MUMBAI: Armed with $200 million capital infusion from Providence-led group of investors, Peter Chernin has made his maiden investments in India.

The Chernin Group (TCG)?s Asian media investment arm CA Media has started its innings in India with the acquisition of stakes in production house Endemol India and a music, live events and youth media company.

CA Media has picked up 49 per cent stake in Endemol India, a company where its chief executive officer Rajesh Kamat worked as India head. Incidentally, this is CA Media?s largest investment in Asia, though no financial details are revealed.

CA Media will help Endemol India grow as a leading producer of television, film and digital content. Endemol will seek to have a strong presence in the Indian film sector while boosting its presence on the television front.

?Endemol is a stable and mature business and is poised to leverage the growth explosion in the Indian content space. Our alliance will ensure that Endemol will achieve growth across screens, demographics and genres,? said Kamat.

Endemol India MD Deepak Dhar will lead the production house as CEO. Said Dhar: ?In CA Media we see a great strategic partner, which will help us in achieving inorganic growth. Our alliance with them will provide us with the expertise, relationships and resources for us to become a major player in Indian film and regional television, whilst further building our leading position in the entertainment space. We?re all extremely excited about this development and look forward to sharing further details of our plans in due course.?

Endemol India was set up in 2006 and has produced hit shows like Fear Factor, Big Boss and Deal or No Deal.

Dhar said that the company will soon restructure to focus on films, events and live events.

CA Media has also picked up an undisclosed minority stake in Only Much Louder (OML). This investment was done along with Zodius, an investor and operator of digital media, commerce and services.
 
CA Media is looking at OML Entertainment as developing into a youth power activator. Founded in 2002, it currently operates under a large-format music festivals division, a full-fledged production house, a digital wing and an artist management and bookings enterprise.

?OML operates in a category that?s nascent right now, but holds immense potential in time to come. With about 65 per cent of India?s population under 35 years, we are extremely bullish about the value that OML can unlock in this segment,? Kamat said.

Added OML Entertainment founder and CEO Vijay Nair, ?This investment marks a new phase in the evolution of OML where we will be focussing not only on live on-ground properties, but actively looking at amplifying them through television and digital media. CA Media and Zodius are the right partners to guide us and work with us on strategically scaling up OML and build it to its true potential.?

CA Media is eyeing further acquisitions in India. Kamat said that the company will be acquiring stake in media, entertainment, and technology sectors. It will also be investing directly in start-ups to create synergies in the businesses.

The company will initially focus on India, China and Indonesia in Asia. Its plan is to team up with local entrepreneurs, strategic partners, and financing sources to launch new enterprises, enhance the growth of businesses in their formative stages and selectively pursue later-stage transactions.

CA Media was formed in November 2010 by former News Corp president and COO Chernin and former Star head Paul Aiello. Later in April 2011, the company appointed former Colors CEO and Viacom18 COO Kamat as India CEO.

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Chernin Group fattens purse with $200 mn from Providence

MUMBAI: Former News Corp president and COO Peter Chernin?s The Chernin Group (TCG) has entered into a strategic partnership with Providence Equity Partners (Providence), a leading private equity firm specialising in equity investments in media, communications, education, and information companies around the world.

As part of the transaction, the Providence-led group will infuse over $200 million for a significant minority equity stake in TCG. Representatives of Providence will join TCG?s Board of Directors. Peter Chernin will become a senior advisor to Providence.

With the infusion of capital, TCG will leverage its partners? expertise and resources to expand and diversify the global media and entertainment operating company, the company said today. TCG and Providence will work together to invest in, acquire, build and operate media assets around the world, with a particular focus on the US, as well as emerging markets such as Asia, particularly in India, Indonesia, and China. Capital raised in the transaction will be used primarily for TCG investments.

Commenting on the funding, Chernin said, "We have made tremendous progress to date, and we?re buoyed by the faith and enthusiasm of our new partners. Our goal is to build a global, diversified media company that leverages the key areas of value and growth in the world today ? the importance of premium content; exploiting opportunities in emerging markets, specifically Asia; and technology?s disruptive impact on the media industry. Providence brings an exceptional track record of identifying and supporting the growth of innovative media and entertainment companies. With their additional expertise and resources, we intend to expand our company across all fronts," he added.

Added Providence CEO Jonathan Nelson, "We have worked closely with Peter for many years and have tremendous respect for his extraordinary creative savvy and world-class business acumen. We share the same outlook and enthusiasm for the significant media and entertainment investment opportunities around the world. Given our collective industry experience, network of relationships, and long-term commitment to these vibrant industry sectors, it is clear that together we have a team with tremendous depth of talent and expertise to build a media and entertainment company of scale. This partnership is already up and running, and we look forward to pursuing unique growth opportunities together."

TCG?s current assets include Chernin Entertainment, an entertainment production company; a majority stake in CA Media, an Asia-based media investment company; and several strategic investments in US based technology and media companies.

In India, TCG?s CA Media is headed by Rajesh Kamat as its India CEO. Kamat had joined the company in April last year, after quitting Viacom18 as Group COO and Colors CEO.

CA Media focuses on investing in business opportunities in Asia, particularly India, Indonesia, and China. TCG has also made a series of investments in US digital media ventures, including Pandora, the leading Internet radio service; Fullscreen, a next-generation digital media company focused on empowering content creators, networks and brands to leverage online video; Tumblr, a blogging and social sharing platform that hosts over 50 million blogs and has over 130 million visitors per month from around the world; and Flipboard, the world?s first social magazine designed for iPad and iPhone, providing an entirely new experience for browsing social content and online news.

