4KUNIVERSE, an SVOD “channel” from film and TV distribution company Mance Media that features content in the pixel-packed format, said its first original series, Model Turned Superstar, will debut on June 28.

The show, billed as an international reality series, will challenge over 100 models to become “the next superstar model.  A series of photo shoots and runway challenges will determine which of the top 13 will emerge as the winner of the show’s $1 million grand prize.

The series, comprised of 18, 30-minute episodes filmed in areas such as Bora Bora, Thailand, Mexico, Dubai, the Bahamas and Hong Kong, is hosted by fitness expert April Scott along with guest judges Alessandra Ambrosio, Irina Shayk, and Ana Beatriz Barros. One episode will be released every week on Tuesdays on 4KUNIVERSE.

Andy Khawaja executive produced the series, with Rudy Dekermenjian and Matthew Mancinelli serving as producers. Mance Media is the series’ global distributor.

Mance Media introduced 4KUNIVERSE in March. The multiplatform channel, which costs $5.99 per month, is initially available over-the-top via YouTube and Vimeo, though the aim is to also seek carriage deals with cable operators, IPTV providers and other types of MVPDs.

Mance Media has not announced any MVPD deals for 4KUNIVERSE, but it wasone of the content partners identified by Dish Network for an initial slate of 4K VOD fare for its new Hopper 3 DVR and 4K Joey device.

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.

A lot of 4K will be delivered digitally over managed IP connections and over-the-top, but that doesn’t mean the need for physical media will completely fade away.

While TV makers such as Sony offer specialized 4K media players that are pre-packed with movies and other content in the new format while Ultra HD Blu-ray products are still out on the horizon, others are starting to use different form factors to sell and distribute 4K content.

Among that group is Mance Media, an independent distributor of movies and TV shows, that has launched BUY4KUHD, a standalone unit that is starting to sell 4K movies, TV shows and documentaries on USB 3.0-powered thumb drives. Early on, Mance Media is selling almost a dozen titles, starting at $11.99. 

Mance Media is initially selling those pre-loaded thumb drives globally on its own site, but is in talks with “major retailers,” according to company CEO Matthew Mancinelli, who believes that there's room for physical media to coexist with digital and streaming media.

And digital clearly factors, too, as Mance Media also has distribution partnerships with M-GO, Sony, Dish Network and Amazon, and, earlier this week, began to sell several films in 4K via the new BitTorrent Bundle platform.

More details about Mance Media’s 4K strategy will be covered in the March 30 issue of Multichannel News. 

Mance Media, an independent distributor of films and TV shows, said it will sell a handful of films in 4K format via BitTorrent Bundle, a global platform that enables content owners to upload their content and offer it as they see fit.

Mance Media said it will offer trailers and full-length movies in partnership with BitTorrent. Consumers can obtain the 4K trailers for free, and pay between $5 to $6 to unlock the full-length title in 5.1 surround sound as well as a hi-res digital version of the movie’s official movie poster.

Mance Media, which is using HEVC compression for 4K, claims it can deliver a 90-minute movie in 4K and 5.1 in a 3 gigabyte file without sacrificing video quality. From a file-size standpoint, that’s a far cry from BitTorrrent’s initial 4K distribution of Superorganismfrom Mickey Hart, the former Grateful Dead drummer, which was delivered in 2013 as a largely uncompressed 286 Gigabyte torrent. 

The work with BitTorrent Bundle "is groundbreaking in terms of distribution,” Matthew Mancinelli, CEO of Mance Media, said.

Mance Media’s other announced 4K distribution partners include M-GO, Sony, Amazon, and Dish Network, which is will offer content in the new format via the 4K Ultra HD Joey, a device that's slated to become available this summer.

Titles from Mance Media that will be offered in 4K through BitTorrent Bundles include TheToy Soldiers, Dragons: Real Myths And Unreal Creatures, Scarlet’s Witch, and nature documentary Circles Of Life: Iceland In 4K.

“Today marks the first collection of 4K films to be distributed via BitTorrent,” Straith Schreder, director of brand marketing at BitTorrent, said in a statement. “We’re excited to work with Mance to share this ultra HD collection with our global network of fans.”

BitTorrent, which is expanding into original content, said in February that about 200 million users downloaded or streamed a Bundle over the last 18 months.