Viacom18 Preps Indian Movie Network

MUMBAI: Viacom18 is launching a brand-new channel offering in India, Rishtey CINEPLEX, devoted to Hindi-language movies.

A joint venture of Viacom and Network18, Viacom18 operates a range of networks in India, including the flagship COLORS, Rishtey, a slew of regional services and the English-language channel COLORS Infinity.

Rishtey CINEPLEX has amassed a lineup that includes Bajirao Mastani, Airlift and Pyaar Ka Punchnama 2 and the upcoming Bollywood releases Force2, Kapoor and Sons and Ae Dil Hai Mushkil. The service will also tap into Viacom18’s library of features.

“With the launch of Rishtey CINEPLEX, we are entering the large Hindi movie genre, thereby filing a pivotal white space and offering a holistic Hindi entertainment ecosystem from our stable,” said Sudhanshu Vats, group CEO at Viacom18. “At Viacom18 we are committed to continuously strengthening our portfolio across genres, languages and age groups. Rishtey CINEPLEX is a key milestone in that journey.”

He added, “The movie channel will bolster the networks’ reach across India and help us dial-up our engagement levels with our viewers. Rishtey CINEPLEX will also enable us to offer 360-degree value to our advertisers, creating more opportunities for on-air promotions [and] enabling optimization of ad inventory across the network.”

Raj Nayak, CEO of COLORS and Rishtey, noted, “We have scripted a great success story for the brand COLORS with it being extended into regional languages and English entertainment. Each of these channels has helped us cater to an intrinsic viewer demand. We are now all set to give impetus to the brand Rishtey with the launch of our exclusive Hindi movies channel Rishtey CINEPLEX that will help us fortify our Hindi entertainment portfolio. With the best in films and entertainment lined up, we are confident that we will be able to strengthen audience affinity with Rishtey CINEPLEX.”