MUMBAI: Buena Vista International Television - Asia Pacific (BVITV-AP) has concluded a new multi-year agreement with Star India for a Jetix branded block on Star One.
The announcement was made by BVITV-AP senior vice president and managing director Steve Macallister and Star India COO Sameer Nair.
At present, Toon Disney airs the Jetix Action Station on weekdays and is available in Tamil, Telugu and English. Now with the Star One deal, the block will be made available in Hindi too. It will launch on Star One on 2 July and will air on Saturdays and Sundays from 7 to 8 pm.
Apart from tapping the general entertainment channels, BVITV-AP is also contemplating developing branded blocks on regional channels down south. Apart from that, terrestrial channels will also be looked at in the near future.
"The Jetix brand is synonymous with high energy entertainment that will inspire and challenge viewers. We look forward to working with Star One in cultivating appointment viewing for this exciting range of action and adventure titles," said Macallister.
Nair said, "Star One is an ideal platform for the Jetix brand in India. Star One is one of the fastest growing channels with an urban, upscale audience that wants high quality programming in their own language. Jetix programming will be in Hindi and we are confident that it will soon be a favourite amongst kids."
BVITV-AP India head Amit Malhotra negotiated the deal for the company. Speaking to Indiantelevision.com, Malhotra says, "At present we have the Disney Time block on Star Plus, which airs from 6 to 7 pm. This is the first block of Jetix that we will be airing."
Jetix is a new global action-adventure brand which launched in February 2004 in the US and now successfully reaches over 104 million households internationally through its terrestrial branded blocks.
As per the deal between BVITV-AP and Star, titles under license will include recent titles from the Jetix portfolio such as the new action-packed series Super Robot Monkey Team Hyperforce Go!, alongside Marvel classic Spider-Man and the futuristic, hi-tech series A.T.O.M. Alpha Teens on Machines.
Also under license is W.I.T.C.H. the international multi-media phenomenon that originated from the W.I.T.C.H. magazine established in Italy by Disney Publishing in 2001.
