The International Channel
The channel was launched as the International Channel in July 1990, [1] [2] and was initially owned by a joint venture of Liberty Media (which had a 90% stake) and JJS II Communications, LLC (which had the remaining 10% stake). [3] The channel was led by George Leitner; as of March 1992, the channel was already popular among certain ethnic enclaves with potential, and had seen growth due to its rights to the 1992 Cricket World Cup, shared with Netlink. [4] In 1996, the two companies founded the International Cable Channels Partnership, Ltd., which oversaw the channel. The channel was sold to Comcast when it purchased its parent company, International Networks (now International Media Distribution) in July 2004.
Comcast takeover, repositioning as AZN Television
Under Comcast, beginning in the final quarter of 2004, the network began a transitional phase to cater more towards Asian audiences, beginning the gradual removal of European and Middle Eastern programs from its schedule, before removing them completely by the second quarter of 2005. This repositioning was officially announced in January 2005, aiming to expand access to easily-accessible Asian programming in English, while its former audiences moved to international channels distributed by ICN. [5] On March 28, 2005, Comcast rebranded The International Channel to AZN Television, which now focused purely on Asian and Asian-American culture. [6] [7] The name AZN came from the mobile phone shorthand slang for "Asian". [8]
In order to better accommodate its new target audience, the channel added a third timezone (Hawaii–Aleutian) and readjusted its Asian programming to new timeslots. [8]
The channel also increased its original productions, including the sketch comedy series Asia Street Comedy, short film showcase Popcorn Zen, the Cinema AZN newsmagazine and documentaries on topics related to the community. The foreign programming was narrowed down to just Asian content, drawn in from countries such as India, Thailand, Singapore, Japan and other countries. [7]
In late 2005, news of mass layoffs at the network prompted fears that Comcast would shut down AZN. [9] However, the network remained on the air and continued to sponsor the annual Asian Excellence Awards, which highlights Asian American achievement in film and television. The network planned to premiere a new original show in September 2006, about four Asian-Americans tackling college application, the only such show announced. [7]
Shutdown
In January 2008, Comcast announced it would be shutting down AZN and moving the Asian Excellence Awards show to E! [10] The channel went off the air on April 9, 2008, at noon. [11] [12] The network was shut down as foreign language tiers with international networks, which have their own charges and feature content on networks International Channel struggled to balance onto a 168-hour weekly schedule, became much more popular, cost-effective, and had better quality controls, and more importantly, had programming originated on their own domestic networks. [11]
