ITV

Tag: Comedy Central

  • Chrome data: English News channels the only losers

    Chrome data: English News channels the only losers

    MUMBAI: In week 10 of opportunity to see (OTS) collated by Chrome Data Analytics & Media, English News channels in the eight metros was the only genre to witness a loss. It saw a drop of 0.5 per cent. Times Now topped the category with 77.1 OTS.

     

    As for the gainers, Business News channels across the eight metros gained the maximum. With 4.3 per cent growth, the genre saw CNBC Awaaz leading the chart with 81.4 OTS.

     

    On the other hand, English Movie channels across the eight metros gained 3.4 per cent with Movies Now topping the space with 67.8 OTS.

     

    Next in the line were English Entertainment channels across the eight metros, which gained 3.3 per cent. Comedy Central was the chart leader with 56.2 OTS.

     

    Lastly, Kids channels across all India too registered a two per cent gain. Cartoon Network noted maximum with 81.4 OTS

  • Chrome Data: English News channels continue to gain in week 8

    Chrome Data: English News channels continue to gain in week 8

    MUMBAI: In week eight of opportunity to see (OTS) collated by Chrome Data Analytics & Media, English News channels in the eight metros gained the maximum.

     

    With 3.4 per cent growth, the genre saw Times Now retaining its supremacy with 79.1 per cent OTS. 

     

    Sports channels across India gained 3.2 per cent. 

     

    Next in the line were Business News channels in the eight metros with 2.2 per cent jump and Music channels in the Hindi speaking market (HSM) with 0.7 per cent. CNBC Awaaz with 80.6 per cent OTS and 9XM with 90.6 per cent OTS topped in their respective genres. 

     

    As for the losers, English Entertainment channels in eight metros saw the maximum drop of 4.9 per cent. Comedy Central with 52.5 per cent OTS topped the category. 

     

    Kids channels across India and Hindi movie channels in HSM markets saw a drop of 0.9 per cent and 0.7 per cent respectively. Cartoon Network with 79.9 per cent OTS and Max with 95.5 per cent OTS scored the maximum in their respective genre. 

     

    Last but not the least, English Movies in the eight metros observed a fall of 0.5 per cent. Movies Now topped the chart with 67.1 per cent OTS.

  • TV channels celebrate the season of love

    TV channels celebrate the season of love

    MUMBAI: Come 14 February and television will play cupid to couch potatoes, who wish to spend the day at home. Obviously, not missing out on the opportunity, TV channels present a hearty meal to the viewers from romance and love specials to blockbuster movies.

    Star Plus intends to pull at viewers’ heart strings by airing a special two and a half hour extravaganza of love with leading Star Plus couples on 15 February at 9 pm. The Valentine Day special event will see popular faces of Star Plus’ shows performing to a medley of passionate numbers from Bollywood of 2014 to romantic songs including biggest hits from movie Aashiqui 2.

    Star wants to make this day even more special, bigger and better with its special #IThankYou campaign and an on air celebration of love with Star Valentine’s Day – Muskurane Ki Wajah Tum Ho. The campaign is a unique thought that gave Star Plus viewers the opportunity to thank their loved ones this V-Day. It was actively promoted on-air and across digital platforms with four leading protagonists (Sandhya, Ishita, Nisha and Anjali) explaining the concept of #IThankU and urging viewers to share their picture stories with Star Plus. The selected winners along with the loved ones will be given a chance to meet and greet their favourite celebrities on 14 February, 2015.

    On digital, the buzz was kept alive through active tweets of Star Plus celebrities of their #IThankU stories and urging fans to share the same. Exclusive vignettes of #IThankYou stories of key shows like MasterChef and Tu Mera Hero were shared across all the digital platforms. The campaign was rolled out on 4 February, 2015 and will culminate on 14 February, 2015.

    On the other hand, to add the glamour quotient, Zee TV has got Sunny Leone to sizzle on its special Valentine’s Day show Locha – E – Ulfat. Dressed to kill in the hues of love, Leone grooved to some of her popular numbers like Baby doll mein sone ki, pink lips and 4 bottle vodka. Celebrating love in all flavours, it will air on 15 February at 5 pm. The story revolves around a man, Birju, played by popular comedian Sunil Grover who fell in love when he was a child, but as destiny had it, his heart was crushed by the love of his life. He stopped believing in love and grew up to be an angry, young man who hates love stories but only till he sees the sensational Sunny Leone. From entertaining performances, rib-tickling humour, loads of glitz and glamour, oodles of masti and dhamaal, the show will also feature performances by popular lead couples from Zee TV performing on the dance numbers.

