The nationwide channel is set to debut in February. Comcast has 21.5 million cable subscribers.
The new channel would be the second U.S. broadcast effort for Private after the company launched the Private Fantasy Channel, a pay-per-view satellite and cable television channel unveiled in February.
In related news, Private Media is in talks with U.S. broadcasters to air its “Private Stars” reality porn show.
The weekly “Private Stars” series has taken Europe by storm, ranking it No. 2 in the men's 24-35 age group in the United Kingdom on the Bravo channel. It has been so successful that the first 10 episodes have been replayed 76 times in Europe.
The softcore show gives five "real world" males a sexcapade with one of Private’s female stars. Winners get to sign a contract with Private.
Berth Milton, the CEO of Barcelona-based Private, says he is attempting to increase the company’s market share in the United States, where it derives only 16 percent of its $48 million in annual revenue.
The push to become a major adult player in the United States has the financial support from entities linked to at least one big U.S. company, Fidelity, the Boston mutual-fund titan. Fidelity Investments International, Private's largest institutional investor, holds 2.92 million shares. Of that total, Fidelity Investments owns 31,918, and Fidelity Management & Research owns 243,000.
Private’s U.S. operations are based in Las Vegas.
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