distributor

Montreal: Astral Communications and Twentieth Century Fox have created a new Canadian television distribution company, Fox Astral Television Distribution. The joint venture replaces eps, an Astral/Twentieth Century/Columbia TriStar Television tv program distributor.

With the recent departure of Columbia TriStar from eps, Astral chairman and ceo Harold Greenberg says Fox and Astral decided to continue their highly profitable 13-year-old association and broaden the scope of the relationship to introduce development and financing for international tv markets.

‘The two companies share the same vision in giving Canadian producers an opportunity to create product for the world marketplace,’ says Greenberg.

The new tv distribution entity, headed by president David Jackson, will distribute specials, movies and series to free and pay-tv. Current catalogue programs include Fox-produced shows such as NYPD Blue, The Simpsons, X-Files, Picket Fences and Chicago Hope, along with The American Music Awards, David Copperfield and the Tales of the Wild tv movies.

Marion Edwards, executive vice-president, international television at Twentieth Century, says program potential for the joint venture includes interactive tv, games, game development, coventures and coproductions on product for the Canadian and u.s.. markets.

Twentieth Century is a unit of Fox Inc., an empire which includes Fox Broadcasting Corp.; fx, Fox’s basic u.s. cable operation; fxm, a movie channel; Canal Fox, a trilingual (Spanish/English/Portuguese) broadcasting operation; a large interest in Star tv in Asia; an interest in sky tv in the u.k.; and a controlling interest in Fox Television in Germany.