Indian media venture
Viacom18 Media Private Limited
is an Indian media company based in
Mumbai
,
India
. Founded in 2007 by the MTV Networks Europe division (now
Paramount Networks EMEAA
), it later became a joint venture between
TV18
and
Viacom
(now
Paramount Global
) in 2014, with TV18 becoming the majority shareholder in the company in January 2018 and Paramount and Bodhi Tree Systems currently owning minority stakes.
[3]
The company owns and operates various channels, as well as content production studios in India.
History
[
edit
]
Early history and founding
[
edit
]
In January 2010, Viacom18 went international with the launch of
Colors
in United States. The channel is called Aapka Colors. In July 2010, it got into 50/50 distribution joint venture with
Sun Network
to form Sun 18.
[4]
In December 2011, Viacom18 launched
Nickelodeon Sonic
, targeting young adults.
[5]
In January 2014, TV18 acquired the non-
Telugu language
TV assets of
ETV Network
for ?2,053
crore
, with a permission to use ETV brand name.
[6]
In March 2015, Viacom18 decided to rebrand all five non-
Telugu language
ETV
regional general entertainment channels.
ETV Marathi
,
ETV Gujarati
,
ETV Kannada
,
ETV Bangla
, and
ETV Odia
were rebranded into
Colors Marathi
,
Colors Gujarati
,
Colors Kannada
,
Colors Bangla
, and
Colors Odia
respectively.
[7]
The company also owns
Viacom18 Studios
. On 31 January 2018, TV18 announced its acquisition of Viacom's majority in the joint venture, taking operational control and leaving Viacom with minority interest.
[8]
On 1 October 2019, Viacom18 launched Colors HD in
Malaysia
on
Astro Malaysia
; every serial will be served with
Malay
and English subtitles.
[
citation needed
]
More recently, the company had signed a deal with the National Basketball Association in order to deliver live NBA games to all of their own networks.
[9]
Attempted mergers with Sony and Zee, partnership with Bodhi Tree Systems
[
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]
In June 2020,
Sony
's Indian unit
Sony Pictures Networks
was in talks with Viacom18 about a merger, with the talks getting advanced much later. If the merger was successful, Sony would be 74% shareholder in the merged company.
[10]
However, in October 2020,
Reliance Industries
,
[11]
the majority share holder in Viacom18, called off the merger.
[12]
[13]
In June 2021,
[14]
reports stated Viacom18 and
Zee Entertainment Enterprises
were reportedly in talks about a merger.
[15]
However, Zee denied any talks about a potential merger with Viacom18,
[16]
later entering talks with
Sony Pictures Networks
, which was also in talks about a merger with Viacom18 earlier.
[17]
In January 2022, there were reports that Lupa India, an investment company set up by
Uday Shankar
and
James Murdoch
, were in the final stages of picking up a 39% stake in Viacom18.
[18]
thereby turning Paramount Global into a minority shareholder with a 10% share in the company.
[19]
In April 2022, Reliance announced that Bodhi Tree Systems, a company founded by Shankar and Murdoch with backing from the
Qatar Investment Authority
,
[20]
would make a US$1.8 billion investment in Viacom18 to "jointly build India’s leading entertainment platform and pioneer the Indian media landscape's transformation to a ‘streaming-first’ approach." As part of the venture,
JioCinema
?a streaming service owned by Reliance's mobile operator
Jio
?would be brought under Viacom18. Paramount would remain a stakeholder and content partner. The deal was approved by the
Competition Commission of India
(CCI) in September 2022.
[21]
[22]
The sale was completed on 17 April 2023, with Bodhi Tree acquiring a 13.08% stake in the venture, and diluting Paramount Global's stake to 13.01%.
[23]
Merger with Disney Star
[
edit
]
In December 2023, it was announced that
The Walt Disney Company India
and Reliance had signed a non-binding term sheet for a merger. According to its terms, Reliance would hold a 51% in the merged company in cash and stock, while Disney would own the remaining 49%. For purposes of the merger, a subsidiary of Viacom18 was going to be created to absorb
Disney Star
through a
stock swap
,
[24]
pending ratification and regulatory approval.
