 "A security guard speaks into a microphone in his sleeve as he stands outside the Viacom Inc. headquarters in New York. Photo: Reuters")
Viacom18, which runs slate of general entertainment channels across languages under the brand Colors, announced merger of Prism TV Private Limited, thereby integrating 5 regional channels — Colors Kannada, Colors Marathi, Colors Bangla, Colors Odiya and Colors Gujarati within its fold.
Viacom18 is an entertainment joint venture between TV18 Broadcast and American entertainment company Viacom. Apart from Hindi GEC Colors and the above mentioned regional channels, it also operates youth channels MTV and MTV Indies, English entertainment channels VH1, Comedy Central and Colors Infinity and Hindi entertainment and movie channels Rishtey and Rishtey Cineplex.
Sudhanshu Vats, Group CEO, Viacom18, said, "The regional entertainment broadcast pie commands 30% viewership in the Indian broadcast space and as consumer preferences are moving towards segmented regional content, this share is only going to grow. This merger allows us to create a single brand that can leverage the individual strengths of the regional channels and harness synergies in terms of content strategy and business processes, helping us amplify long term value for Viacom18. I am particularly pleased that this process has been completed at an opportune time when we are gearing up to celebrate our 10th anniversary, in 2017, with a bigger and unified Team Viacom18."
With this merger, not only the regional brands but also the Prism TV workforce will become part of Viacom18 and be assimilated seamlessly into its cultural ethos.
Viacom18 had recently launched Colors Super, its second Kannada GEC, further strengthening its share in the Kannada market which it already dominates with Colors Kannada. With this merger, the network seems poised to significantly dial up its regional play at a time when the regional GEC genre is fast emerging as the next 'big thing' in the Indian broadcast sector.
