 Hong Seong-wan, left, president and CEO of SBS Medianet, shakes hands with Viacom International Media Networks President Robert Bakish at a press conference announcing a joint venture between the two companies at Plaza Hotel in Seoul, Thursday. / Courtesy of Viacom |
By Kwon Mee-yoo
MTV Korea will be reborn as SBS-MTV as SBS Media Holdings and Viacom International Media Networks formed a joint venture here, Thursday.
From December, MTV Korea will be relaunched as SBS-MTV and Nickelodeon will maintain its channel name. SBS-MTV will feature international MTV programming as well as local music and youth-oriented productions.
The joint venture is to be owned 51 percent by SBS Media Holdings and 49 percent by Viacom International Media Networks. SBS will manage sales, while Viacom will take care of programming.
“Viacom’s long history in international media markets has taught us that a local partner can be key to our success,” said Robert Bakish, president and CEO of Viacom International Media Networks. He said SBS Media Holdings is an ideal Korean partner for them as SBS is the only private terrestrial broadcaster here, with commercial, entrepreneur-sensitive and understanding relationships with international brands like CNBC and ESPN. “Together, we are well positioned to take our businesses to the next level and further our foothold in Asia’s third largest media market.”
Viacom seeks to broaden viewership of their channels and expects better performances in revenue with SBS’ advertising. “We could invest more to local programming in Korea,” he said.
Bakish also hinted that the relationship between Viacom and SBS might expand overtime, incorporating more channels.
Hong Seong-wan, president and CEO of SBS Medianet, added, “We are very excited about entering into this joint venture and introducing two of the world’s leading youth brands through SBS Media Holdings.”
Since SBS is a general terrestrial channel, it has tended to find a niche market in the cable television market.
SBS Medianet owns five cable and satellite channels ― SBS Plus, SBS Golf, SBS ESPN, SBS CNBC and E!TV ― and two DMB channels. The company will drop the two DMB channels and add SBS-MTV and Nickelodeon to their repertoire to reinforce competitiveness in the youth and family market.
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