Chernin Entertainment has produced the feature film Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes and is currently in production on director Joseph Kosinski?s sci-fi thriller Oblivion starring Tom Cruise. Parental Guidance starring Billy Crystal and Bette Midler will be released in December 2012.

Chernin Entertainment also produces the Fox television shows "New Girl," "Touch," and A&E?s "Breakout Kings." Currently, the company is also producing two pilots, an untitled comedy for CBS written by Nick Stoller and an untitled Dana Fox comedy for Fox.

Ziffren Brittenham LLP, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher and O?Melveny & Myers were the advisors for The Chernin Group and Weil Gotshal & Manges for Providence Equity Partners.

MUMBAI: Close on the heels of the exit of its CEO Rajesh kamat, Colors programming head Ashvini Yardi has decided to move on.

Over the next 2-3 months, she will transition out of her current role at Colors and work on film projects, the first of which will be in association with Viacom18?s Motion Picture Division. 

Yardi said, "It?s been a hard decision for me, emotionally. I?ve had a great time at Colors, creating a destination that?s today visited by millions of people everyday. I have worked with a great team here and am confident that they?ll continue to lead Colors to even greater heights. I am also excited to continuing my association with Viacom18 Motion Pictures, as I set out as an entrepreneur into the films business."

Viacom18 Group CEO Haresh Chawla added, "Ashvini?s contribution to Colors? success has been significant. With her experience and knack for content that connects with the masses, she not only brought ?differentiated? concepts to Colors but also gave the format shows, her distinct touch. We now look forward to working with her on her maiden venture in the Films business."
 

MUMBAI: Viacom18?s upcoming Hindi general entertainment channel (GEC) Colors is launching on 21 July.

Starting from 7 pm, the channel will launch with four hours of original programming. The initial focus will be on weekday prime time, driven by the big ticket driver show Fear Factor-Khatron Ke Khiladi at 10 pm every Monday-Thursday. Produced by Endemol India, the one-hour reality show will see Bollywood star Akshay Kumar playing as the host as 13 Bollywood actresses compete with each other.

With the tagline jasbaat ke rang, the channel has put the Hindi movie slot at 4 pm every Sunday while on Saturdays it will have the Sajid Khan-hosted celebrity chat show Sajid?s Superstars.

Colors CEO Rajesh Kamat says, ?As planned, we will be launching Colors on 21 July. Our main aim is to provide differentiated and disruptive programming to our viewers. We have drama, reality and movies as well. It is a basket of offerings, mixed with all the emotions and colours.?

In the weekday primetime every Monday to Friday at 7 pm, Colors will have a fantasy show Rahe Tera Aashirwad.

Produced by Jay and Kinnari, Mehtaa Rahe Tera Aashirwad is a story of an orphan girl Bhakti who is fighting with evils with the grace of Mata Vaishnodevi.

At 7.30 pm every Monday to Friday, Colors will air fiction based show Bandhan Saat Janamon Ka which revolves around the issue of dowry in Indian marriages. It is produced by Shakuntalam Films.

The channel will highlight the social issue of child marriage with Balika Vadhu ? Kacchi Umar Ke Pakke Rishte at 8 pm every Monday to Friday. The daily fiction from Sphere Origins narrates the story of a child bride.

At 8.30 pm Colors has placed the mythological series Jai Shri Krishna, produced by Meenakshi Sagar Productions. It chronicles the growing up years of Krishna.

From Monday to Thursday it will have Jeevan Saathi at 9 pm which is an inter-religion love story. Jeevan Saathi is produced by Playtime Creations, the production house owned by Paresh Rawal, Hemal Thakkar and Swaroop Sampat.

At 9.30 pm, Monday-Thursday Colors will have Mohe Rang De, a period drama set in the backdrop of ?1942 Quit India Movement?. Mohe Rang De is produced by Deepti Bhatnagar Productions.

With Wizcraft Internatonal, Colors is doing a celebrity chat-show Sajid?s Superstar hosted by Sajid Khan. Sajid?s Superstar will see guests like Anil Kapoor, Farah Khan, Ritiesh Deshmukh, Vivek Oberai, Vidya Balan, Shahid Kapoor, Sanjay Dutt, Akshay Kumar among others.

Colors, the first channel to come out from the joint venture between Viacom and TV18, has an early prime time focus on shows meant for smaller towns which would gradually build into the metro audiences.

Explains Kamat, "Between 7 to 9 pm, we have placed shows that have strong appeal among non-metro masses. The 9-10 pm slot will have content tailored for smaller towns as well as metros. The more urban shows like Fear Factor and Sajid?s Superstars are at 10 pm."

Adds Colors programming head Ashvini Yardi: "Hindi general entertainment channels have seen a massive rise in audiences from the smaller towns."

Every Sunday at 4 pm, Colors will show Hindi movie in the segment ?Blockbuster Movies?. For the movie part, Colors will go for movie syndication.

?Syndication is the need of the hour, as there are not many movies left in the market for acquisition,? avers Kamat.

Colors has acquired flicks like Singh is Kinng (not released yet), Bhootnath, Heyy Baby, Om Shanti Om, One Two Three, Dus Kahanniya, Sunday, Black and White and Welcome among others.

The channel is planning to have a 360 degree marketing plan to support its content. "We will have more than 1000 hoardings across the top 20 cities. We will touch our viewers at malls, trains, bus stations and temples. We will be everywhere. We will be promoting across 35 TV channels," says Kamat.

Colors has also entered into a marketing tie-up with Future Group and McDonalds to promote the channel at Big Bazar, Pantaloons stores and McDonalds chain of restuarants.