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National Satellite Network Link TV Rebrands Promising to Make ‘A World of Difference’ Addressing A Divisive Media Landscape

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JP Shields
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All-New Graphics Deliver Fresh Online and On-Air Look

To the Channel with a Global Perspective

New Programming and Scheduling Strategy Includes U.S. Premiere of Danish

Scripted Drama FOLLOW THE MONEY Plus Investigative Series

HOTSPOTS and FOREIGN CORRESPONDENT

linktv press material
(Images courtesy of Link TV) 

www.linktv.org

Burbank Calif. – July 16, 2018 – Link TV, the national independent non-commercial satellite television network, announced today a comprehensive rebranding initiative that renews its commitment to delivering global perspectives that encourage cultural understanding. On Sunday, July 15, the network debuts a new brand ID system and programming strategy for its channel available nationally to 35 million subscribers of Dish Network (Channel 9410) and DirecTV (Channel 375) as part of their basic packages.

Created in conjunction with the award-winning Swedish design agency Bold Scandinavia, the new brand experience spearheaded by Link TV’s Creative Director Hiawatha Bradley speaks to a globally engaged audience with new creative that includes a refreshed corporate logo, new on-air graphics packages, video sizzles, brand IDs and interstitials, promos and a new color palette.  All elements are unified by the new tagline “A World of Difference,” reflecting the Link TV brand ethos of providing varying perspectives across borders. The new branding will be incorporated throughout Link TV’s media ecosystem, including its website, social media platforms (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram) and OTT platforms.

Along with the new graphic treatment, Link TV will launch some key programmatic initiatives including the U.S. premiere of Denmark’s scripted drama FOLLOW THE MONEY and two new investigative journalism series HOTSPOTS: STORIES FROM THE FRONTLINE and FOREIGN CORRESPONDENT that will take viewers behind the scenes of some of the world’s most volatile and hardest hitting issues.

“As we head into the mid-term elections, it is a critical time to re-establish Link TV as a media influencer that can bridge barriers with lesser known voices and new ways of looking at world issues,” said Kim Spencer, Co-Founder of Link TV. “Our new programming offers solution-driven global perspectives, uncompromising dramas and in-depth analysis of social and political issues on a global scale to the American public. This is as timely and important now as it was nearly two decades ago when the channel was created as we face polarizing narratives shaping public opinion and negatively impacting our society.”

A New Schedule

Led by Lou Fazio, Head of Acquisitions and Scheduling for KCETLink Media Group, a newly reorganized Link TV schedule was created to vertically theme the network’s prime time programming each night. New investigative journalism series HOTSPOTS: STORIES FROM THE FRONTLINE features veteran war correspondents Stuart Ramsay and Alex Crawford going behind the scenes in some of the world's most dangerous areas. Continuing the Sunday night news lineup is the U.S. premiere of FOREIGN CORRESPONDENT, reporting on stories in the world’s most dangerous areas on issues that governments don’t want addressed.

Also premiering exclusively on Link TV in the U.S. in August is scripted Danish dramatic series FOLLOW THE MONEY (from the producers of BORGEN and the original version of The Killing), which explores corruption and politics in the pursuit of wealth. The series will broadcast alongside new episodes of GRAND HOTEL from Spain and the critically acclaimed PRISONERS OF WAR (the series upon which Homeland is based) about Israeli POWs, which continues to intrigue audiences. 

Link TV’s weekly schedule will be themed nightly with one or two new programmatic anchor shows or new seasons of popular series as follows (subject to change):

-Sundays: Investigative & Global Analysis (HOTSPOTS: STORIES FROM THE FRONTLINE, FOREIGN CORRESPONDENT, THE CHALLENGERS)

-Mondays: Global Scripted Drama (GRAND HOTEL, FOLLOW THE MONEY, PRISONERS OF WAR)

-Tuesdays: Arts & Culture (ARTBOUND, REEL SOUTH)

-Wednesdays: Environmental (EARTH FOCUS, ANGRY PLANET, BIONEERS)

-Thursdays: News Magazines (ASSIGNMENT ASIA)

-Fridays:  Documentary Film (LINK VOICES)

-Saturdays: Music & Performance (SOUND TRACKER, BORDER BLASTER, RESILIENT CITIES)

The globally minded Link Media, an independent non-profit media company that operated Link TV national satellite network and an online international news portal, merged with KCET in October 2012. Link TV is known for providing a wide array of rich, culturally focused programs that inspire, inform and engage audiences with the world around them. Programming successes included America’s longest running environmental news magazine EARTH FOCUS, the Peabody Award-winning global news and issues-driven series MOSAIC and the critically acclaimed international drama series BORGEN, which aired in the U.S. exclusively on Link TV. Link TV programming has been made available on one of KCET's three digital multi-cast channels in the Southern California market, providing viewers in the 11 counties of the Los Angeles market with access to Link TV's news, documentaries and music from around the world. The merger was looked upon by the two entities as an enormous opportunity to reinvent the value and purpose of 'independent media' as a vitally important source of cultural ideas, global connectivity and diverse perspectives in the U.S.

Join the conversation on social media using #LinkTV and #AWorldOfDifference

*KCET is expected to merge with PBS SoCal, subject to regulatory approvals, by mid-2018.

ABOUT LINK TV

Founded in 1999, Link TV is an independent viewer-supported media organization dedicated to providing programs that engage and educate its audiences with unique perspectives and activate them to become involved in the world.  Reaching more than 34 million U.S. satellite households nationally, Link TV (DirecTV channel 375 and DISH Network channel 9410) connects American viewers with people at the heart of breaking events, organizations at the forefront of social change and the vibrant cultures of an increasingly global community. It is a free non-commercial service of KCETLink Media Group, based in Burbank, CA. For additional information about Link TV productions, web-exclusive content and program schedules, please visit linktv.org. Select programming from Link TV is also available for streaming on Apple TV, YouTube and Roku platforms. For more information please visit https://www.linktv.org/about/apps.

ABOUT BOLD SCANDINAVIA

Bold is the largest brand and design agency in Scandinavia and has offices in Stockholm, Oslo and Copenhagen. Bold has a broad client base working with European brands such as H&M, Scandinavian Airlines, Nordea, SCA and Schibsted. Bold has won many prestigious international design awards and the Stockholm office has been voted best design agency in Sweden. Bold is also one of the founders of Scandinavian tech and communications network The North Alliance, NOA.

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