TV18 has announced that IndiaCast – the multi-platform, global distribution company of TV18 and Viacom18 - has formed a strategic joint venture with UGBL - a DisneyUTV group company - to distribute TV channels in India.
The partnership will be 74%-owned by IndiaCast and the rest will be held by Disney's India unit, Disney UTV.
IndiaCast and Disney UTV will both move their domestic distribution businesses into the new venture, providing 35 channels across cable, direct-to-home (DTH) and HITS platforms in India.
Anuj Gandhi, CEO of IndiaCast, will manage the joint venture.
Raghav Bahl, Managing Director, Network18, said: “The Indian television industry in on the throes of a transformation on the back of digitisation. The distribution joint venture of TV18 and Viacom18 with DisneyUTV is a landmark deal and will help in shaping the future course of the domestic distribution landscape.”
Sai Kumar, Group CEO, said, “We take great pride and pleasure in being a part of this strategic partnership announced today and are very excited by the opportunity that the impending digitization of Indian television presents to us. We are
confident that the coming together of some of the largest and most premier broadcasting properties in the country will significantly add to IndiaCast’s bargaining power and its strength as one of India’s foremost television distribution ventures.”
