Advanced Television

ABS Broadcast drives launch of Cruise1st shopping channel on Sky

February 24, 2017

Cruise1st has successfully launched the world’s first 24/7 cruise holiday shopping channel. The specialist teleshopping channel had been broadcasting in a 6-hour programme slot on Sky; however the channel producers have now purchased their own permanent EPG on channel 680 to operate in a full 24-hour day schedule.

The channel, produced by On-Air Media, is presented by luxury tourism experts Derek Marks, Emma Redman and Neil Newton. The team broadcast the latest holiday cruise deals and industry news, featuring comprehensive and informative city and port destination guides.

ABS Broadcast was instrumental in project managing the launch of the channel and now is providing state-of-the-art playout and on-air graphics from their playout centre in London. ABS’s fully integrated Cloud-Based ABSolute Channel Management system is used directly by the channel to help schedule the latest deal to screen. This enables Cruise1st to update deals in real time and maximise yield through the platform.

Cruise1st’s International Project Manager, David Rowlinson, commented that “After 2 years of successful broadcasting on 3rd party channels, we decided to take the next logical step, making a major investment in purchasing our own Sky EPG.  Now broadcasting 24/7, we will be able to bring viewers an unrivalled selection of cruise holiday deals accompanied by our unbeatable price promise.  Our programming has been designed to engage both experienced cruise fans and interested first-timers alike.”

Managing Director of ABS Broadcast, Sass Jahani, has embraced the channel launch: “We had an extremely tight deadline to achieve, and we did it. We brought some innovative ideas to Teleshopping along the way and are extremely excited to be part of this project. It is great to see a fantastic new idea deployed in the long established Teleshopping genre”.

Established in 2000, Cruise1st is an independent travel agent specialising in cruise holiday deals with all the world’s leading cruise lines including Royal Caribbean, Celebrity Cruises, P&O Cruises, MSC Cruises and Norwegian Cruise Line. Based out of Manchester, the company has expanded to open operations in Australia and Singapore following the latest trends in the cruise industry.

ABS Broadcast is based in London and has been in the television broadcast service industry for over 25 years. As well as offering channel playout and EPG services, they have grown their product portfolio to include media asset management, edit assistance, studio space and their very own broadcast scheduling software, the ABSolute Channel Management system.

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