Applause Networks

Applause Networks, LLC is an American entertainment company that owns U.S. pay television channels, a media distribution company, and animated television and movie production. It was formed in 2013 to acquire 's cable television networks and international television operations as part of the company's acquisition by.

The company is headquartered in. The company has additional office locations in ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; and.

History
In 1993, and  formed a joint venture, Applause Movie Network Partners, Inc., to develop a pay television channel. The first network launched by the venture was Applause, which launched at 9:00 p.m. Eastern Time on September 1, 1995 on several Cablevision systems on the U.S. east coast and systems in the Southwest and Midwest. The venture's second network, Now, launched on January 1, 1997; and a year later in 1998 Applause launched a pan-European feed. In 2000, Applause Latin America was launched. On October 11, 2001, Belo acquired Cablevision's stake in Applause, and Applause Movie Network Partners was renamed Belo Cable Networks. A third network, TheaterOne, launched on September 23, 2003.

On June 13, 2013, announced plans to buy Belo for $1.5 billion and the assumption of debt. On June 18, Belo announced it would divest Belo Cable Networks and BeloWorld Media to Applause Networks, a -based investment group led by private equity investor George Rundle and former Applause president James Tonoyan with additional funding from the. The sale was completed on August 5, 2013.

Premium cable channels

 * Applause
 * Now
 * TheaterOne

Basic cable channels

 * Pivot
 * You TV
 * DocumentaryTV
 * Max
 * Shout! Channel (joint venture with )

Applause Networks International
Applause Networks International was founded in 1998 as BeloWorld Media. Since its formation, Applause Networks International has allowed Applause to distribute its programming worldwide.

In addition to both premium and traditional pay TV channels, BeloWorld Media also owned two dubbing studios in, and , , which were used for in-house dubbing services, though BeloWorld also offered their studios' services to other clients such as. As part of the sale of Belo's cable and international assets, the two studios were sold to, they now operate as VSI Prague and VSI Rijeka respectively.