[25]
[26]
[27]
[28]
In February 2024, Disney and Reliance reached a deal to merge their streaming and television assets, with the joint venture valued at $8.5 billion including synergies. As part of the deal, Viacom18 would be merged into Disney Star with Disney holding a 36.84% stake in the combined entity, which would bring together assets such as linear television entertainment channels
StarPlus
,
Colors TV
and the
Star Gold Network
, sports channels
Star Sports
and
Sports18
and the streaming services
JioCinema
and
Disney+ Hotstar
with
Nita Ambani
serving as the chairperson of the joint venture, with
Uday Shankar
serving as vice chairperson with the deal giving 16.34% to Reliance and 46.82% to Viacom18
[29]
and is expected to close sometime in late 2024 or early 2025 pending regulatory approval.
[30]
[31]
In March 2024, it was reported that
Paramount Global
was looking to sell its 13.01% stake in Viacom18 to Reliance, which already owned a 73.91% share via
TV18
.
[32]
Although
Bloomberg News
reported that the deal was unlikely to close, the deal was confirmed a week later for $517 million, its closure subject to regulatory approval and the completion of the joint venture between Viacom18 and Disney. Paramount would however continue to license its content to the company.
[33]
In the month of April it was reported that Paramount Global has fully existed Viacom18 with the sale of 13.01% stake to Reliance industries $517 million. The company will continue to license its content to Viacom18 even after the merger.
On May 14, 2024, It was reported the deal between Disney and Reliance was approved by
National Company Law Tribunal
, with the JioCinema streaming service being moved to the Digital18 unit as part of the merger.
[34]
[35]
On May 28, 2024, it was reported that Reliance and Star India has approached the Competition Commission of India (CCI) for the approval regarding the merger between Viacom 18 and Star India.
Owned channels
[
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]
On-air channels
[
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]
Following are the distribution channels available from TV18:
[36]
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
"Viacom18 Media Pvt. Ltd"
. Viacom18.com. Archived from
the original
on 23 October 2011
. Retrieved
27 July
2018
.
- ^
"TV18 Broadcast Ltd (CRD)"
(PDF)
.
BSEIndia
. Archived from
the original
(PDF)
on 23 September 2015.
- ^
"Corporate restructure complete for India's Network18"
. rapidtvnews.com
. Retrieved
10 August
2017
.
- ^
"Beefing Up The Bouquet"
. business.outlookindia.com
. Retrieved
10 August
2018
.
- ^
"Viacom18 launches its new channel 'Sonic Nickelodeon' in India"
.
India Infoline
. 5 December 2018
. Retrieved
26 December
2018
.
- ^
"Network18 finishes Rs 2,053-cr deal to acquire ETV stakes"
.
The Economic Times
. 22 January 2014
. Retrieved
24 October
2022
.
- ^
"ETV re-branding to Colors"
. Retrieved
4 March
2015
.
- ^
"TV18 to increase stake to 51% in Viacom18, the JV with Viacom Inc"
.
Viacom18
. 31 January 2018
. Retrieved
31 January
2018
.
- ^
"Viacom18 inks three-year media rights deal with NBA - Exchange4media"
.
Indian Advertising Media & Marketing News ? exchange4media
. Retrieved
4 December
2021
.
- ^
IANS (21 July 2020).
"Sony to own 74% after merger with Viacom 18, to battle Disney Star"
.
National Herald
. Retrieved
27 January
2022
.
- ^
"Reliance Industries calls off merger of Viacom18 with Sony"
.
The Times of India
. PTI. 5 October 2020
. Retrieved
27 January
2022
.
- ^
Jha, Lata (5 October 2020).
"Sony's slated merger with Viacom18 now called off"
.
mint
. Retrieved
27 January
2022
.
- ^
"Jio | Mukesh Ambani: With Jio in mind, Mukesh Ambani's RIL calls off merger of Viacom18, Sony"
.
The Economic Times
. Retrieved
27 January
2022
.
- ^
Laskar, Anirudh (20 June 2021).
"Viacom18 and Zee Entertainment in early merger talks"
.
mint
. Retrieved
27 January
2022
.
- ^
"Viacom18 and Zeel eyeing a merger?"
.
Indian Television Dot Com
. 21 June 2021
. Retrieved
27 January
2022
.