    Life OK is going to celebrate the day in a different style. The channel’s comedy offering – Comedy Classes will celebrate the day by spoofing on one of the biggest and most romantic movies of all time – Hum Aapke Hain Kaun. The show, which is known to spoof on celebrated movies will definitely leave viewers laughing throughout as the ace comedian Bharti Singh will play the character of Nisha, which was played by Madhuri Dixit.

    Salman Khan’s character Prem is played by Siddharth Sagar while Krushna Abhishek will play Mohnish Behl in the show. This special episode will air on 12 and 13 February at 10 pm.

    Sab TV’s most watched show in the comedy genre – Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah is celebrating the season of love in a filmy way. The residents of Gokuldham Society will go all romantic for their respective wives this Valentine’s by dedicating poems written by them. The episode will air on 14 February.

    Not to forget the ones who own the occasion, youth channels too have some interesting programs lined up. To celebrate the essence of Valentine’s Day, bindass’ cult relationship show Yeh Hai Aashiqui that showcases unconventional love stories came up with a month long series called Love Heroes that highlights the role and importance of a cupid in the love story. Popular television actor Rithvik Dhanjani is seen as the host of the show and taking the viewers through the plots of some amazing love stories every week. To top it all, in order to celebrate love, bindass held a contest for couples who wanted to share stories of their cupid.

    Movie channels too are busy showering some romantic movies to the viewers. Sony Max plays cupid this day as it showcases Ishq Wala Shanivaara, a day-long movie festival featuring the best Bollywood romantic movies. Airing on 14 February, the channel spreads the love with back to back romantic comedies and dramas.

    The movie marathon consists of handpicked fan favourites airing from 7 am in the morning with Shudd Desi Romance, and culminating with Heropanti at 11 pm. The romantic extravaganza consists of various love themed movies which showcase how love emerges victorious in spite of the odds. Ishq Wala Shanivaar will get television audiences acquainted with the different faces of love, from modern-day love (Shudd Desi Romance) to, tragic love (Aashiqui 2), love and friendship (Mujhse Dosti Karoge) to love across lifetimes (Magadheera) and love set against a violent landscape (Heropanti).

    On its sister channel, Max 2, it will take viewers on a romantic journey. The channel has lined up a series of romantic movies titled Love ne bana de Jodi for viewers, beginning 8 February until 14 February. Consisting of classics from the 1950s till the 1990s the movie festival will pluck at the heart strings of viewers.

    Comprising of iconic films ranging from Chori Chori, Silsila to Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak, the movie festival will charm the viewers with seven romantic movies.

    Keeping the ethos of airing differentiated content alive, Star Gold, Home of Bollywood Blockbuster Premieres, chooses to celebrate this year’s Valentine’s Day with a romantic thriller – Ek Villain on 14 February at 8 pm. The World TV Premiere of this romantic-thriller will be showcased immediately after Valentine’s Week Special: a weeklong line-up of romantic comedies dedicated to the day of romance. Being a love story with a thrilling twist along with a stream of melodious, chart-topping music, the movie makes for the perfect valentine viewing.

    This romantic season, Movies OK will bring to its viewers a heart-felt love story disrupted by diverse cultural barriers with the premiere of 2 States; a romantic saga starring superstar-duo Arjun Kapoor and Alia Bhatt. Directed by Abhishek Verman, the movie will air on 14 February at 8 pm.

    Comedy Central is celebrating love by gifting viewers 10 hours of the most loved and acclaimed show Impractical Jokers on 14 February from 10 am to 8 pm. It is a hidden-camera series that follows four lifelong friends — Brian “Q” Quinn, James “Murr” Murray, Joe Gatto and Sal Vulcano — who take dares to an outrageous level.

    Over the years, Vh1 has given viewers love songs and set the mood for the special day. This year, the channel wants to know who is your bae? It can be a guy or a girl and doesn’t need to be someone op the opposite sex. Just send in your dedication to your Bae and request for a song of your choice for your Bae, and see your request feature on Vh1. It’s simple, Just post your bae’s name and request a for a video with the hashtag #Vh1BaelentinesDay (on facebook/twitter/instagram) and see it featured on the show.

    Gone are the days when Valentine’s Day was celebrated amongst couples. This time around Nicktoons is all set to make the day of love exciting for kids across India. Nick has brought back its Kaun Banega Valentoon contest on Nickelodeon. The contest ran on Nick from 2 February to 10 February. As a gratification, kids get a chance to meet their valentoon on Valentine’s Day. The promotions have also been done through Social media posts and the winners will be announced on 14 February.

