Former TWE boss joins new digital TV channel dedicated to wine

By Arabella Mileham

Published: 24 April, 2015

David Dearie, the former CEO of Treasury Wine Estate, has joined the board of a new digital TV channel dedicated to wine.

WineVine.TV launched its new digital channel in Sydney this week, which it claims will offer the global wine community a place to "view, discover and enjoy a full-bodied blend of knowledge, information and entertainment, delivered by a collection of expert hosts".

It has partnered with specialist video content company Brand New Media to push the new channel, which will be accessible online 24 hours a day. It is operating out of offices in Australia, South East Asia, US and Europe.

The channel aims to appeal to wine consumers from newbies to connoisseurs and will host series of videos looking at regions and wineries, tutored tasting and delivering opinion and commentary on varietals, vintages, growing vines and winemaking, as well as retail and consumption.

WineVine.tv founder and chief executive Frank Brown, who was the former CEO of MTV networks in Asia Pacific, said the group had created a global digital platform to produce high quality wine video content. "There are already hundreds of videos available on the "WineVine.tv" digital channel today, but this is only the beginning, with much more already in the production pipeline."

BNM founder Perry Smith said WineVine.tv would deliver a "comprehensive digital wine experience to Australia and the world, across devices in real-time, whether it be a mobile, tablet, laptop, desktop or smart TV."

Dearie left Treasury Wine Estates in September 2013 following Treasury's write-down of wine stock across the business, the bulk of which was in the US.

At a redcent seminar about wine businesses' use of video, which was supported by Harpers, a leading wine business academic warned that wine businesses needed to rethink their approach to engage with consumers better, claiming that peopled wanted to be entertained rather than educated.

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