A+E Launching New Blaze Network With Sky in Italy

A+E Networks said it is launching a Blaze network in Italy Wednesday that is being distributed exclusively by Sky Italia. Blaze features factual entertainment programming produced by A+E including Ax Men, Power & Ice, Mountain Men, AloneBarter Kings, Storage Wars and Down East Dickering.

Ad sales for Blaze will be managed by Sky Media.

A+E launched a Blaze Channel in the U.K. last year.

“We are proud to continue the growth of Blaze with the launch in Italy with Sky," said Dean Possenniskie, general manager, EMEA, A+E Networks. “By offering uniquely innovative, original, and quality content, Blaze will be the place for those viewers looking for remarkable, extraordinary characters and stories. The new channel strengthens the position of A+E Networks Italy, where the Company is already present with History and Crime+Investigation channels, both broadcast on Sky."

“We are very excited to announce the launch of Blaze, a new channel that won us over right from the start and that strengthens our partnership with A+E Networks, publisher of History and Crime+Investigation, two channels very different for genre and reference topics, and yet always a guarantee of quality programs. We are confident that Blaze will immediately capture that audience, particularly men, ready to be fascinated by America's most unexpected stories, the America of ordinary people with extraordinary lives,” said Luca Revelli, senior director partner channels & digital di Sky Italia.

Jon Lafayette

Jon has been business editor of Broadcasting+Cable since 2010. He focuses on revenue-generating activities, including advertising and distribution, as well as executive intrigue and merger and acquisition activity. Just about any story is fair game, if a dollar sign can make its way into the article. Before B+C, Jon covered the industry for TVWeek, Cable World, Electronic Media, Advertising Age and The New York Post. A native New Yorker, Jon is hiding in plain sight in the suburbs of Chicago.