Broadband Television Network Corp. announced the company has launched its Tvext Internet TV service offering a suite of narrowcast channels with specialized news and entertainment video content – delivered via a proprietary desktop application that makes viewing easy and enjoyable.

Tvext will be the first Internet TV service to offer programs from Dubai-based Al Arabiya, the 24- hour news channel from Middle East Broadcasting Corporation (MBC), which in a few short years has earned an international reputation for providing credible and balanced coverage of the region. Tvext will carry selected Al Arabiya programming in Arabic and, soon, with English subtitles. The content agreement with Al Arabiya exemplifies Tvext’s emphasis on unique, hard-to-find video content. Tvext is launching with two Al Arabiya programs and will add more in the coming days and weeks.

Tvext currently has agreements in place with some 20 content providers to offer on-demand video programming to consumers on a subscription and pay-as-you-go basis, along with such free content as Reuters News and Trace TV, the international music video channel. Consumers can download, free of charge, the company’s proprietary, patent-pending software application – called Tvext Desktop TV – to help locate, manage and view content. The Tvext Desktop TV console, which utilizes Microsoft Windows Media Technology, provides an attractive and easy-to-use console for consumers to download and watch programming. Unlike other online video services, Tvext offers true video on demand, allowing users to download programs and save for future viewing. Users can create their own personal libraries of programs for viewing at any time – online or offline. Video cannot be copied or re-distributed as Tvext utilizes Microsoft Digital Rights Management (DRM) to protect video content owners’ property.

Content agreements in place range from EuroNews, the pan-European news channel with simultaneous broadcasts in seven languages, and Agence France-Presse (AFP), the world’s oldest news agency and one of the largest international news organizations, to Videofashion Network, the world’s largest producer and distributor of fashion, beauty and lifestyle programming and two Latin American producers of popular “telenovelas.” Tvext programming includes such topics as food, chess, golf, cricket and automobiles. New content will be added continually in the coming weeks and months.

The company was founded by entrepreneur Trevor Cornwell, who serves as president and chief executive officer. Sergio Zyman, founder of the Zyman Group and formerly chief marketing officer of The Coca-Cola Company, chairs its board of directors.

“The recent surge in online video content is just the tip of the iceberg,” said Trevor Cornwell, Tvext founder. “Consumer demand has clearly been demonstrated, as millions of people are already searching and viewing available content today. Our research indicates consumers are willing to pay for unique, customized content,” he added.

Cornwell says the free Tvext Desktop TV software application will be valuable to consumers because, as more content becomes available online, people will have a harder time sorting through it all. “Our research indicates consumers want to spend time watching, not searching,” Cornwell commented. “Tvext Desktop TV offers a simple, elegant viewing environment and a wide selection of distinctive programming.”

Tvext is launching with a lineup of compelling video programming, most of which is not available in the U.S. market through traditional network, cable or satellite television. Internationally sourced content is designed to appeal to dual-language households and expatriates living in the United States. Tvext programming is available as part of a subscription package or a la carte. Consumers have the option of making a single $10 purchase to view 10-15 hours of Tvext content, based on a point system, or they can purchase a Tvext Pass for $7.85 that provides the same amount of content and automatically replenishes the account balance as points are used up. Tvext is offering free points to new subscribers, allowing them to view 10-15 hours of content on a trial basis at no charge.

Special Preview: Moving Images That Moved Our World
As a special offer for the launch of Tvext, during the month of April consumers can view – for free – a selection of historic news clips from ITN Archive, one of the largest commercial film and video news archives in the world. After downloading the free Tvext Desktop TV application, consumers can watch such footage as the Apollo 11 moon landing, the World Trade Center attack, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech and the fall of the Berlin Wall. The clips chosen are representative of historical events that were made even more moving or influential because they were captured on film and video. “Tvext and ITN Archive are giving people the opportunity to view moving images of the past in the format of the future,” said Cornwell.