By IANS
New Delhi : TV18, one of India's leading media firms, Tuesday announced its strategic tie-up with US-based Viacom Inc. to launch entertainment channels.
The new entity, Viacom-18, would launch a Hindi entertainment channel and a satellite channel by next year and it will also build its presence in television, films and digital media content in an effort to become India's leading entertainment company.
According to an agreement signed by the two companies, Viacom, which also owns MTV Networks (MTVN), would contribute content of its local networks and other successful channels MTV, VH1 and Nickelodeon India to the new joint venture.
"Having established leadership in news broadcasting and consumer Internet business, the TV18 Group was poised to make an ambitious entry into multi-platform entertainment space," said Raghav Behl, managing director, TV18 Group.
The TV18 Group would also contribute to the new entity the contents of its motion pictures division, which produces, acquires and distributes Hindi films.
"India is one of Viacom's priority markets for expansion internationally," said Philippe Dauman, president and chief executive of Viacom Inc.
"This partnership will transform and significantly enlarge our business to offer audiences greater content diversity across platforms, and opportunities for advertisers to reach full spectrum of demographics," Dauman added.