MUMBAI: Now Asians residing in the US will have a television network catering to their needs. ImaginAsian Entertainment has announced that it will provide cross-platform entertainment targeting over 14 million Asian-Americans residing in the US.

The company's first venture will be ImaginAsian TV (iaTV), It will launch in August as the first national, 24-hour Asian-American television network. The announcements were made today by the company's CEO Michael Hong.

ImaginAsian TV has signed multi-volume programming deals with television companies such as the saas bahu queen Balaji Telefilms, China Movie Channel (CCTV 6), Japan's TV Asahi, Vietnam Media, South Korea's Game TV, Asian News International.

The network will be fully ad supported. ImaginAsian TV will offer premiere the best programmes that Asia has to offer as well as original productions developed and produced by the network. The schedule will consist of feature films, drama series and sitcoms, news, variety and game shows, animation, children's programs, music videos, sports, documentaries and more.

A company release informs that all the in-language programmes will be subtitled by ImaginAsian TV's in-house translators, and during prime-time, English-speaking hosts will introduce and provide commentary about the programmes being shown.

ImaginAsian TV has stated that it has reached its first major distribution agreement a full seven months prior to its launch later this year and is in latter-stage negotiations with major MSOs around the country. ImaginAsian TV has signed an affiliation agreement with Equity Broadcasting Corp which is one of the largest broadcast station groups in the US. This signals a landmark shift in the way Asian media is distributed in this country.

Hong added "The time has come to reassess the platform in which Asian media is traditionally placed. While it may have been acceptable ten years ago to relegate Asian media to premium tiers, it is our belief that in most major markets today, a channel of this quality and reach should be available as a basic service."

Through the agreement with Equity Broadcasting ImaginAsian TV has gained access to more than 1.6 million households. Through a separate distribution agreement with Silk Road, ImaginAsian TV will be available via the broadband provider's US subscriber base as a linear channel. ImaginAsian TV will also provide Video On Demand content and marketing support as the product is rolled out in North America.