CBS to Launch 3 New TV Channels in India

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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.

Channel [V] to Unveil Rebrand Saturday

Mumbai: Following the lines of its rival MTV, STAR TV owned music channel, Channel [V] is all set for it’s rebrand debut this Saturday. Lowe Lintas won creative duties for the relaunch of Channel [V] without a pitch and has given the music channel the new tag line – “Bloody Cool”. Channel [V] has earlier sported previous tags like “Mind it” and “We’re like this only”.

As an indicator, I’ve seen a slight uptick in credential awards in the past couple months, good news for the bottom line, although causing longer review cycles and business development executives sitting on 60/90s longer than they would like.

Which brings me to a quick update on the 3 week absence on the site. Nothing to fear! The only thing that is going on is that I have been busier (absolute mayhem) than I’ve ever been. In the last 8 weeks, my travel schedule has included London, New York, LA, SF, and Seattle. I’ve been busier than ever with work- I’m thankful to all the clients who have reached out recently to speak about the future of their brands.

So that being said…

The rechristening lays the ground for Channel [V]’s aggressive push for non-music content with five new shows to be go on air in a phased manner starting relaunch day, 22 August.

Channel [V] GM Prem Kamath explains, “We are changing the complete look and feel of the channel. Today the needs of youth are changing, and we have to keep in sync with the same. Apart from baseline, we also have refreshed shows, music, designs and even the icon.”

The channel’s new look has been developed after three months of “extensive qualitative and quantitative research” among seven cities and taking into consideration views of 4,000 people from various cross-sections of the channel’s viewership.

Vh1 India Gets New Look

Breaking News: Today- Vh1 India, the international music and lifestyle channel from Viacom and Network 18, has unveiled it’s new look, avatar, positioning, and strapline “Vh1- Get With It”. Ferzad Palia, Associate GM, Vh1 India, explains, “It’s an all new Vh1, where most things will change – content mix, the channel environment, a brand new tag line and aggressive marketing strategy. The product of extensive research, the birth of this new strategy was determined by the ever-changing needs of the audience, for getting information quickly and differently.”

For those unfamiliar with Network 18, the company is one of India’s leading full play media conglomerates with interests in television, internet, filmed entertainment, & mobile content, comprising brands like CNBC TV18, CNBC Awaaz, and Newswire18.

It has been a really busy couple weeks on the business side of our industry, I promise to get more visuals up soon- hang tight!