Turner International appoints IndiaCast Media as its distribution agent
IndiaCast will be responsible for the distribution of Turner channels to consumers in India, Nepal and Bhutan
A day after ZEE Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (ZEEL) and Turner International ended a 16-year old distribution deal, the latter announced the appointment of IndiaCast Media Distribution Private Limited, as its exclusive distribution agent.
Turner, an American entertainment and distribution brand, is known for creating and managing the sales, distribution and marketing of news and entertainment brands like CNN International, Cartoon Network, POGO, Toonami, HBO and WB across India and South Asia. Turner Asia Pacific is the parent company of Turner International India Pvt. Ltd. (Turner India), which operates 63 channels in 13 languages in 37 countries in the region. A joint venture between TV18 Broadcast Ltd (TV18) and Viacom18 Media Pvt Ltd (Viacom18), IndiaCast is a multi-platform content asset monetization entity that will now be responsible for the distribution of Turner channels to consumers in India, Nepal and Bhutan.
“I am delighted to announce the appointment of IndiaCast as our exclusive distribution agent for India, Nepal and Bhutan,” said Siddharth Jain, managing director, Turner South Asia. “I am very confident they will enable us to further enhance our footprint and bring the choicest content to our fans in the Indian subcontinent. We look forward to a long-term strategic relationship with IndiaCast.”
Industry experts had attributed the end of the strategic deal between ZEEL and Turner to the changing regulations of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai). While earlier you could bundle channels together and command bouquet-level pricing, current rules require for each channel to be priced individually. Experts had also pointed to the other media and distribution partnerships that have dissolved over time—in 2014, Star India and ZEE called off the 50-50 distribution joint venture they had inked in 2010.
“At IndiaCast, it is our constant endeavour to curate the best possible exposure for our content creator partners. Turner has a fantastic bouquet of channels catering to a bespoke audience. As we ramp up the distribution network for its channels, across India, Nepal and Bhutan, I look forward to a long-term association that is founded on mutually beneficial economics,” said Anuj Gandhi, group chief executive officer, IndiaCast.
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Business NewsIndustryTurner International appoints IndiaCast Media as its distribution agent
First Published:27 Mar 2018, 09:16 PM IST
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