    On the other hand, Sonic presents an exciting movie marathon for its viewers from 15 to 21 February. From Motu Patlu series to Pakdam Pakdai to Keymon & Nani in Space Adventure, it is set to melt the hearts of the young kids. 

  • TV channels line up special programming for 66th Republic Day

    TV channels line up special programming for 66th Republic Day

    MUMBAI: The broadcast industry is all set to awaken the masses with ample dose of patriotism coupled with entertainment. An array of special programs have been lined up across channels to celebrate the spirit of India’s 66th Republic Day.

     

    This time round, Hindi general entertainment channel Colors is gearing up to simulcast the historic event with nationalistic zeal and fervour. The channel will telecast live the much awaited parade and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s message for Indian and international audiences.

     

    This is the first time Colors and Rishtey will simulcast the celebrations along with the national television channel Doordarshan. The telecast will also reach out to the international markets i.e. MENA, US (Aapka Colors) and UK. Colors CEO Raj Nayak believes that the iconic Republic Day parade and the PM’s message to the nation is the content that drives cohesive viewing in families.

     

    “Being able to bring to our audience the much awaited parade and message from our Prime Minister Narendra Modi LIVE is a privilege and a source of pride for the team at Colors and Rishtey. This is our way to celebrate our 66th Republic Day, by bringing it closer to our audiences, in India and the world. Telecasting this event in markets other than India – and to the US MENA and UK is also a milestone for the network as a whole,” Nayak said.

     

    On the other hand, Zee TV is taking a different route. The channel will be premiering the Shah Rukh Khan starrer – Happy New Year – from 1 pm onwards.

     

    Sony Entertainment Television’s (SET) longest running show – CID completed a milestone of 17 glorious years on 21 January, 2015 and celebrating the landmark this year, CID is all set to entertain its fans with a daylong CID special feature on 26 January.

     

    From 8 am to 10 pm, viewers will get to see the most exciting episodes of CID over the years. In fact, the first episode of the show will also be aired on 26 January. What’s more, the CID team will also spend the day with children and share their experience and memories. These interactions will be showcased in between episodes throughout the day.

     

    SET chief creative director Ajay Bhalwankar said, “Our flagship show CID has over the years responsibly entertained generations of young viewers to recognize and act upon the incidence of crime around them. This Republic Day we want to commemorate this memorable journey with our daylong celebration through a special programming initiative called Jashn-e-CID.”

     

    Big Magic, which is positioned as the one stop destination for humour,  is geared up to celebrate the day with actor Ayushmann Khurrana, as he engages the audience from 7 to 10 pm. The channel has partnered with his upcoming movie – Hawaizaada to celebrate the spirit of ‘Made in India’. The movie releases on 30 January, 2015.

     

    Pumped with fun, humor and patriotism, all the shows on Big Magic will celebrate Republic Day with the special episodes wherein Khurrana will be the anchor link. The actor will also share anecdotes about his movie and will be imparting a distinctive message of believing in oneself.

     

    Reliance Broadcast Network COO Lavneesh Gupta said, “To salute Republic Day, a momentous occasion for Indians, the Big Magic family will come together to entertain our audience with fun-filled episodes. We’re glad to be sharing this special day with Ayushmann Khurrana , lead actor of Hawaizaada, where the film salutes Indianness and will together impart an inspiring message to our viewers.”

     

    History TV18 will host a line-up of shows from 12 to 7 pm. From 12 to 3 pm, the channel will air Gandhi, a series that charts Mahatma Gandhi’s establishment beginnings, his move into politics and his campaign to bring independence to India. Hosted by journalist Mishal Husain, this first definitive series on the life of Gandhi examines his relationship with his wife and his role on the path to Indian independence.

     

    From 3 to 5 pm, the channel will showcase a series called – India on Four Wheels. As the Indian economy booms, the latest must-have accessory is the car. With increasingly affordable models on the market, and growing demand for cars as a status symbol and sign of social development, people’s lives are becoming intertwined with car ownership. Justin Rowlett and Anita Rani join the chaos of India’s roads on a madcap road trip across the country, to find out the truth behind the dream. Whether it’s breaking down by the side of the road, facing suicidal peacocks or tasting luxury in a Maharaja’s vintage Rolls Royce, this is a surprising look at a country on the move.

