Mumbai: Viacom International Media Networks (VIMN) The Americas has announced the broadcast launch of Comedy Central Latin America across the region starting 1 February.

The announcement was made by Vimn MD The Americas Sofia Ioannou at the annual conference and exhibition of the National Association of Television Program Executives (Natpe),

The global, multiplatform entertainment brand includes standard and high-definition channels, on-demand video, mobile services and a strong online component, which was unveiled in November 2011 to wide acclaim.

The initial phase of the on-air launch, with a distribution of 10 million subscribers across the region, includes key markets in Latin America, like Mexico through Cablevision Mexico and affiliated PCTV Systems (Productora y Comercializadora de Television por Cable S.A de CV); Sky, Via Embratel, OiTV and Neo TV in Brazil; as well as coverage in Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador and Venezuela.

Ioannou said, "VIMN?s mission is to take world class brands and content and deliver them in culturally and geographically relevant ways, and the launch of Comedy Central in Latin America is the latest example of this. This strategy strengthens the ongoing dialogue we have with our clients and affiliates in the region and broadens our portfolio to now include a new, multi-platform, comedy entertainment brand for the young-adult demo."

The new pan-regional comedy entertainment brand will present content, including US programming from Comedy Central, acquisitions, original programming, stand-up, local productions, sketches, animation, series and movies.

The channel will be able available in both Spanish and Portuguese for their respective markets and offer the adult audience a fun and enjoyable entertainment experience with internationally renowned series, such as ?Happily Divorced?, ?The Exes, ?South Park?, as well original productions like ?La Familia del Barrio? and ?The Spooky Show?.

MUMBAI: PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), Viacom International Media Networks and Russian television broadcaster Channel One Russia, will team up at the television trade event Mipcom to discuss the future of media, entertainment and broadcasting on 3 October.

PwC global leader entertainment and media Marcel Fenez will present the annual PwC Global Entertainment and Media Outlook at Mipcom, outlining forecasts in the media and leisure industries. This industry report will be followed by interviews conducted by Fenez with Viacom International Media Networks president and CEO Robert Bakish and Channel One Russia CEO Konstantin Ernst.

These two executives will share their thoughts on the digital migration of the global entertainment industry and their outlook for the next five years.

Fenez said, "This is the golden age for consumers, who?ve never had it so good when it comes to accessing premium content (often for free) over multiple devices. And the migration to digital has continued to accelerate due largely to the device revolution. Entertainment & Media (E&M) CEOs are having to adapt their business models to capture the shifting nature of consumer demand. But the bottom line is that in order to continue to create the quality content demanded by consumers, someone has to pay."