Viacom18, the 50:50 joint venture between US-based Viacom and India’s Network 18 Group, is likely to complete its acquisition in Eenadu TV’s (ETV) regional general entertainment channels (GECs) by the end of this year.

According to Ravish Kumar, Executive Vice-President, Viacom18, five regional GECs will come under the Viacom stable. These include ETV Marathi, ETV Kannada, ETV Bangla, ETV Gujarati and ETV Oriya.

“The deal is in progress and is likely to be in place by the end of this year,” he said.

Exact details of the stake to be acquired were not available. While a market source maintained that TV18 owns 50 per cent regional entertainment channels and Viacom will take up a similar stake, the fact could not be independently verified.

Viacom18 said since the acquisition is underway, information on stake-holding cannot be provided.

News channels acquired from ETV – namely ETV Uttar Pradesh, ETV Madhya Pradesh, ETV Rajasthan, ETV Bihar and ETV Urdu – will be with TV18. (Under existing rules, a foreign entity cannot hold more than 26 per cent in news operations in India.)

Regional Foray

Viacom18 had earlier shelved plans for a movie channel because of high costs. Instead it will now concentrate on the “high-growth” regional general entertainment market. According to a source, regional entertainment markets are growing at approximately 50 per cent a year.

The joint venture owns MTV, Nickelodeon, VH1, Colours and Comedy Central, among others. Entry in regional channels will be through ETV.

Star has around 4 regional channels while Zee has around eight channels.

“Regional general entertainment markets are a fast growing segment. We intend to use a legacy brand such as ETV and contemporise it to gain market share,” Kumar who also heads ETV Bangla and ETV Oriya said.

ETV Bangla previously a market leader in the region took a hit after the entry of rivals Zee and Star.

Investment

According to Kumar, the company will spend around Rs 70-100 crore annually on developing region-specific content. Content will include regionalising hit reality shows as well as other “original” fiction and non-fiction shows. Accordingly, three new Bengali shows are being planned by ETV which include a Bengali version of Big Boss .

A multi-crore marketing campaign has also been planned across competing channels, outdoor media, radio, digital and print. With over 400 movie titles, a separate slot for movies and another for short films (called tele-films) has also been created.

“Ideally, we are looking at 3-4-year period for breaking even,” he added.

abhishek.l@thehindu.co.in

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