Karmaloop TV Unveiled at NCTA 2010

LOS ANGELES, May 11 /PRNewswire/ -- MSOs can now hitch their carts to a powerful and already much-loved brand that will reignite the passion of 18 – 34 year olds for television with the debut of Karmaloop TV.  The new multi-platform network – the first to target the multicultural lifestyles and passions of the multiracial "Verge Culture" demo – was unveiled here today at Booth 2055 (across from NCTA's "My World") at the annual convention of the National Cable & Telecommunications Association (NCTA).

"Verge Culture is the first generation to have grown up on the Internet, a fast-expanding, multiracial subculture of millions that is thriving in major metropolises like New York and L.A. to the cornfields in Iowa," states Greg Selkoe, CEO of Karmaloop TV. "They communicate digitally and globally to build a 'cut and paste' culture based on their shared love of film, fashion, music, design, dance and much more – the dynamic 'mashup' that will be the heart of our programming model and a first for television."

"Vergers are 'alpha consumers' who spend over $90 billion annually on entertainment, technology, sneakers and travel," continues Karmaloop TV President Katie McEnroe, the former President of AMC Networks and Lionsgate TV who has joined the company to helm the launch. "Many are a part of what's being labeled 'cable's lost generation,' the young people who are tuning out TV because there's nothing on that represents the full breadth of the diverse cultural passions that truly move them.  We know Karmaloop TV has an unprecedented programming mix and built-in brand equity that will capture the attention and loyalty of this lost generation – on the multitude of platforms that engage them, yet firmly home based on the television dial."

Slated to debut in 1st quarter 2011, Karmaloop TV is the latest outgrowth of Karmaloop.com, the world's largest online retailer of streetwear brands from around the globe, with more than 4 million unique users per month and projected 2010 revenues of $100 million. In the 10 years since its launch, Karmaloop has grown to become a virtual hot house for emergent Verge Culture, a community where tech-savvy young people also connect to share trends via KarmaloopTV.com, the broadband entertainment network launched in 2008, and the soon to be launched social network Junglelife.com. The launch of Karmaloop TV is being funded in part by Insight Venture Partners, a $4 billion venture capital fund.

Karmaloop has also cultivated long-term relationships with many of the stars that power Verge Culture, ones who are likely to be fixtures on the new multi-platform network. These include musicians Kanye West, M.I.A., Gwen Stefani and Kid Cudi, DJ/producer Clinton Sparks, renowned street artist and Obama "Hope" poster creator Shepard Fairey and Slumdog Millionaire director Danny Boyle, who have either partnered with Karmaloop.com to market their clothing lines or pontificated on their own works and emerging cultural trends on Karmaloop's broadband network.

Films and Originals for the Verge

With Karmaloop's know-how and brand loyalty and a heavy duty film inventory from domestic, international and independent sources, the ready-to-spend Verge demographic will finally have a TV outlet that speaks to them – in their own language, with content they want to see, on the many platforms where they connect.  

Films will initially comprise approximately 70% of Karmaloop TV's programming line-up – in strips, marathons and month-long franchises to generate noise, promotional heat and appointment viewing. Black-belt aficionados will be served by kung-fu classics in The Chop, while crime, punishment, gang warfare and more will be meted out in Badass Movies.  Everything from zombies run amok to cross-gender confusion will be packed in WTF!?!, while Karmaloop Cult Classics will feature most loved cult movies of recent and well-seasoned vintage. With The Queue, Verge Culture superstars and Karmaloop viewers alike will have the chance to curate and host marathons of their favorite flicks. With Globaloop Presents, Karmaloop TV offers up thought provoking films with a serious edge, from award-winning documentaries to acclaimed and seldom screened foreign features.

Karmaloop TV's original series will capture the wide world of street culture that drives the styles and sounds of this "mashup" generation. To this end, the network is presently developing the first, full-time HD network production facility in Brooklyn, New York, a capital of young hipsterdom.  

KarmaloopTV.com's already popular entertainment news show, The Daily Loop, will be enhanced and expanded, with its in-studio hosts and roving field reporters covering the latest in fashion, film, music, dance, video games, politics and more. Poseur! is Karmaloop TV's answer to Wife Swap, a challenge to see if contestants can switch styles, turning Goths into Rappers and Rappers into Hippies!  Cut n' Sew is Project Runway with a streetwear twist, while Craze Asia is an over the top exposé of everything the hipster Far East has to offer – fashion, food, entertainment and more. Elite Access is a three-fold program unveiling the movers and shakers in Verge Culture featuring: "Inside Track" (dedicated to music-makers); "Tagged" (digital, graphic and street artists); and "Sweat" (top flight athletes).

The Smash Up with Clinton Sparks is a daily in-studio show where this celebrity DJ will interview "it" Verge Culture celebs.  Smash Up Prime Time is a bi-weekly expansion and mashup of this daily show, adding live mixed music videos and the latest news in fashion, music and more from the frontlines of Verge Culture. One Mic is a documentary series about hip-hop as seen through a global lens, with international battles royale featuring Egyptian B-boys going head-to-head with MC's in China. Adrenaline is a fast paced clip show checking out the most heart pounding action sports in their native locale – the streets. Echelon provides a peek at the lifestyles and accoutrements of Verge Culture's elite, the most luxurious yachts, perspective-boggling furniture and architecture, gadgetry and shoes that cost more than your house!

Another fixture of the broadband network, the socially-conscious Globaloop, will be expanded in length and turf to provide in-depth coverage of issues around the world and in local communities within its footprint to motivate its young audience to action. The stars of Karmaloop TV's existing broadband channel, Johnny Polygon, Kelly Karloff and Julian aka DJ Redd Foxx, will all have a home on the Karmaloop TV multi-platform, as well as some new homegrown stars.

50,000 "Evangelists" Viral Power a Network Launch

Karmaloop's success has come as the result of viral-driven, peer-to-peer marketing executed by its 50,000-strong core of "evangelists" who account for 20% of its sales – reps who work the web, social networks and in the clubs to earn cash, free clothing and access to VIP events.  As traditional marketing tactics like bill stuffers and ads in daily newspapers will miss this digital-centric target, the low-cost, high-impact viral tactics employed by Karmaloop's 50,000 strong rep force will be a central part of the network's launch, reaching an estimated 75 million in the Verge Culture demo.  Debuting May 25, 2010, the online campaign, entitled RECLAIM TV, will boast art work from famed Obama "Hope" poster creator Shepard Fairey and also incentivize Karmaloop's millions of followers to spread the word and stimulate demand and viewership for the new, multi-platform network.    

"The message is two-fold," adds McEnroe. "For young people, it's a call to reclaim television with quality programming that truly represents the depth and vitality of their many interests and passions, ones that uplift, inspire and entertain.  For operators, it's a signal that it's not too late to stake a claim with the kind of sophisticated and trend-savvy young people who are not only desired by your advertisers, but central to the future of your business."      

Bringing a Daily Dose of Street Art and Clickable Video on the Convention Floor

With its fun-loving, edge-pushing attitude, Karmaloop TV promises to shake things up, in an entertaining and educational way, at this year's NCTA.  Like the Vergers themselves, Karmaloop TV's booth will be made anew two days during convention, with new works by renowned street artists Shepard Fairey and SABER. Also on view will be a demonstration of the proprietary clickable video technology now being utilized on Karmaloop's retail site which is planned for deployment on the new, multi-platform network via Klickable.tv.  

Images can be downloaded at www.karmaloop.com/downloads.asp 

SOURCE The Cable Show 2010