HBO, FLOW, REPEAT PARTNERSHIP TO BOOST JAMAICA JAZZ & BLUES

The 2012 JAMAICA Jazz and Blues Festival will open on Thursday January 26 with first night dedicated to highlighting the best of Jamaican music and talent over the years. Headliner for the festival will be multi platinum, five time Grammy award winning songstress, Celine Dion.

Jamaica and the JAMAICA Jazz and Blues Festival will once again receive another boost as Flow leverages its broadband technology and partnership with international content provider HBO to help create multiple avenues for exposure.  With the partnership with HBO, viewers across the Caribbean and Latin America will be treated to another special feature showcasing Jamaica and the 2012 JAMAICA Jazz and Blues Festival, a repeat of the highly successful initiative that was such a key element of the previous year’s festival. Flow’s technology will also facilitate live streaming to various countries across the globe, On Demand programmes on its Flow On Demand platform, and a local feature on Flow TV.

Michele English, President and Chief Operating Officer for Flow, speaking at the launch for the 2012 JAMAICA Jazz and Blues Festival, announced the repeat of the partnership with HBO and highlighted the significance of the Festival as being the first major event of the year in which Jamaica celebrates the 50th anniversary of independence. “This was an extremely important motivator for us at Flow as we welcome the opportunity to support and celebrate such a significant milestone in Jamaica’s history.” English also announced that in addition to the HBO Special, Flow TV would produce a feature to showcase the festival and also work with the Festival team to develop programmes for Flow’s On Demand platform, enabling viewers to see what they want to see, when they want to see it. “We are delighted that the festival is placing such a strong focus on highlighting the best of Jamaican music and talent over the years. As part of our commitment to support local culture, we continue to seek out avenues to help develop and showcase the rich talent, both on and off the stage, in Jamaica.”

“HBO is delighted to be back on board to support the JAMAICA Jazz and Blues Festival at this very significant time in the island’s history during the 50th anniversary celebrations.  We continue to show our commitment by investing and partnering with Flow and the Ministry of Tourism to produce an HBO special that will be featured throughout the Caribbean and the rest of Latin America.” said Miguel Angel Oliva, Vice president of Public Relations and Corporate Affairs for HBO Latin America.  “Our viewers will enjoy this relevant program showcasing the rich culture and beauty of Jamaica.”

The Honourable Edmund Bartlett, Minister of Tourism reiterated the importance of the Flow/HBO partnership to Jamaica’s tourism. “HBO’s presentation on the last Jazz Festival was an absolute success. HBO brought real images and the power of the product to the world which greatly benefitted Jamaica,” he said. “I believe that it is HBO that has assisted us in getting the major acts that are headlining the Festival this year. When major acts see that large networks are interested, it invites them to participate.” Minister Barlett confirmed that the HBO/Flow initiative would have a positive impact on efforts to increase tourism arrivals from new markets in the region when he said “Latin and South America are the next frontier for visitors to Jamaica and we are greatly excited that the HBO feature will help us in conveying some of Jamaica’s key values which will assist us in our strategic efforts.”

The festival this year will also focus on technology for greater avenues for exposure.  English revealed that Flow will leverage its state of the art broadband network to provide 100 MBps high speed internet service for the event, enabling live streams and updates from the event. “With this kind of power, the team will be able to stream live all the action to anywhere in the world at the best quality. Local and international media, business partners and patrons will be able to file reports, blog, tweet and post commentary and photos of everything that is happening as part of their Jazz and Blues Festival experience sharing instantly in real time with those who are not able to be there to enjoy it in person,” she said.

The 2012 JAMAICA Jazz and Blues Festival will open on Thursday January 26 with first night dedicated to highlighting the best of Jamaican music and talent over the years. Headliner for the festival will be multi platinum, five time Grammy award winning songstress, Celine Dion.