SPT Expands U.K. Presence with CSC Buy

LONDON: Sony Pictures Television (SPT) is expanding its business in the U.K. with the acquisition of CSC Media Group, which owns 16 channels, including Tiny Pop, Chart Show TV and True Movies.

Under the terms of the deal with Veronis Suhler Stevenson, SPT takes 100-percent control of CSC and will operate the 16 ad-supported networks. The kids' portfolio at CSC includes Tiny Pop, Pop, Kix and PopGirl. Also in the CSC portfolio is the music channel Chart Show TV, plus several True-branded movie services. Once the transaction has received regulatory approval and is completed, the portfolio will report to Kate Marsh, SPT’s senior VP of networks for Western Europe.

“The acquisition of CSC further demonstrates our commitment to the U.K. market and our intent to continue to grow our tremendously successful global portfolio of networks,” said Andy Kaplan, the president of worldwide networks for Sony Pictures Television. “These new channels perfectly complement our current offerings, allowing us to provide viewers with a variety of entertainment choices and advertisers with greater reach and cross-channel opportunities.”

Remy Minute, the CEO of CSC Media Group, said: “CSC has grown from a small bouquet channel operator to become one of the leading multichannel ad-supported TV networks in the U.K. This combination with SPT allows us to accelerate our growth trajectory, both internationally and domestically. I very much look forward to working with the team at SPT.”

SPT's channels presence in the U.K. encompasses Sony Entertainment Television, Sony Movie Channel, Movies 4 Men and Movie Mix.