New channel added to the DIRECTV channel lineup – Retirement Living

SOURCE: Los Angeles Newspaper – LosAngeles.bizjournals.com (Tuesday October 24, 2006)

‘Two months after making its debut, Retirement Living TV is going national.

The new cable operation, a vision of John Erickson, the chairman and CEO of Maryland-based Erickson Retirement Communities, signed a deal to be on DIRECTV, one of the nation's leading satellite television services.

Starting Nov. 6, Retirement Living TV will air in the District and around the country on DirecTV from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday.

Since September, Retirement Living TV has provided four hours daily of new programming on CN8 The Comcast Channel, which serves more than 9 million homes in 12 states, stretching from Maine to Virginia.

The new deal with DirecTV (NYSE: DTV), based in El Segundo, will add about 15 million households nationwide to Retirement Living TV's reach and double the daily programming.

The new cable operation produces programming for an audience that has traditionally been overlooked and underserved by mainstream TV -- people over 55. Retirement Living TV's current shows focus on health, finance, politics and society. New shows will explore cooking, travel and fitness.

Since its debut, "the response has been overwhelmingly positive," says Patrick Baldwin, director of strategy for Retirement Living TV. "Our Nielsen ratings are far exceeding expectations, and we've been flooded with requests to expand our distribution into other regions. That's part of the reason we chose DirecTV -- they immediately open access to Retirement Living TV programming to anyone in the country."

Currently there are 67 million Americans over 55, and that number will reach 116 million by 2035. Despite this large population segment, folks 55 and up are routinely ignored by traditional TV networks that typically cater to younger viewers, says Mel Tansill, senior director of public affairs for Catonsville, Md.-based Erickson Retirement Communities, which develops and manages retirement communities nationwide.

DirecTV, for example, has more than 250 channels of digital programming, Tansill says, and up until now none of the channels catered to older viewers.

"Retirement Living TV is aggressively changing the face of television in the United States and filling a void in the process," Tansill says.’