Turner focuses on Asian partnerships following cuts

Turner has inked a new carriage deal for its kids channel Boomerang, taking it into 11 million homes in Thailand.

The broadcaster has formed a new joint venture to run the channel and said it will be forming a range of new partnerships in the region.

The new JV and channel launch news comes against a background of a wide-ranging restructure of Turner’s Asia Pacific business, which will see its headcount slashed by a third. The Asian rejig followed a similar process that has taken place in Europe.

The Thai-language version of the classic toons channel Boomerang will roll out in the country on the MGroup free-to-air satellite platform on August 14.

Turner has set up a new joint venture to run the service, M Turner. It has partnered with Major Kantana Broadcasting, which is itself a JV between producer and distributor M Pictures and Thai movie studio Kantana Group.

Steve Marcopoto, Turner International Asia Pacific president and MD, said: “We are delighted we will be launching Turner’s first free cable and satellite play in Thailand with our partners from Major Kantana Broadcasting.”

The Turner boss added that this will be the first of several Asian initiatives: “The entry into this joint venture demonstrates our commitment to increasing our presence in local markets and is the first of a number of new local partnerships that we will be announcing in the region,” he said.