     

    Last but not the least, from 5 to 7 pm, the channel will air The Birth of Empire: East India Co, a series that reveals how the behemoth that was the East India Company grew into an imperial power and became the hotbed of corruption and greed that led to its downfall.

     

    Comedy Central will commemorate Republic Day by showcasing a one hour special episode of the news spoof The Other Week That Wasn’t at 8 pm. Viewers will get a chance to enjoy more of Cyrus Broach’s tongue-in-cheek spoofs and mouthful of puns.

     

    Kids genre is also leaving no stone unturned to celebrate the spirit of nationality. A puppet show, relevant to the day’s theme and an explorative session with Dora the Explorer will be aired on the channel from 5.30 to 7 pm.

     

    Vh1 celebrates yet another moment of patriotism with a countdown to the top Indian videos that have emerged in recent times from 10 am to 5 pm. On the other hand, 9X Jalwa will play a special playlist of all patriotic songs between 7 to 10 am on the band Hits Forever. The repeat telecast be aired on the same day from 7 to 10 pm.

     

    #fame, a multi channel network, will dedicate the day to womanhood. Orville Richard Burrell CD, best known by his stage name Shaggy, once chanted, “So amazing how this world was made I wonder if GOD is a woman; the gift of life astounds me till this day; I give it up for the woman.” Taking cue from the song, singer Abhiruchi Singh has penned down and sung an awe inspiring song ‘Ud Chali’ to celebrate womanhood, which will be aired on #fame.

  • Viacom18 sweeps 2014 PROMAXBDA Asia awards with 17 wins

    Viacom18 sweeps 2014 PROMAXBDA Asia awards with 17 wins

    MUMBAI: Viacom18 Media Pvt. Ltd. today announced its sweeping victory at the recently concluded 2014 PromaxBDA Asia Awards, on 4 December in Singapore, taking home 14 awards.

     

    The PromaxBDA Awards recognize excellence in on-air promotion, branding and advertising on programming, channel or brand. Awards were open to satellite, cable, broadcast, television, radio station and associated new media, their agencies and production houses.

     

    2014 PromaxBDA Asia Award Categories Won

     

    GOLD

    ·         Best Children’s Promo – Nick Dekho Dekho Tum Song Promo

    ·         Best Children’s Campaign – Nick Class Mein Blast

    ·         Best Script – Comedy Central Tees “Territories”

    ·         Funniest Spot – MTV Soap-Box Spot

    ·         Something for Nothing – Indie Talkies Promo

    ·         Most Innovative Use of Digital – Anger Management – Destructomatic App

    ·         App-Titude Award – MTV Count Your Drinks App

    ·         Best Print Campaign – MTV Youth Marketing Forum 2014

     

    SILVER

    ·         Best Comedy Promo – Weekend Stache “P.T.”

    ·         Best Integrated Marketing Campaign – MTV Sent The Youth In India To Polling Booths (MTV  Rock The Vote – RTV)

    ·         Funniest Spot – The Dot is Sexy – Rock the Vote

    ·         Something For Nothing – Webbed Season 2 Teaser

    ·         App-Titude Award – MTV Indies App and Website

    ·         Best On-Air Ident – MTV Channel Ident

  • Comedy Central to resume transmission, this evening

    Comedy Central to resume transmission, this evening

    MUMBAI: Comedy Central, the English general entertainment channel (GEC) from the Viacom18 Group, which was asked by the Delhi Court  to go off air for six days, beginning from  26 November 2014, for airing objectionable content, has found  reprieve from the Supreme Court. The court has stayed the previous order of the high court, which means the channel can be telecast again this evening.

     

    Welcoming the court’s decision, Viacom18 Media group general Counsel Sujeet Jain says, “The Hon. Supreme Court today stayed the order on the suspension of the channel, Comedy Central. We are happy to announce that the channel will resume broadcast this evening.”

     

    The previous order had come in wake of the Information and Broadcasting Ministry (I&B) finding two of the channels shows, Popcorn and Stand Up Club which were telecast in 2012 having objectionable content. The shows “were not suitable for unrestricted public exhibition and children as the same depicted women as a commodity of sex and appeared to deprave, corrupt and injure the public morality and morals,” it was observed.

     

    The apex court, while staying that decision has also issued a notice to the Centre on a petition by Viacom 18, challenging provisions of the law that allow the MIB to take action against TV channels. 

    A channel spokesperson previously said in a statement that it was evaluating all the options available to them during which it approached the SC. It argued that the decision would cause “irreparable loss and damage” to the channel and claimed transmission was its fundamental right.

