James Murdoch-backed Bodhi Tree Systems has linked up with Reliance and Paramount-owned Viacom18 in India to create a $2bn company targeting the company’s fast-growing streaming ecosystem. Bodhi Tree Systems, a newly-formed venture set up and led by Murdoch’s Lupa Systems and former Disney India executive Uday Shankar, is investing of INR13,500 crore ($1.8bn) in Viacom18. Reliance […]
India’s Viacom18 has ordered a local version of ITV Studios’ interactive gameshow format The Big Picture. The debut season will be produced by Banijay Asia and will broadcast on Viacom18’s network Colors TV, with Bollywood star Ranveer Singh hosting. India becomes the fifth country to pick up the format, following deals in the Netherlands, Turkey, […]
Indian AVOD streamer Voot has linked up with German-based international broadcaster Deutsche Welle on a new six-part series that explores the lives of women living in Indonesia, Malaysia, India, Pakistan and Taiwan. Her is from the Indian company’s Voot Studio division and comprises 15-minute long episodes that seek to highlight the stories of women from […]
CJ ENM Hong Kong preps four scripted shows CJ ENM Hong Kong has announced four new Mandarin-language scripted series aimed at the global streaming market. Produced by Zhao Wei Films, Hungry Souls is a five-episode mini-series following the unlikely, forbidden love story between a young chef and a hungry ghost. Venus On Mars, from Mocha […]
A little more than a year after the launch of Indian SVOD service Voot Select, Viacom18 Digital Ventures COO Gourav Rakshit tells TBI’s Mark Layton why the streamer is ready to move into unscripted originals and what it takes to survive in an AVOD-dominated market with little brand loyalty. Launched in March last year at the onset […]
Co-productions are helping to drive quality and increase cultural diversity on children’s shows, say leading kids’ TV industry figures. Speaking on yesterday’s TBI Talks (click here to watch on demand), Shabnam Rezaei, co-founder and president of Canadian-US animation studio Big Bad Boo, producer of Hulu’s The Bravest Knight, highlighted how she has seen the number […]
VIA orders Armoza’s ‘lean production’ dating format South African lifestyle channel VIA has ordered a local version of Date In Reverse from ITV Studios-owned Armoza Formats. The format, which was created by Volley Formats, Shenhar Productions and Daniella Slavik, follows two singles who get to know each other by experiencing a relationship’s most meaningful milestones […]
Sudhanshu Vats, group CEO and MD at Viacom18, is stepping down after eight years at the company. Rahul Joshi, MD of the Network18 Group, will now oversee operations for the joint venture, which was formed by ViacomCBS and TV18 in 2007. During his time at the company, Vats helped to expand the network into new […]
Japanese SVOD operator U-Next has struck its first multi-year deal with BBC Studios (BBCS), unveiled as the UK broadcaster’s commercial arm welcomes hundreds of international buyers to its annual sales extravaganza in the UK city of Liverpool. The deal, revealed during BBCS’s Showcase 2020, provides U-Next with more than 3,000 episodes of localised titles ranging […]
Viacom18 is launching its first SVOD play in India with a kids app. The platform, Voot Kids, is an extension of the existing AVOD brand Voot, headed up by Viacom18 group CEO Sudanshu Vats, who first detailed the kids SVOD plans to TBI last year. TBI understands that the launch of an SVOD tier for […]
