(28 June 2006 2:25 pm)

MUMBAI: GlobeVISION, Inc., a global media company with North American headquarters in Los Angeles, will distribute the hit Korean television drama Spring Waltz through its on-demand Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) service for Asian-Americans and Asian-Canadians.

The Korean TV drama will make its North American premier from 1 July 2006 through GlobeVISION's PIE service.

GlobeVISION's deal with Yoon's Color, the television drama production studio in Korea, is the first time an independent television production studio is directly distributing its programs to North America without the support of a Korean broadcaster, according to an official release.

GlobeVISION's PIE service is available in limited markets now and will launch nationwide later this year with thousands of Korean titles ranging from movies to television series to news and sports.

Spring Waltz is a twenty-episode drama series viewed by 31 per cent of the country when it aired on KBS in Korea, the highest rating for a drama this year. It is the fourth and final in a season-themed sequence from director Yoon, Seok Ho, whose Winter Sonata went on to be the highest rated Korean drama ever broadcast in Japan. This series represents the best of the new Korean wave of culture known as Hallyu.

"This deal to premiere Spring Waltz in North America demonstrates how GlobeVISION's PIE service is the perfect platform for all production and content companies across Asia to directly reach Korean-Americans and Korean-Canadians," states GlobeVISION CEO Edward Bach. "We are excited to bring such a big hit from Korea directly to the television sets of North America," he adds.

Korea's two largest private broadcasters (MBC and SBS), largest cable media group (CJ Media), top movie studio (CJ Entertainment), and largest Christian programming broadcaster (CGN TV) have recently signed deals positioning
GlobeVISION and the powerhouse distribution channel for Korean content in North America. The service will quickly expand to include programming from all over Asia including China and India, the release adds.