Mance Media, a film and TV distribution company based in Los Angeles, has launched 4KUNIVERSE, a multiplatform Ultra HD channel that is initially available over-the-top and one that will also seek carriage deals with cable operators, IPTV providers and other types of MVPDs.

The 4K offering, billed as a “general entertainment” UHD channel, is getting off the ground with support of two global satellite operators – SES and AsiaSat.

4KUNIVERSE is currently offered for $5.99 per month (or the local currency equivalent) via YouTube and Vimeo. In addition to North America, the channel will also be available to other regions of the world, including Australia, New Zealand, Russia, Poland, the United Kingdom, Denmark, Taiwan and Brazil. 4KUNIVERSE will make its international market debut in April in Cannes at MIPTV, Mance Media said.

The ad-free channel features programming that includes documentaries such as Circles of Life, Grand Canyon, and Timescapes, and feature films such as The Rumperbutts, Scarlet’s Witch and The Toy Soldiers. Some content will be offered in HDR (high dynamic range).

Mance Media said 4KUNIVERSE will start to test UHD linear feeds with SES and AsiaSat in Q2 2016, and that its content will also be distributed on Ultra HD Blu-rays.  

The company noted that it’s also in talks with private equity and VC firms about raising capital for the new 4K channel.

Mance Media has not announced any distribution pacts with MVPDs, but is entering the mix as several large North American pay TV operators launch or prepare to launch 4K offerings, including DirecTV/AT&T, Dish Network, Comcast, Rogers Communications and Videotron. Notably, Mance Media was one of the content partners identified by Dish for an initial slate of 4K VOD fare  that will be offered on its new Hopper 3 DVR and 4K Joey device.

“Having strategic partners on board like satellite companies SES and AsiaSat allows our channel to enjoy the largest possible audience and adds immediate value at launch,” Matthew Mancinelli, founder and CEO of 4KUNIVERSE, said in a statement.

“Mance Media and 4KUNIVERSE represent exciting additions to the compelling and growing Ultra HD channel line up on our SES satellite-based Ultra HD platform,” added Steve Corda, VP of business development in North America for SES. “4KUNIVERSE provides the compelling content that Ultra HD TV owners are demanding, and SES’s unique end-to-end platform, designed for cable TV systems, 4KUNIVERSE will be delivered in a linear-channel format to virtually every cable TV headend and household in North America.”

“We are very pleased to welcome 4KUNIVERSETM on board our UHD platform on AsiaSat 4. Their exciting range of UHD theatrical movies and documentaries together with the powerful footprint of AsiaSat 4 will bring more choice of compelling content to the Asian audience. We are very excited to play a part of their global distribution and wish Mance Media every success,” said Sabrina Cubbon, vice president, marketing and global accounts, AsiaSat.

Expanding deeper into the world of 4K video, Harmonic has forged a partnership with satellite operator AsiaSat to launch a new Ultra HD channel.

That channel, 4K-SAT2/HVN, will be AsiaSat’s second free-to-air UHD channel on AsiaSat 4, a bird that’s situated at 122 degrees East, serving the Asia-Pacific region.

The new channel will launch on March 1, and will deliver 4K content from Harmonic’s video library, including content from the new NASA TV UHD channel, encoded in the bandwidth-saving HEVC Main 10 format.

The UHD channels via AsiaSat 4 will cover a footprint spanning an area across Zealand to Pakistan and part of the Middle East, encompassing more than 50 countries and regions, the companies said. Viewers will need an AsiaSat 4 C-band antenna and a HEVC set-top box.

The new channel is powered by Harmonic’s MediaGrid shared storage system, Polaris playout management platform, and Spectrum X media server system.

“With the cost of UHD TV sets dropping dramatically over the past year, demand for UHD content in Asia is expected to grow exponentially in the next couple of years,” said Sabrina Cubbon, vice president, marketing & global accounts at AsiaSat, in a statement. “Our partnership with Harmonic for this new channel ‘4K-SAT2/HVN,’ following the successful launch of our first UHD channel last year, enables the delivery of a choice of rich and compelling UHD content on AsiaSat 4, allowing us to demonstrate the superior quality via satellite of a linear Ultra HD channel in 2160p60 resolution.”