MUMBAI: Distribution partners Zee Telefilms and Turner International India are expanding their relationship. Effective 1 July, Turner will be the exclusive advertising sales agent for Zees English entertainment & lifestyle channels Zee MGM, Zee English and Trendz.
Under this agreement, Turner will use its in-house expertise in India and internationally to promote the channels to advertisers in India and work with clients and agencies to increase advertising revenues on the channels, an official release states.
This agreement furthers the relationship between Zee and Turner that began when the two parties formed a joint venture company, Zee Turner Limited, in December 2001, to manage distribution and trade marketing for a bouquet of Zee and Turner channels as well as third party channels in India and South Asia.
Ad sales at Zee MGM and Zee English is currently being managed by Rohinton Maloo's Cutting Edge Media. It was in September 2002 that Cutting Edge was appointed to manage the two English niche channels in the Zee bouquet with the brief to develop sales strategies and drive front end ad sales. At the time the deal was struck, Zee had an option to buy a strategic equity stake in the company at some point.
For Turner, the addition of Zee's three channels augment the variety offered by Turner to advertisers, adding general entertainment, movies and fashion to the existing line-up of entertainment and news provided by Cartoon Network and CNN. Turner will be working closely with the Zee team to create effective sales solutions and will also expand its sales team to sell these three properties, the release says.
Anshuman Misra, Managing Director, Turner International India Pvt. Ltd, said, "Over the years, Turner has exceeded expectations and over-delivered in advertising sales for our own channels; and we are pleased to be leveraging our sales expertise to expand our partnership with Zee. With the addition of these channels, we have expanded our portfolio of tools with which we can create even more innovative marketing packages for advertisers to target consumers across a broader demographic spectrum."