     

    The High Court had also fined the channel Rs 20,000 which was imposed by the centre.
     

  • Comedy Central to go off air for Six days

    Comedy Central to go off air for Six days

    MUMBAI: Beginning tonight, 12 am onwards, audiences of Viacom18 owned Comedy Central will not be able to view the channel, which is set to go off air for six days  as a penalty given by Delhi High court for airing objectionable content.

    The order comes after the Information and Broadcasting Ministry (I&B) found two of its TV programmes objectionable. The court observed that the show Stand Up Club telecast on 26 May 2012 at 20:52 hours on the channel “was not suitable for unrestricted public exhibition and children as the same depicted women as a commodity of sex and appeared to deprave, corrupt and injure the public morality and morals.”

    The channels spokesperson said in a statement, “The matter is subjudice. Having said that, we are evaluating all available options to us.”

    With regards to the other show named Popcorn which was telecast on 4 July 2012 at 7:57 hours, was also found to be “vulgar, obscene, offending good taste and not suitable for unrestricted public exhibition and children.”

    The channel on the other hand then submitted a reply blaming the telecast as an ‘operational mishap and unintentional error’ and apologized and assured that the creative, content and programming teams had been sensitized to the programme code. The Inter Ministerial Council which was set up to look at the violations of the programme code had asked the channel to go off air for 10 days.

    Comedy Central then was of the opinion that the ban was long and therefore the broadcaster blocked out the channel for only four days. Viacom18 had then placed an appeal in the court which has now been dismissed.

    The court also observed that the channel by committing a second violation (Popcorn) was clearly indicative of not  having paid heed to the warning given to it for the first violation, even if unintentional and took the matter of self regulation very lightly. “We may also add that the effect of punishment of prohibition of transmission for 10 days has already been diluted by the same being split into four plus six days. We therefore do not find any merit in this appeal and dismiss the same with costs of Rs 20,000 payable to the respondent within four weeks of today. Though the appellant has already given a statement as recorded in the order dated 28 May 2013 that in the event of dismissal of the appeal it would undergo the penalty imposed of prohibition for the balance period of six days, we clarify that the said penalty would come into force w.e.f. 00:01 hours of 26 November 2014,” the court observed in its concluding remarks.

     

  • Comedy Central sees potential in localised content

    Comedy Central sees potential in localised content

    MUMBAI: English GECs for a long time have been intending to telecast shows that are locally produced and involve local talent.  One such GEC from the Viacom18 cluster, Comedy Central, has finally decided to take the plunge.

     

    Two new local properties are going to soon be seen on the channel- The Other Week That Wasn’t and The Living Room.  The former is a spinoff of its hit series on CNN-IBN The Week That Wasn’t. Speaking about two new properties, Viacom18 executive vice president and business head English entertainment Ferzad Palia says, “We wanted to localise in every market as it is important for us to have local connect with our audiences. We earlier experimented with video spoofs on journalists like Arnab Goswami and Rajdeep Sardesai which gave us a lot of positive feedback from our audiences.  This is just the beginning of getting on board more localised content as we have important plans for India.”

     

    When quizzed what these plans were, Palia provides a three pronged strategy that the channel will follow for the next year, “First, our focus will be to crack some more potential local talent. Secondly, we want to extend our brand beyond television through various tie ups and on ground events and thirdly we will be bringing some of the best international shows and be disruptive with the formats.”

     

    The Other Week That Wasn’t will be hosted by funnyman Cyrus Broacha along with Kunal Vijaykar and Kaneez and will revolve over fashion, entertainment and sports. The weekly show will air every Sunday starting 16 November at 8 pm on the channel and is presented by Micromax. Palia dismisses rumours that The Week That Wasn’t will discontinue on CNN-IBN.  “The Week That Wasn’t will continue to air on CNN-IBN whereas this show has the same cast but the content will be different,” he adds. CNN-IBN and Comedy Central are both part of the Network18 Group.

     

    Comedy Central’s other property The Living Room centres on Kenneth Sebastian, a next door stand-up comedian from Bengaluru and his friends. These friends include the hilarious Kanan Gill, Kaneez, Abish Matthew, Naveen Richards, etc. The guy from the silicon valley of India has been presenting since the age of 19, and has over a hundred shows up his sleeve. The show that went through several alterations before receiving the final stamp will not have any script, retakes and will be 100 per cent improvised says the channel.  

