MUMBAI: Sony Pictures Television (SPT) has announced it has licensed several series including its three new scripted shows - ‘Last Resort, ‘The Mob Doctor‘ and ‘Made in Jersey‘ - to subscription broadcasters across Latin America ahead of the television trade event Mipcom in Cannes, France next week. The announcement was made by SPTsenior VP, distribution, Latin America, US Hispanic and the Caribbean Alexander Marin.

SPT has sold its new medical drama ‘The Mob Doctor‘ to FOX International Channels Latin America and ‘Made in Jersey‘ to A&E. Meanwhile, Sony Pictures Television Networks, Latin America has picked up ‘The Client List‘, which will premiere on Set this month, as well as the one-hour drama Last Resort to air on AXN in November. In addition, SPT has sold ‘Men at Work‘ and ‘Kathy‘ to Viacom International Media for Comedy Central.

Marin said, "Demand for our new slate of scripted series has been overwhelmingly high in Latin America. Whether it is thrilling dramas, light-hearted comedies or thought-provoking procedurals, our diverse catalog of US content equips broadcasters with a variety of high-quality shows that fit their programming needs".

‘The Mob Doctor‘ follows a young female thoracic surgeon who becomes indebted to the South Chicago mafia and is forced to moonlight as a "mob doctor" while also working full time at Chicago‘s most prominent hospital.

‘Made in Jersey‘ is a legal drama that centers on a working-class woman who uses her street smarts to compete with her more polished colleagues at a top New York law firm.

‘Last Resort‘ is a thriller set in the near future when the country is fractured and revolves around the crew of a U.S. nuclear submarine who become hunted after ignoring an order to shoot nuclear missiles. They escape to a NATO listening outpost where they publicly declare themselves to be the world‘s smallest nuclear nation with 24 nuclear warheads.
 

MUMBAI: Softline Creations has debuted in the television space with the launch of its first 24-hour satellite Hindi movie channel Cinema TV, a genre that is grappling with rising acquisition cost of movies and cut throat competition among the top three players.

A free-to-air channel, Cinema TV is currently available on three DTH platforms - Reliance Big TV, Videocon D2H, and Airtel Digital TV. To extend its reach in non-C&S markets, the channel is exploring partnership with DD Direct plus.

Headed by Hitesh Sabharwal, the channel has roped in Raju Shrivastav as brand ambassador. The channel is being promoted through digital, print, and outdoor ads besides running cross-channel promos.

"We have a library of 800 movies comprising across genres like drama, action, comedy, thriller and classic," says Sabharwal, who has earlier worked with Zee TV, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Times Group and Astro Group.

Some of the movies that the broadcaster will air include Don, Rang De Basanti, Murder, Tangewala, Quickgun Murugun, Humse Badhkar Kaun, Wardat, and Sanam Hum Aapke Hain. A large chunk of the library comprises yesteryear classical movies.

So how will Cinema TV tackle competition? "We have defined the prime time in the evening at 7.45 pm; we have also introduced kind of an appointment viewing for our viewers. Movie channels can be differentiated through presentation of content and the kind of programming that is offered in between movies," says Sabharwal.

The brand tagline is derived from "Har cheez ka sahi waqt hota hai". "This will relate to the the fact that every movie has an appropriate time to watch. Through our channel, we aim to bring the family together by catering to the tastes of each member through several genres of movies," he says.

The channel is following a distribution strategy that will move up from lower towns. "Our distribution strategy is different from other channels as we are starting from Tier V cities and then moving on to Tier I cities," avers Sabharwal.

The fight in the movie space, however, won?t be easy as it is dominated by biggies like Max, Star Gold and Zee Cinema.