AUSTIN, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE via COLLEGIATE PRESSWIRE)--Sept. 29, 2005--Veteran television/music industry entrepreneur Connie Wodlinger is launching ME Television, a new regional music and entertainment network in Austin, Texas. ME Television will serve as the national prototype for a series of regional music and entertainment networks across the country.
''Our mission is to showcase local and regional music and entertainment, and the goal is to establish ME Television as the ultimate resource for entertainment information,'' said Connie Wodlinger, ME`s president. ''Austin is a force and focus of the national music and film scene, and the perfect market to build this new model.''
With its official launch on Oct. 1, ME Television ushers in a new era in the Texas capital`s storied musical history. Original programming will debut on Oct. 17 and will feature a mix of music and entertainment news, regularly-scheduled programming, and a growing body of content that spotlights the self-proclaimed ''Live Music Capital of the World.''
''Helping develop new artists is one of the most exciting aspects of the project,'' Wodlinger said. ''ME Television will establish an entirely new platform of exposure for local and regional talent and up-and-coming artists, as well as support the careers of hundreds of established but lesser-known singers, songwriters and musicians.''
The new regional network is slated to expand its coverage area to all other Texas markets and adjacent states starting in late 2006.
Wodlinger is a founding platinum member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and has been featured on NBC`s Today Show and profiled by CNN, Prime Time Live, Entertainment Tonight, Fortune, Time, Variety, Billboard, Venture, Television Business International and other print and broadcast entities.
Wodlinger`s entry into music television was Hit Video USA, a wholly-owned company broadcast via satellite in the U.S. from 1985 - 1990 and ultimately bought out by MTV Networks` parent company, Viacom International.
In 1994, Wodlinger was approached by Liberty Media to develop and operate a 24-hour music network for global distribution via the PanAmSat satellite system. This joint venture network, TMZ-The Music Zone, was on the air through mid-1996, when the Liberty division was sold to Murdock`s NewsCorp. She retained the TMZ trademark and continued to produce the world`s largest catalog of weekly music series for television for domestic and international distribution.
In 1989, Wodlinger negotiated the first-ever worldwide television music licensing deal with VPL and IFPI in London, representing record companies around the world. The deal was announced by the joint heads of all the major record labels at a press conference at MIP-TV in Cannes. That agreement continues to set the standard for music licensing agreements with producers.
Wodlinger`s companies have produced more than 50,000 hours of original programming that has been seen in all corners of the world, including Europe, Africa, Asia and the Pacific Rim, the Middle East, South America, and the United States. Prior to her network ventures, Wodlinger owned and operated several successful U.S. radio and television stations and operated a television news bureau in Nairobi, Kenya covering the African continent with documentary and news footage for the U.S. and international television market.
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