Inspiration Networks said it signed a deal to transfer the assets of the Halogen TV network to Participant Media, as part of Participant's earlier-announced plan to create a new entertainment network aimed at socially aware young people.
Dale S. Ardizzone, the chief operating officer at Inspiration Networks, said in a release that Inspiration will retain certain trademark and intellectual property assets from Halogen TV, a network the religious programmer had rebranded three years ago (from i-Lifetv) as a secular vehicle targeting young viewers with music programming and a series targeting the Kony 2012 phenomenon. Becky Henderson, the general manager who led the Halogen TV launch, remains at Inspiration Networks as EVP of marketing.
“This divesture will allow us to focus our time and resources on our flagship network, INSP, which is experiencing unprecedented growth in viewership and ratings,” Ardizzone said in the release. “In 2012 alone we added over 5 million CATV households to INSP’s distribution. We have seen our ratings more than double in the past two years, making INSP one of America’s fastest-growing networks.”
Halogen has about 15 million multichannel subscribers, Inspiration has said previously. INSP has about 73 million.
