MUSL TV FORMED TO PROVIDE FIRST LINEAR ENTERTAINMENT NETWORK FULLY DEVOTED TO FITNESS, TRAINING AND COMPETITIVE PERFORMANCE; 24/7 HD NETWORK TO TAP $100+ BILLION HEALTH AND FITNESS MARKETPLACE
Management Team Led by Veteran Cable, Programming and Fitness Industry Executives Including Arback, Weller & Grossman and Mohsen
LOS ANGELES, CA, JANUARY 3, 2011 — A proven team of cable, programming and fitness industry veterans have joined forces to form MUSL TV (The “Muscle, Ultra-Sports and Lifestyle” Network), America’s first 24/7 HD (high definition) linear entertainment network fully devoted to all levels of fitness, training and competitive performance. MUSL TV (www.musltv.com) will serve the increasing number of Americans of all ages who contribute to the $100+ billion per year U.S. health and fitness marketplace.
As a fitness entertainment network, MUSL TV will launch with a wide variety of originally-produced shows and licensed content, combining proven programming formats with personal improvement and transformation. From high performance athletic challenges and prime-time reality entertainment competitions to adventure sports, athletic and strength competitions, fitness modeling, sport-specific training, daily talk and power cooking shows, MUSL TV is a destination lifestyle network fully devoted to “physical culture” and will be programmed for audiences of all ages and in all life stages.
With nearly 46 million Baby Boomers looking to take better care of their bodies; 70 million Americans between the ages of 18-34, many of whom are passionately involved in training, fitness and athletic competitions; 45 million active health club memberships, 20% of whom are 55+; and nearly 16 million men and women subscribing to fitness, muscle and training publications, MUSL TV is positioning itself as the television beacon for these diverse audiences.
Jim Lorimer, co-producer of The ArnoldExpo and Sports Festival, the largest multi-sport festival in the U.S., remarked, “What I admire most about MUSL TV is how the network and its great leadership team plan to showcase personalities and storylines across the diverse range of physical culture, sports, training and competitive performance. This is a vast and under-served landscape and its exploration will involve the widest possible range of athletic and sports expression.”
Mr. Lorimer, a former Chairman of the U.S. Olympic Committee for Women’s Athletics who also served on the President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports, added, “With more and more people choosing an active and healthy lifestyle, we are most excited about the coming launch of this new network and strongly support its mission.”
The current team behind MUSL TV includes a mix of television and fitness industry veterans:
Jacob Arback, President and CEO, was a co-founder and, for seven years, the president of The Africa Channel, which is currently distributed in the U.S., UK and throughout the Caribbean. He has over 25 years of U.S. and international business and media experience, with a focus on cable programming, pay television platforms and global satellite distribution.
As president of The Africa Channel, Mr. Arback was involved in virtually all business functions of the network. The Africa Channel is the first 24/7 mainstream television network to portray Africa with beauty and dimension to mainstream Western audiences. At The Africa Channel, Mr. Arback led the negotiations that resulted in distribution agreements with Comcast, Time Warner, Cox and Charter and helped expand the network internationally. Arback remains an active member of The Africa Channel Board of Directors.
Previously, Mr. Arback was a Vice President at DIRECTV-International, responsible for DIRECTV’s global expansion in the early days of the company and President of Business Research International (BRI), which advised Fortune 500 companies in the international pay television, broadcasting and satellite businesses.
Mohamed Mohsen, Chairman, brings 30 years of combined experience in the sport of bodybuilding, the fitness product industry and film production. Mr. Mohsen has competed and won top honors in major Bodybuilding championships, including winning first place and overall in the ABA USA Championship. Mohsen later represented the U.S. in four Mr. World contests hosted in Japan, Malta, Germany and Brazil. Mr. Mohsen is known for his outstanding symmetry and aesthetics, which set him apart from the rest of the competition.
Mr. Mohsen and his production company have produced two films with a third slated for production in the spring of 2011. An entrepreneur, in 1995, Mr. Mohsen introduced Dream Tan, an innovative and award-winning fitness tanning product that is now distributed in over 100 countries.
Robb Weller, EVP, Programming & Production
Gary Grossman, EVP, Programming DevelopmentMr. Weller and Mr. Grossman are longtime partners in Weller/Grossman Productions, a prolific television production company. Together, they have produced more than 9,000 programs for 34 different cable and broadcast networks. They have earned numerous awards and produced programming that successfully helped launch such cable networks as the National Geographic Channel, HGTV and The Africa Channel. Their USA Network special, Healing the Hate, captured the prestigious Governor’s Emmy Award, and they received an Emmy for Best Informational series with the production of Wolfgang Puck for Food Network. The company’s 2005 History Channel special, Beyond the Da Vinci Code earned two national Emmy nominations.
Mr. Weller recently served as anchor of FOX Sunday Morning News on KTTV FOX 11 in Los Angeles and for 11 years was co-host of HGTV’s Tournament of Roses Parade. He’s also the former co-anchor of Entertainment Tonight, the host of ABC’s popular daily series, The Home Show, NBC’s Trial Watch and The Best of the Best for CBS.
Mr. Grossman is an Emmy Award-winning network television producer, a print and television journalist and critic, a novelist, and a film and television historian. His career has included stints producing for Entertainment Tonight, NBC News, CNN, ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, PBS and 34 cable networks.
Said Mr. Arback, “MUSL TV is for all levels of athletes and recreational enthusiasts who aspire to reach their full potential; elite athletes striving for peak performance, weekend warriors learning new techniques to better their game or novices running their first 5K.” He added, “We are all about transformation, big personalities, compelling story lines and competitive events. For our distribution partners, we are excited about aggregating and delivering a new universe of viewers across highly sought-after demographics, both male and female, who are passionate about their active and athletic lifestyles.”
Mr. Weller notes, “The categories and genres that are at the core of MUSL TV make for dramatic and compelling television programming opportunities. There are thousands of events across the U.S. each year that receive little coverage, from amateur athletic events to strength competitions to fitness modeling to action sports. The unfiltered reality of these competitions and the stories of their participants make for great television.”
Mr. Weller added, “Viewers enjoy watching programming that they can easily identify with and today, with so many men and women of all ages looking to better their bodies, get in shape, have more endurance and lead a healthier lifestyle, there is a pent-up demand for the types of shows we will be producing and airing.”
The advertiser-supported network will develop partnerships with charter sponsors across the diverse fitness, nutritional supplement and equipment suppliers already serving this audience. Mr. Arback noted that “along with providing an attractive platform for large advertisers in the health and fitness sector, MUSL TV also offers affordable access for smaller products and services that have never before been able to advertise on television.”
Said Mr. Mohsen, “MUSL TV will also aggressively pursue international distribution and partnership opportunities. In our discussions with distributors in other global regions, it is clear that there is enormous potential for our programming formats and event coverage. Additionally, we have the ability to localize content on a regional and national basis.”
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About MUSL TV:
MUSL TV is an advertiser-supported, 24/7 linear HD television network and broadband portal (www.musltv.com) that is fully-owned and managed by MUSL TV LLC and its private backers. MUSL TV is America’s first complete linear entertainment network devoted to fitness, training and competitive performance. The network and the company, headquartered in Los Angeles, was founded by Mohamed Mohsen, Jacob Arback and a veteran team of senior executives with a history of successful ventures in the cable, satellite, and fitness industry.
Press Contacts
Don Ciaramella / Deborah Engel
The Lippin Group / NY
(212) 986-7080
[email protected]
[email protected]
Cassy Salyer
The Lippin Group / LA
(323) 965-1990
[email protected]
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