RTL to enter India
March 11, 2011
By Chris Forrester
Luxembourg-based TV giant RTL has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with India’s Reliance Broadcast. The plan is to form a Joint Venture to launch entertainment channels in India. Reliance already has a similar deal in place with US-based CBS Studios which resulted in three planned channels, one of which (BIG-CBS Prime) is already on air.
The RTL scheme calls for two channels, both male-skewing and with one based around reality programming and the other focusing on sport and extreme action material.
In a stock exchange announcement, the broadcasters said: “The joint venture company…would be a limited liability company incorporated in India. As currently proposed, RTL and RBNL, or subsidiaries of such companies, would act as shareholders and shall have an equal 50 per cent equity interest in the JV.”
It is understood that RTL’s subsidiary FremantleMedia will also supply formats into the deal, including The X Factor and American Idol. The first channel could be on air within a few months.