MTV Brazil to be sold?
August 17, 2012
By Chris Forrester
Local reports suggest that MTV Brazil, owned by media conglomerate Grupo Abril and operated under licence from Viacom, could be sold. MTV Brazil transmits free-to-air. Viacom at one stage owned a 50 per cent stake in the channel but Brazilian media regulations required it to divest a further 20 per cent, and in 2009 Abril bought Viacom’s remaining 30 per cent.
Reports now say that Abril, despite holding the rights to the MTV Brazil brand until 2018, is now considering selling off the asset. One of the major benefits, and of significant importance in the value overall of the channel, is its licence to operate terrestrially in Brazil’s major conurbations of Sao Paulo and Rio.
It is said that some religious groups are interested in acquiring the licences, also that an international consortium might buy the assets, or that Viacom itself might re-acquire the brand name to apply to one of its pay-TV channels.