- ^
"ZEEL denies any potential merger deal with Viacom18 - Exchange4media"
.
Indian Advertising Media & Marketing News ? exchange4media
. Retrieved
27 January
2022
.
- ^
"ZEEL starts due diligence process for merger with Sony Pictures Networks"
.
The Financial Express
. Retrieved
27 January
2022
.
- ^
Gupta, Surajeet Das (27 January 2022).
"Uday Shankar, James Murdoch firm to pick up 39% stake in Viacom 18"
.
Business Standard India
. Retrieved
27 January
2022
.
- ^
Laghate, Gaurav.
"Uday Shankar, James Murdoch plan to pick up nearly 40% in Viacom18, Reliance to retain majority stake"
.
The Economic Times
. Retrieved
27 January
2022
.
- ^
Ramachandran, Naman (9 February 2022).
"James Murdoch, Uday Shankar Set Bodhi Tree as $1.5 Billion Qatar-Backed Media Investment Venture"
.
Variety
. Retrieved
30 May
2023
.
- ^
Ramachandran, Naman (27 April 2022).
"James Murdoch's Bodhi Tree, Reliance, Viacom18 Strike $2 Billion Deal to Create Giant Indian TV and Streaming Company"
.
Variety
. Retrieved
20 May
2022
.
- ^
"CCI approves merger of Jio Cinema OTT with Viacom18 Media"
.
The Economic Times
. Retrieved
20 December
2022
.
- ^
"Bodhi Tree-Viacom18 deal: Why the new deal points towards Reliance's aggressive push in broadcasting business"
.
Business Today
. 17 April 2023
. Retrieved
7 May
2023
.
- ^
Prasad, Nikita (28 February 2024).
"Reliance, Disney India merge streaming, TV assets to create ?70,352 crore media powerhouse; 5 key highlights"
.
Mint
. Retrieved
29 February
2024
.
- ^
Barman, Arijit; Farooqui, Jaaved (25 December 2023).
"Reliance, Disney ink non-binding agreement for mega merger"
.
Economic Times
. Retrieved
27 December
2023
.
- ^
Sinha, Vaishnawi (25 December 2023).
"Mukesh Ambani's Reliance-Disney Star deal explained: 10 points on mega-merger"
.
Hindustan Times
. Retrieved
27 December
2023
.
- ^
Kaustubh, Abhinav (9 November 2023).
"
"We'd Like To Stay," Disney CEO On Hotstar's Alleged Sale To Reliance Jio, Adani Group"
.
The Times of India
. Retrieved
27 December
2023
.
- ^
Akash, Sreenivasan.
"
"What We Know About The $8.5 Billion Disney Merger With Reliance In India"
.
- ^
Prasad, Nikita (28 February 2024).
"Reliance, Disney India merge streaming, TV assets to create ?70,352 crore media powerhouse; 5 key highlights"
.
Mint
. Retrieved
29 February
2024
.
- ^
Goldsmith, Jill (28 February 2024).
"Disney And Reliance Clinch Joint Venture In India"
.
Deadline Hollywood
. Retrieved
28 February
2024
.
- ^
"RELIANCE AND DISNEY ANNOUNCE STRATEGIC JOINT VENTURE TO BRING TOGETHER THE MOST COMPELLING AND ENGAGING ENTERTAINMENT BRANDS IN INDIA"
(PDF)
.
BSE India
. BSE India.
- ^
Whittock, Jesse (7 March 2024).
"Paramount In Talks To Sell Stake In Viacom18 To Disney India Partner Reliance ? Bloomberg"
.
Deadline Hollywood
. Retrieved
7 March
2024
.
- ^
Goldsmith, Jill (13 March 2024).
"Paramount Global Sells Stake In Viacom18 To India's Reliance For $500 Million"
.
Deadline Hollywood
. Retrieved
14 March
2024
.
- ^
Kumar, Abhijeet (14 May 2024).
"NCLT approves merger process for Reliance's arm Viacom18 and Star India"
.
- ^
"NLCT sets the ball rolling on merger of Reliance's arm Viacom18 and Star India"
.
The Economic Times
. Retrieved
17 May
2024
.
- ^
"Our Channels - On Air"
.
viacom18.com
.
External links
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