx (El Rey Network), classic film and TV (Film Detective), K-pop (KMT), women (MyTime Movie Network), and horror (Screambox), among others.