GECs
MTV, Nick expand localisation initiatives in China
MUMBAI: Viacom chairman and CEO Sumner Redstone has announced several initiatives for its businesses in China for MTV and Nickelodeon.
These include a partnership with Beijing Television (BTV) for music and entertainment content production.
Tripling distribution in the Guangdong Province by year-end, MTV China will extend its reach to nearly 10 million TV households across China. It is launching its first locally produced HIV/Aids prevention campaign.
Meanwhile CCTV has agreed to extend an agreement for Nickelodeon programming for its first dedicated children’s channel.
Viacom’s alliance with BTV will produce Chinese language music and entertainment programming. These will be distributed to BTV’s channels, as well as to other channels across China and around the world.
This deal follows the company’s announcement in March of China’s first production joint venture through Shanghai Media Group (SMG), to create Chinese language kids programming for distribution in China and abroad. The Viacom/SMG JV has since moved forward on developing its first productions, and expects the programming to launch early next year.
As part of Viacom’s global commitment to fighting HIV/Aids, MTV China has rolled out its first locally produced awareness and prevention campaign over the past month with a public service announcement (PSA) Ninja: The Enduring Master . It also launched a Mandarin language version of MTV International’s HIV/Aids information Web site, www.staying-alive.org.
The Ninja spot has aired on MTV China, as well as on its syndicated programming blocks, which reach 117 million cable and terrestrial TV households across China. CCTV has extended its deal with Nick following the success of CatDog and The Wild Thornberrys..
Nielsen data indicates that the shows managed to get an average share of 5.6 and 5.3 for the Kids 4-9 age group. In addition, discussions are underway for agreements between the two companies, including CCTV-produced kids content to air on Nickelodeon channels outside of China and further Nickelodeon programming and licensing deals for CCTV’s kids channel.
Redstone added, “Our announcements highlight Viacom’s ongoing commitment to celebrating Chinese culture around the world. China’s rich and vibrant creativity is under-exposed outside of China, Viacom sees significant opportunities for facilitating cultural exchange between China and other countries around the world particularly in the US.”
GECs
EPIC Company unifies all brands under single EPIC identity
IN10 Media rebrand aligns TV, digital and films into one ecosystem
MUMBAI: The EPIC Company, formerly known as IN10 Media Network, has announced a sweeping brand consolidation, bringing its television channels, digital platforms and content IPs under a single identity, EPIC.
The move is aimed at simplifying the company’s structure while creating a more connected content ecosystem spanning television, digital and films. By aligning multiple verticals under one umbrella, the company is looking to present a sharper, more cohesive face to both audiences and partners.
As part of the transition, several channels have been rebranded to align with the EPIC identity. EPIC will now operate as EPIC TV, while Nazara becomes EPIC Bharat, Filamchi is now EPIC Bhojpuri, Gubbare transitions to EPIC Kids, and ShowBox is reintroduced as EPIC Music. Ishara will continue under the identity EPIC Parivaar, maintaining its core positioning.
The company has also refreshed EPICON, its streaming platform, to reflect a more unified and modern brand experience. The overhaul is designed to improve content discovery and create a seamless experience across platforms.
This consolidation follows the recent launch of EPIC Studio, a unified production arm that brings together Juggernaut Productions and MovieVerse Studio, as the company expands its footprint across films, OTT and television.
The EPIC Company managing director Aditya Pittie said, “As our scale has grown, it has become important to simplify how we operate and how we present ourselves to the ecosystem. This consolidation gives us a clearer, more future-ready structure to partner, invest, and build at scale, while ensuring that for viewers, the experience is more seamless and intuitive.”
With the rebrand, The EPIC Company is positioning itself as a platform-agnostic content network, focused on scale, simplicity and integrated storytelling. By bringing everything under one banner, it is aiming to make its content universe easier to navigate and harder to ignore.
