CBS and Viacom’s merger might have created a $30bn US-based content company but a foray into their assets reveals a swathe of interests that stretch far beyond American shores, with implications for companies in the UK, Argentina, Australia, India and beyond. In one light, the deal is simply the latest salvo in the long line […]
India’s TV18 Broadcast has become the controlling shareholder in the channels business it operates with Viacom. Network18 Media-owned TV18 has added 1% of Viacom’s shares in Viacom18 to become the 51% majority owner for US$20 million, meaning it takes operational and strategic control. A further element to the agreement means Viacom will continue to supply […]
Viacom18 has upped a key exec and shuffled various others in an organisational rejig. The TV18 and Viacom joint venture runs a host of channels in India including the popular Colors service. The changes see Raj Nayak (left) upped to COO, putting him across the group’s Hindi, Youth, Music and English Entertainment offerings. Ferzad Palia, […]
Canadian animation studio Squeeze has shopped its shortform animated series Cracké to Viacom18 in India, which will put it out on the local Nickelodeon channel and the Voot streaming service. The family-skewed series goes out on the Teletoon channel in Canada and follows Ed, an anxious ostrich dad trying to protect a batch of eggs. […]
Indian pay TV net Colors Infinity is creating a new Saturday night slot for doc and biopics. The English-language channel, which is part of the Colors stable jointly operated by Viacom and TV18, is introducing a new strand called Live the Story. It will showcase biography one-offs and doc series. The new slot opens this […]
Emerald Media, a pan-Asian media investment vehicle backed by private-equity outfit KKR and Peter Chernin, is taking a minority stake in South Asian content-focused OTT TV service YuppTV for US$50 million. YuppTV, based in Atlanta in the US, provides live TV, catch-up TV and movies on-demand in 14 languages across the globe with a mix […]
Viacom and TV18 are launching a new local entertainment channel in India. The new net Colors Super will build upon the successful Colors entertainment channel brand that Viacom runs through its joint venture with local media firm TV18, Viacom18. The channel will be programmed with fantasy shows, reality programming and feature films. It will go […]
Viacom18 has launched a new ad-supported VOD service, VOOT. The platform will be made free on iOS and Android devices and the web, and will house series such as Dora the Explorer, SpongeBob SquarePants and Chhota Bheem from Nickelodeon. It will offer the entire content libraries of Viacom18 channels such as Nick, MTV and Colors, […]
Viacom has paid 9.4 billion rupees (US$153 million) for a 50% stake in Indian regional entertainment channels operator Prism TV. Prism owns a bouquet of networks comprising ETV Marathi, ETV Kannada, ETV Bangla, ETV Oriya and ETV Gujarati. These were recently rebranded under the COLORS umbrella, the Hindi entertainment brand that Viacom jointly owns with […]
Indian family telenovelas are primed to replace the Turkish dramas as the in-vogue imported scripted product in Central and Eastern Europe, according to sources at India’s key broadcasters. A delegation of Indian distributors from the likes of Viacom18, Zee Entertainment and Star India attended the NATPE Budapest market last week in a bid to drum […]
