MUMBAI: Viacom18, the equal joint venture company between Viacom and TV18, is looking at launching more channels, expanding into regional markets and creating content for new media.

Viacom is conducting a due diligence on the ETV general entertainment channels (GECs), Viacom International Media Networks President, CEO and Viacom18 board member Robert Bakish said today. "The regional markets are seeing fast growth," he added.

Indiantelevision.com was the first to report that TV18 had offered Viacom the option to buy 50 per cent stake in five ETV GECs and 24.5 per cent equity interest in ETV Telugu. If Viacom decides to buy stake, the ETV GECs would move to Viacom18.

When asked about what kept the joint venture alive (the only surviving one in the M&E space between a global media giant and a local company), Bakish said that it is not enough to have a shared vision. ?The success of a JV is all about having a cultural fit. Our venture has had challenges and we have been forced to evolve. We decided to get into film production. We launched more channels like Sonic. Then we created IndiaCast to take advantage of digitisation. We see an opportunity to export content from India. We created a channel in the UK, Rishtey, using content from Colors and MTV.?

The aim of Viacom partnering with Network18 was to make a local cultural connection. ?In 2006 we realised that India offered opportunities we could not ignore. Viacom has resources but we felt the need for a local partner. JVs are a tradeoff. You don?t have complete control. Therefore it is important to have productive dialogue. In Korea, we have a JV with SBS which started a year ago,? said Bakish.

In India, the company realised that brand positioning would be key. Therefore the decision was taken to make Colors edgier and more of a risk taker. ?The good news for India is that more local production money is coming in. Out of this will come quality content.? He also noted that a hit television format is the most valuable IP. ?After all, a local version of ?Fear Factor? played a key role in Colors? launch and success.?

Network18 Group CEO Sai Kumar said the joint venture had been helped by the alignment between the two companies in terms of the scale of ambition and challenges that would have to be met. He noted that IndiaCast has allowed for reverse migration. Colors is now in 70 countries. ?It is not just about the channel going abroad. Even shows like Ballika Vadhu have been being picked up abroad,? he said.

Talking about new media, Sai Kumar said while platforms like OTT and VoD represent a risk and an opportunity, Viacom18 prefers to focus on the latter. Kumar noted that 13 years ago distribution became king as there was a lack of platforms to showcase content. Today the good news is that content is once again king. "The challenge today is that while consumption of content is at its highest it has gone multi device. The different platform windows are each a kingdom. With these platforms the possibility of milking content for revenue has gone up. The long tail will stand a better chance in the future,? he averred.

Kumar called IndiaCast the second phase of the JV partnership.

?Indiacast has a global multiplatform mandate.? Bakish said. ?Star and Zee surprised people by coming together. We responded by creating one entity and partnered with Disney UTV to unlock the value of digitisation. While Nickelodeon and Disney compete fiercely with each other globally, the fact is that you have to look at each country differently."

Referring to film business in India, Kumar noted that it is a great adjunct for Viacom18?s other businesses. ?There are opportunities for synergies in our film business with Colors and other channels. At the same time, our exposure to film will be strategically limited. Having two films that are hits does not mean that the next three will also work. With each film you start from ground zero.?

Bakish noted that film production business is not for the faint at heart. ?We had long conversations about why we were in the film production business. We have had hits and misses but that is the nature of the game. Not everything will work.?

In terms of the challenges facing the media and entertainment industry, Bakish spoke about the lack of reliability in measurement globally due to multiple platforms. ?India is great to do business in but it isn?t perfect. Could digitisation have happened sooner? Sure. Could Phase one of DAS have been a solid four cities? Sure! Phase two is now happening and the industry needs to keep up the pressure to see that things work?, he noted.

Kumar noted that advertising is now at its softest. Things will not change unless the measurement system improves. More homes for SEC A could help the niche genre, he added.

MUMBAI: Viacom18, the general entertainment business of TV18 Broadcast, turned profitable in the fiscal-third quarter ended 31 December on a sharp rise in revenues and a fall in loss from new operations.

The entertainment broadcaster had a net profit of Rs 34 million in the third quarter against a loss Rs 532 million a year earlier.

Viacom18?s operating revenues rose 50 per cent in the third quarter to Rs 4.73 billion from Rs 3.16 billion a year earlier, while operating expenses rose by a slower 25 per cent to Rs 4.43 billion from Rs 3.51 a year earlier.

Viacom18 reported an operating profit of Rs 304 million in the third quarter against operating loss of Rs 355 million, as its motion pictures operations had an operating profit of Rs 95 million against Rs 4 million a year earlier. The quarter saw the release of ?Son of Sardar? among other movies. For the nine months ended 31 December, motion pictures had an operating loss of Rs 193 million.

B Saikumar, Group CEO at TV18 group, said, "The brands across mass entertainment, English and factual entertainment, kids, music continue to grow and hold leadership positions. Importantly, all our programming initiatives in prime time and the weekend have paid off rather well on Colors."

In the quarter under review, Colors climbed to the No. 1 spot in the Hindi GEC genre for multiple weeks. The big-ticket shows included Bigg Boss and India?s Got Talent.

Profit from continuing channels

The company?s operating profit from continuing business, excluding new operations, was Rs 432 million in the third quarter against Rs 391 million a year earlier.

The channels falling under the ?continuing business? segment include Colors (flagship Hindi GEC), MTV, Nick and Vh1.

Loss from new channel operations

Viacom18?s operating loss from new operations (which includes launch of Nick Jr, Nick Teen and Comedy Central) narrowed to Rs 129 million from Rs 203 million a year earlier.

MUMBAI: On the occasion of its 1st anniversary, Viacom18?s 24x7 comedy channel Comedy Central India is bringing the multi award winning Ugly Betty to India. The show will premiere on the channel on Monday 21 January at 9.00 pm.

Ugly Betty is based on a popular Colombian telenovela which has already been successfully translated in many markets across the globe like Mexico, India, Russia, Greece and Germany. In India, it has been reproduced as ?Jassi Jaisi Koi Nahin?.

The one hour show will see episodes from Season 1 where the lead protagonist - Betty Suarez, a 22-year-old, quirky, Mexican American woman from Queens, New York lacks in fashion sense but has always had one goal in life: to make it in the publishing business. She is known to be bold, good-hearted, smart and hard-working but due to personal circumstances she is thrown into a different world when she lands a job at Mode, a trendy, high fashion magazine based in Manhattan.

Comedy Central?s new show Ugly Betty will also include a robust cross promotion plan across network and outside network channels, promotions in print media, mailers and trade touch points along with interactivity on Twitter and Facebook. The show will also see innovations across Inox, Gold?s Gym and Crossword amongst others.