Viacom 18 to license its brand Colors to five ETV regional channels

MUMBAI: Viacom18 is licensing its brand Colors to five ETV regional channels, as the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has given its approval for the plan. The first to be rebranded is ETV Marathi, which will take the new name later this month, followed by Kannada, Bangla, Oriya and Gujarati channels over the month and half after that.
Viacom, the American media company that shares the ownership of Viacom18 equally with India’s Network18 Group, is awaiting the Foreign Investment Promotion Board’s (FIPB) approval to a deal it announced earlier to buy 50% of Prism TV, which operates these five ETV channels. Rebranding doesn’t need FIPB’s approval and under the licensing contract, Viacom18 will get a royalty from Prism TV.

"The driving point for us has been in the area of synergies in the entertainment channels and we have been working closely with our partners TV18 to extend our synergies through our tent-pole programmes like Bigg Boss, Dancing with the Stars (Jhalak Dhikla Jaa) and other marquee shows as well, which have seen great success in Kannada and Marathi," said Sudhanshu Vats, Viacom18’s Group CEO. "TV Viewership in regional is 30% and, over the next five years, I see it overtaking the Hindi viewership of 29% across cable and satellite markets.

So, it was a logical step to extend our brand Colors and license it to Prism TV which will pay us a royalty for the same." Since Viacom is still awaiting regulatory approvals to acquire the stake in the five channels, Vats said there will be no change in the management of the ETV channels.

According to advertising industry sources, Vats will be spending .`15-20 crore across the 45-day re-branding exercise for the channels, beginning with Colors Marathi on Gudi Padwa (March 22). "Any reinvention is good news and it comes with its own set of advantages. ETV, or Eenadu as it was called, has a strong legacy but Colors has a vibrancy which it will bring in where ETV was lagging behind in market share," said Mallikarjunadas CR, CEO, Starcom MediaVest.