     

    “We started in 2012 with shows like Saturday Night Live, Seinfeld, That 70’s Show, South Park and have now progressed to acquire fresher and bigger content like The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon and the Graham Norton Show. The Tonight Show is being telecast 24 hours from its original US telecast,” Palia informs. The Graham Norton Show will begin from 29 November on weekends at 9 pm.

     

    The channel for the first time introduced an animation block with Sponge Bob and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in late October during the festive season because it wanted to cater to a different set of audiences- youth who loved animation. Additionally shows like Billy On The Street, Psych (season one to four), Penn and Teller Fool Us were telecast.

     

    For the two new shows promotions are being run on air across the channels networks and will be promoted on the digital medium. Comedy Central currently has 25,99,439 followers on Facebook and 3 million followers on Twitter.

     

    The channel and its on ground events have seen advertising interest from brand categories right from diamonds, to chewing gum to apparels, automobiles and telcos. “Today humour is the fastest growing genre in the world and every category of brands is seeing monetisation opportunities, be it on digital, television or on ground events. Brands also want to go beyond television and therefore integration through tie ups and events offer that opportunity. Advertisers see more value as we offer differentiated solutions,” says Palia.

     

  • Comedy Central to celebrate Children’s Day

    Comedy Central to celebrate Children’s Day

    MUMBAI: Children’s day is a hop, skip and jump away. In today’s busy world with limited options for family entertainment Comedy Central is set to present nine  hours of favourite family shows during their special line up on 14th November.  The channel has  programmes lined up to ensure that not only the kids, but the entire family has a fun on the telly!

     

    The special programming has been prepared keeping in mind that during this busy day and age, parents barely get to spend time with their children. Television viewing is still a family activity and Comedy Central wants parents and their children to bond over the latter are shows.  The line-up consists of shows like Growing Up Fisher, About a Boy, everyone’s favourite sponge who lives in a pineapple under the sea Spongebob Squarepants and angsty, ninjutsu trained vigilantes Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

     

    Viacom18 executive vice president and business head English Entertainment said Ferzad Palia said, “At Comedy Central we believe that Comedy is not only for a certain age or audience, it has a universal appeal and children’s day is another excuse for us to air the best family-comedy entertainment in India. The shows airing on children’s day are popular and adored not only by children, but also have a certain appeal with adults as well. We are positive that viewers will appreciate and enjoy the line up with their families.”

     

    So this Children’s Day audiences can  tune in to Comedy Central on14th November from 11am to 8pm

  • 22 Viacom channels now on Sony web TV

    22 Viacom channels now on Sony web TV

    MUMBAI: Viacom has announced a deal with Sony to make 22 of its channels including Comedy Central and MTV, available for Sony’s forthcoming over-the-top (OTT) TV service in US.

     

    The Viacom channels will be available when the new service launches, the company said in a statement. Customers also will have access to on-demand programming from Viacom.

     

    It is the first time Viacom has agreed to provide its channels for an internet-based live TV and video on demand service, the company added.

     

    Confirming the collaboration, Sony Corporation Network Entertainment Business’ group executive Andrew House said, “Viacom’s award-winning channels are a perfect match for our new service, ensuring that our customers will be able to access the shows they love on their favourite devices, when and how they choose.”

     

    “Our new cloud-based TV service will combine the live TV content people love most about cable with the dynamic experience they have come to expect from our network,” he added.

     

    Scheduled to start later this year, the service is expected to bring live TV and on-demand programming to Sony’s network of 75 million internet-enabled Sony devices in US, including PlayStation game consoles and web-connected televisions.

     

    Excited about the new alliance, Viacom president and CEO Philippe Dauman said, “Given our young, tech-savvy audiences, our networks are essential for any new distribution platform, and we’re excited to be among the many programmers that will help power Sony’s new service and advance a new era for television.”

     

    The new Sony service will give people the ability to watch shows like Spongebob Squarepants and The Daily Show without a cable subscription. Viewers will be able to access the service through Sony’s PlayStation video game console or through mobile devices like the iPad. Users will have access to live streams as well as archived shows.

     

    The 22 Viacom linear networks includes BET, CMT, Comedy Central, MTV, MTV2, Nickelodeon, Nick Jr., Nicktoons, Spike, TV Land and VH1, BET Gospel, Centric, Logo, CMT Pure Country, MTV Hits, MTV James, mtvU, Palladia, TeenNick, Vh1 Classic and Vh1 Soul and all available HD.

     

    Beyond Viacom, the service is expected to include content from other major network groups. According to media reports, Sony has held talks with Discovery Communications, Time Warner and Starz, among others, about including their networks in the new service.