Viacom18 Rings in the Festive Season with ‘Rishtey’ in US & Canada Markets
~ Channel available to viewers on Dish and Dishworld in US and Rogers Cable in Canada~
MUMBAI: After its successful launch in the UK and India, Viacom18 and IndiaCast announce the launch of the Hindi general entertainment channel ‘Rishtey’ in the US and Canada. Adding the festive fervor for viewers in the region, Rishtey is now available to the US audiences on Dish and Dishworld on channel 699 and to Canada viewers on Rogers Cable on channel 924. As Viacom18’s second general entertainment channel, Rishtey is geared to offer an engaging mix of exciting shows, movies and entertainment from a wide spectrum of genres.
With seven channels already available in North America, IndiaCast currently has a comprehensive portfolio of brands in the region that covers a wide range of entertainment offerings. Rishtey is the eighth channel in the region and will be available on a paid subscription format. With the launch of the Rishtey on Dish and Dishworld, the channel will now be available to around 160K households in the US.
Commenting on Rishtey’s foray into the US & Canada, Gaurav Gandhi – Group COO IndiaCast said, “US and Canada are the most important international markets for South Asian entertainment and we are delighted to launch our second Hindi entertainment channel, Rishtey, in this region. Our flagship brand Aapka COLORS has seen unprecedented success in the region over the last 4 years. With the launch of Rishtey, we address the audience’s need for variety entertainment and Rishtey will be the classic ‘family channel’ with something for everyone in the South Asian household. Over the last two years, the Rishtey, in its different avatars, has developed a strong foothold in the UK and in India and we are extremely confident that the brand will be a huge success here as well.”
Rishtey, for the North America region, is a customized Pay TV service that promises to engage viewers with a plethora of content ranging from scripted dramas from the subcontinent (both India & Pakistan), Indian Kids content, Youth programming, Lifestyle as well as Bollywood content. The channel is a true variety entertainment service with “something for everyone” in the family.
Elaborating on the launch, Sameer Goswami- Senior Vice President & Head of North America business for IndiaCast said, “Launch of Rishtey in North America adds another dimension to our stellar portfolio of channels in the region. For each market that we launch Rishtey in, our content and distribution strategy is customized as per the relevant audience consumption and that’s exactly what we have done here. US & Canada are the first markets where this brand will be a Pay-Tv service. With 8 services in the region, which includes 2 Hindi GECs, a world class News Service, an iconic youth & music service as well as 4 regional (language) entertainment channels, we truly have the most comprehensive portfolio in the South Asian space.”
About Viacom18 Media Pvt. Ltd
Viacom 18 Media Pvt. Ltd. is a joint venture operation in India between Viacom Inc. (NYSE: VIA, VIA.B, world’s leading entertainment content company, comprising brands like BET, MTV Networks and Paramount Pictures) (www.viacom.com) and the Network18 (www.network18online.com) Group, the group operates news channels – CNBC-TV18, CNBC Awaaz, CNBC-TV18 Prime HD, CNN-IBN, IBN7 and IBN-Lokmat (a Marathi regional news channel in partnership with the Lokmat group).
Viacom18 is India’s fastest growing entertainment network of iconic brands offering multi-platform, multi – generational and multicultural brand experiences across television, film, digital media and LIVE events. Viacom 18 Media Pvt. Ltd. includes the vibrant youth brand – MTV (www.mtvindia.com), the fastest growing kids cluster – Nick (www.nickindia.com), Nick Jr, Nick Teen & Sonic, India’s premier International Entertainment channel – Vh1, India’s only English Entertainment Comedy Channel – Comedy Central, India’s only linear film production & distribution banner – Viacom18 Motion Pictures, COLORS (www.colorstv.in) one of India’s leading Hindi General Entertainment channel. This apart, Viacom18 also runs Viacom’s consumer products business in India and also a brand solutions offering – Integrated Network Solutions (INS).
About IndiaCast
‘IndiaCast’ is India’s first multi-platform ‘Content Asset Monetization’ entity, jointly owned by TV18 & Viacom18. IndiaCast mandate includes Domestic Distribution, Placement Services, International Channel Distribution & Advertising Sales, New Media (digital) distribution and Content Syndication for all the group company channels & content. In India, IndiaCast manages subscription & placement services for 45 channels from TV18, Viacom18, A+E Networks | TV18, ETV channels & Disney UTV groups. Internationally, IndiaCast has a portfolio of over 10 channels (including Colors, MTV India International, Rishtey, News 18 India and 6 ETV regional Services) that are viewed in over 80 countries as linear services. With a rich content library of 15000 hours across genres, IndiaCast also syndicates content in over 100 countries in 20+ languages (including Hebrew, Russian, Serbian, Bosnian, Albanian, Macedonian, Croatian, Azeri, Kazakh, Swahili, English among others). IndiaCast also delivers a wide range of content to various new media platforms including content from over 20 channels from the group across News, Music, Youth & Lifestyle, General Entertainment & Infotainment genre in multiple languages. Apart from Television shows & series, IndiaCast also offers Indian feature films (both Bollywood & Regional) on digital platforms in India and overseas markets. For more information on IndiaCast, log on to www.indiacast.com