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 All news should be considered an unconfirmed report unless verified, and all information published at KISS Asylum is attributed to the source from which it was received so that readers may judge the validity of the statements for themselves. All information is confirmed where possible, and all publication is governed by common sense.
From: Red Herring GENE SIMMONS has kissed off his IPO. No Good TV, a bawdy Internet and pay television programmer that the KISS lead singer chairs, has withdrawn its planned $43.1 million initial public offering. The company, based in Beverly Hills, California, had planned to raise the money to fund the launch of music- and celebrity-driven programs whose profanity and nudity would bump against Federal Communications Commission decency regulations if aired on broadcast or cable TV, according to a government filing. The company's web site, ngtv.com, had a slick animated film promoting the channel's launch Feb. 24. Calls to the company co-president, Kourosh Taj, and one of the IPO's underwriters, S.W. Bach & Co., were not immediately returned and it was unclear how Thursday's IPO withdrawal would affect the programming rollout. The company had planned to float its shares on the American Stock Exchange. NGTV has accumulated more than 10,000 hours of video footage of "racy interviews and situations with artists and celebrities" plus more than 5,000 uncensored music videos, the company said in the filing. The company plans to distribute its programming on the Internet through Google and via cable through In Demand, a pay TV joint venture owned by Time Warner, Comcast and other cable companies. Mr. Simmons, the long-tongued co-founder of the flamboyant rock band KISS, is an investor in NGTV and was named chairman in February 2004. He also is a one-man marketing and promotional blizzard with his own record label, Simmons Records, a book imprint, Simmons Books, and a magazine, Tongue. There also is a KISS comic book line, a KISS-branded Canon camera sold in Japan and reality show, "GENE SIMMONS Family Jewels" on A&E. That's not to mention his acting roles ("Runaway," "Wanted Dead or Alive," "Third Watch"), the GENE SIMMONS US Postage Stamp and the KISS Visa card. Likewise, NGTV planned to sell DVDs and branded merchandise related to the programs. Though NGTV said it is not obligated to censor its programs to the extent of broadcast channels, the company acknowledged that it still could come under FCC scrutiny should viewers complain that the programs are obscene. The company said it would aim its programs at "mature audiences," but skirt "x-rated" material. |
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