TRAVEL CHANNEL EXPLORES THE WORLD WITH FIRST INTERACTIVE TRAVEL GUIDE APP FEATURING ANTHONY BOURDAIN
"Travel Channel Layover Guide With Anthony Bourdain"
Available on iTunes Today
CHEVY CHASE, MD (March 7, 2012) - Travel Channel announced the debut of the Network's first travel guide application to be made available on iTunes (http://itunes.apple.com) beginning today. The app, entitled the "Travel Channel Layover Guide With Anthony Bourdain" combines the highly curated vision of the Network's Emmy-winning host, Anthony Bourdain, with practical tools to help users create their own Bourdain-inspired excursions. Meant to appeal to the armchair traveler, as well as the road warrior or jetsetter, the app (available for $1.99) was developed to motivate users to browse, watch, create and go. Informed by exclusive content from the Network's two hit television series, "The Layover" and "Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations," users can customize their trips from an afternoon pub crawl to a week-long immersion of food, drink and fun across ten featured cities including Amsterdam, Hong Kong, London, Los Angeles, Miami, Montreal, New York, Rome, San Francisco and Singapore. For more information and to watch a brief demo video of the app, go to http://www.travelchannel.com/mobile/bourdain-layover-app.
From the best burger in New York City, to a favorite hidden dive bar in London, to where a hungry traveler can find the classic Roman dish, Caccio e Pepe - the "Travel Channel Layover Guide With Anthony Bourdain" app reveals how to experience a city from Bourdain's eclectic culinary perspective. Rather than provide the traditional laundry list of every tourist destination and restaurant possibility, the app weeds through the cluttered digital travel space. It hand selects the ultimate Travel Channel-selected destinations with content exclusive to the app, allowing users to discover and experience ten great cities through customized content they won't find anywhere else in the digital hemisphere.
"Today's launch is the latest example of Travel Channel's expansion across multiple platforms as a travel lifestyle brand, providing a highly engaging, content-rich user experience closely integrated with on-air programming. We've been tantalizing viewers with inspiring programming for years," said Travel Channel president Laureen Ong. "Now, with the launch of this app, we're closing the gap between the linear channel and digital platforms, taking it to the next step to actually enable consumers to get traveling!"
"There really isn't anything else like this app in the marketplace right now," added Marietta Hurwitz, SVP & GM Digital, Travel Channel. "Our goal is to keep finding innovative and engaging ways for our content to reach new and existing audiences."
The "Travel Channel Layover Guide With Anthony Bourdain" features unique functionalities including:
· An integrated timeline that allows users to plan and adjust their own personalized itinerary using Bourdain's recommended Points of Interest (POIs).
· A layover builder (or itinerary builder) that automatically estimates travel time to help you plan your own layover. Users can browse and filter POIs, save favorites to "My Layover," and adjust the order of destinations. The app uses Google maps to estimate travel time between POIs on your itinerary.
· Customized video intros and notes about each city from Bourdain himself as well as inspiring images of each destination, and a personal list of travel "Do's and "Don'ts" anchored by Bourdain's always-unique perspective and voice.
· Exclusive inspiration lists created by Bourdain that provide an unexpected backdrop to visiting each city, including his favorite movies, music and books. His recommendations vary from watching the Steve McQueen classic, "Bullitt," before heading to San Francisco to studying the "Au Pied de Cochon" cookbook by Martin Picard while planning a trip to Montreal.
· Integrated social features including checking-in to locations, earning badges and sharing to Facebook, Twitter and Foursquare.
Travelchannel.com is the digital extension to the Network's travel lifestyle brand, which provides a highly engaging, content rich user experience closely integrated with on-air programming. It reaches audiences across multiple platforms and devices, enabling users to download Travel Channel games and apps, as well as curate their own excursions, modeled after the Network's popular programming through key partnerships with Oyster.com and Tripology.com.
TRAVEL CHANNEL (http://www.travelchannel.com) is a multiplatform travel lifestyle brand with the core mission of providing inspiring and compelling programming that takes viewers beyond their everyday destinations, making the unfamiliar familiar, whether it's around the world or around the block. A dual feed network that is also available in HD, Travel Channel is the world's leading travel media brand, and is available in over 94 million U.S. cable homes. Owned and operated by Scripps Networks Interactive (NYSE: SNI), Travel Channel has offices in Chevy Chase, MD, and New York, NY. Scripps Networks Interactive (NYSE: SNI) also owns and operates HGTV, DIY Network, Food Network, Cooking Channel and Great American Country.
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