US broadcast giant CBS is planning on launching 3 new English language pay channels in India. The venture (in partnership with Reliance Broadcast) is codenamed ‘Big CBS Networks’ and will leverage CBS’ vast library of english language shows including new CBS shows such as Hawaii Five-0 and The Defenders, syndicated programs like Entertainment Tonight and favourites like Everybody Loves Raymond, CSI, and NCIS.
India is the world’s second-largest pay TV market by viewers after China, with 105m households signed up to terrestrial analogue cable, satellite and digital networks. My contacts at the CBS/Reliance team have confirmed that the new channels will be named
- BIG CBS Prime, a general entertainment channel
- BIG CBS Spark, aimed at younger audiences
- BIG CBS Love, geared toward the female demographic
There are an estimated 134 million homes with televisions in India, with more than two-thirds having access to cable or satellite signals. Total television revenue was about $5.7 billion last year according to a KPMG report.
I’d be interested to see a bit more channel work out of India, so if you’ve got recent broadcast branding packages from that region, please do drop me a line. Coincidentally, 2011 marks 60 years of the iconic CBS eye logo. Here’s a nicely assembled video retrospective on the history of the logo for those interested.
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