New York, NY – Wednesday, July 30 – Mag Rack, Rainbow Media Holdings' first video-on-demand (VOD) service, announced today a partnership with Yoga Journal, the largest circulation yoga magazine in the country. The deal represents a valuable contribution of content and editorial expertise to Mag Rack's popular "Yoga Retreat" video magazine, plus unique cross-promotional opportunities for both entities.
As part of the non-exclusive agreement, Mag Rack will produce an exclusive on-demand series of up to 12 original studio segments based on Yoga Journal's "Asana" (yoga pose) columns, to launch on Mag Rack this September. The partnership will also include the addition of Yoga Journal's latest series of videos and special coverage of Yoga Journal conferences to Mag Rack's service. Mag Rack will provide on-air promotion of Yoga Journal's products and events through video tags that appear at the end of each affiliated program.
"Our partnership with Yoga Journal brings us the opportunity to significantly deepen our offering with exclusive content and provide the best possible experience for VOD subscribers," said Matthew Strauss, executive vice president and general manager of Mag Rack. "'Yoga Retreat' is a highly successful video magazine on Mag Rack with content that is perfect for the on-demand platform. We are pleased to be working with the top authority in the field and one of the first magazines to serve the yoga community."
Mag Rack will offer cable operators and other service providers carrying Mag Rack the opportunity to market discounted, trial subscriptions of Yoga Journal through cross-promotion, including billing statements, welcome kits and additional marketing pieces.
"Working with Mag Rack furthers our mission to serve the ever-growing community of yoga practitioners and teachers with the most current information available," added John Abbott, CEO of Yoga Journal. "Yoga Retreat' is the perfect venue for us to expand our reach into new platforms of communication."
Hosted by Chantal Westerman, Mag Rack's "Yoga Retreat" has consistently rated in the top three most popular video magazines on the service since its launch in May 2002. Additional correspondents include yoga guru Duncan Wong and Yoga Journal writer Claudia Cummins. Designed for yoga practitioners of all levels, "Yoga Retreat" has launched several new editorial features, including Yoga Matters, Profiles in Kharma, Pose of the Month (also featured on magrack.com), Dharma Dates, and Featured Yoga Practice Tips. "Yoga Retreat" also provides a monthly yoga enthusiast e-newsletter via magrack.com.
New all-original fall segments include long-form interviews with classic actress and yoga video host Ali McGraw and model/actress Carrie Otis; special reports from the Yoga Journal Conference in Lake Geneva, and the Summer Solstice Retreat in New Mexico; coverage of yoga trends, from yoga for babies and kids to yoga as treatment for colds and insomnia; profiles of celebrated yoga masters Vinnie Marino and Hala Khouri; and a monthly calendar highlighting important upcoming dates, notably Yoga Day USA this October.
About Mag Rack
Mag Rack is the first service designed exclusively for on-demand television, launched by Rainbow Media Holdings, Inc in 2001. Mag Rack engages enthusiasts with a wide selection of "video magazines" about subjects that are personally relevant such as "Yoga Retreat," "Motorcycle Freedom" and "Inside Weddings." The service offers customer's special interest programming not widely found on other channels with advanced DVD-like ability to fast-forward, rewind or pause the program. Mag Rack's value to cable operators reaches beyond excellent programming to also serve as an expert resource for marketing, branding and affiliate sales. For more information, visit www.magrack.com.
About Yoga Journal
Yoga Journal (www.yogajournal.com), is the largest-circulation yoga magazine in the country. Founded in 1975, the magazine has tripled its paid circulation in the past few years to 300,000 and more than 950,000 readers bimonthly. Yoga Journal holds several conferences a year and also produces many best-selling yoga videos, DVDs, and books, including Yoga, the first-ever large-format photography book on yoga, recently published by Hugh Lauter Levin Associates. The magazine is published by Yoga Journal, LLC, based in Berkeley, California.