MUMBAI: News Corp-owned American television network Fox Broadcasting Network Sunday celebrated 25 years of its existence with a look back at the groundbreaking and irreverent shows that have defined the network since its first signal transmission on 5 April 1987.

Fox changed the American broadcasting landscape ever since it launched by keeping a check on its competitors with path breaking shows prominent among them being The Simpsons, 90210, and American Idol, which proved to be a great gamechanger.

In April 1985, Rupert Murdoch controlled News Corporation bought 50 per cent interest in Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation for $250 million, only to complete the acquisition later in the year by buying the remaining 50 per cent interest in company for $325 million.

The company followed that up with the acquisition of six Metromedia television stations in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Dallas, Houston and Washington, for $1.9 billion which eventually led to the formation of the Fox Television Stations Group.

The acquisitions marked the beginning of News Corp?s foray in the American broadcast market which was till then dominated by American Broadcasting Company (ABC), Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) and National Broadcasting Company (NBC).

News Corporation and Fox Television Stations completed the acquisition of New World Communications Group for $2.3 billion in January 1997, making Fox the largest and most powerful station operator with 22 stations covering more than 40 per cent of the nation.

In 1999, Fox finished its first-ever broadcast season as the most popular network among Adults 18-34 and Teens, while also ranking second among its target audience of Adults 18-49 by the smallest margin in the network?s history.

According to Associated Press report, Fox proved that there was room for a fourth U.S. broadcast network, three decades after Dumont dissolved in 1955 and left the Big Three networks to slice up an increasingly rich pie.

Horizon Media SVP research Brad Adgate believes Fox hasn?t just met expectations it has exceeded them. "Of the major networks, it?s the only one that can bring in younger audiences on a regular basis," Adgate said. "They have brought out some breakthrough shows ... They?ve really done things that the other three networks wouldn?t have done with their programming," Adgate told AP.

Garth Ancier, Fox?s inaugural programming chief, said the challenge for the network was how to attract audiences in a different way from NBC, ABC and CBS and drag them over to an alternative.

MUMBAI: Hallmark Cards has announced the acquisition of SpiritClips, a broadband subscription-based online video service and film production company that offers short films, family friendly movies and documentaries.

The terms of the acquisition have not been released since both SpiritClips and Hallmark are privately held.

Based in Los Angeles, this start-up business was founded in 2007 by Rob Fried, an Academy-award winning producer and studio executive, whose many films include Rudy and Hoosiers. Fried will continue in his current capacity as SpiritClips CEO, and the firm will remain in California.

In making the announcement, Hallmark president and CEO Donald J. Hall, Jr. noted that the acquisition offers Hallmark a new way to engage consumers in the digital world and a potential new channel of distribution for the brand. SpiritClips focuses on delivering powerful messages about character, hope and triumph of the human spirit.

"It is a superb brand fit for Hallmark, with each story delivering compelling emotional content, positive family values and meaningful life lessons," he said. The site has featured content from Hallmark Hall of Fame to subscribers since 2010.

According to Fried, "It‘s a dream come true for SpiritClips to be part of the digital future of so esteemed an organization as Hallmark. We are gratified that Rob‘s vision has led to such a positive result," said Michael Jahrmarkt, managing member of Northlight Financial LLC, which provided initial financing for SpiritClips."

MUMBAI: News Corp is planning to launch a national US sports network on cable television to take on Walt Disney-owned network ESPN, the dominant player in that market.

According to Bloomberg News, the company is considering converting its action-sports network Fuel to the new channel that would compete not just with ESPN but with NBC?s and CBS?s sports networks.

Fox Sports chairman David Hill is spearheading the new channel which could begin service by the end of this year.

The implications of this could also be felt in Asia where the two companies run the ESPN Star Sports join venture, which according to recent media reports is on the verge of splitting. This development will only add fuel to that speculation.

The company is also in the process of assembling the required rights from pay-TV carriers and sports organisations for the yet-to-be-launched channel.

News Corp had recently snapped up various sports rights prominent among them being the US TV rights to Fifa World Cup in 2018 and 2022, beating competition ESPN. It had also secured rights to the Pac-12 Conference and Big-12 Conference games and is in the running to secure an exclusive deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers.

According to Miller Tabak & Co analyst David Joyce, "The success of all these networks will depend on the quality of their sports rights. There?s been a lot of competition for those rights and that?s driven up costs."

Joyce also opined that ESPN is well-positioned to withstand competition because of its rights for Monday Night Football and national baseball and basketball games.

A national sports channel can capture higher affiliate fees from pay-TV providers such as Comcast and DirecTV, according to research firm SNL Kagan. ESPN will command $5.06 per subscriber per month this year, the most of any cable channel, it estimates.