Viacom 18 (aka Viacom 18 Media Private Limited) is a company co-owned between Paramount Global and TV18 that was formed in 2007 as the Indian division of Viacom. It handles control of localized versions of television networks owned by Paramount Media Networks. The company also has a film production unit named Viacom 18 Motion Pictures, that handles international distribution for Paramount Pictures films and also produces its own films.
Network18 Group owns 51% while ViacomCBS owns 49%. In July 2020, various news sources stated that Sony would take a 70% interest in Viacom 18. Paramount Global no longer owns the company following a sale in 2024.
History[]
In January 2010, Viacom18 went international with the launch of Colors in United States. The channel is called Aapka Colors. In July 2010, it got into 50/50 distribution joint venture with Sun Network to form Sun 18.
In December 2011, Viacom18 launched Nickelodeon Sonic, targeting young adults.
In January 2014, TV18 acquired the non-Telugu language TV assets of ETV Network for ₹2,053 crore, with a permission to use ETV brand name.
In March 2015, Viacom18 decided to rebrand all five non-Telugu language ETV regional general entertainment channels. ETV Marathi, ETV Gujarati, ETV Kannada, ETV Bangla and ETV Odia were rebranded into Colors Marathi, Colors Gujarati, Colors Kannada, Colors Bangla and Colors Odia respectively.
The company also owns Viacom18 Studios. On 31 January 2018, TV18 announced its acquisition of Viacom's majority in the joint venture, taking operational control and leaving Viacom with minority interest. On 1 October 2019, Viacom18 launched Colors HD in Malaysia on Astro Malaysia; every serial will be served with Malay and English subtitles.
More recently, the company had signed a deal with the National Basketball Association in order to deliver live NBA games to all of their own networks.
Channels and platforms[]
On-air channels[]
Following are the distribution channels available from TV18:
| Channel | Launched | Language | Category | SD/HD availability | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Colors TV | 2008 | Hindi | General Entertainment | SD+HD | |
| Colors Rishtey | 2014 | SD | |||
| Colors Cineplex | 2016 | Movies | SD+HD | ||
| Colors Cineplex Bollywood | 2021 | SD | |||
| Colors Cineplex Superhits | 2022 | ||||
| MTV | 1996 | Youth | SD+HD | ||
| MTV Beats | 2014 | Music | |||
| Sports18 Khel | 2022 | Sports | SD | ||
| Colors Infinity | 2015 | English | General Entertainment | SD+HD | |
| Comedy Central | 2012 | ||||
| VH1 | 2005 | Music | |||
| Sports18 1 | 2022 | Sports | |||
| Nickelodeon | 1999 | Hindi Tamil Telugu Malayalam Bengali Marathi Gujarati Kannada |
Kids | SD | |
| Nickelodeon Sonic | 2011 | ||||
| Nick Jr. | 2012 | Hindi English |
|||
| Nick HD+ | 2015 | HD | |||
| Colors Bangla | 2000 | Bengali | General Entertainment | SD+HD | Previously known as ETV Bangla |
| Colors Bangla Cinema | 2019 | Movies | SD | ||
| Colors Gujarati | 2002 | Gujarati | General Entertainment | Previously known as ETV Gujarati | |
| Colors Gujarati Cinema | 2019 | Movies | |||
| Colors Marathi | 2000 | Marathi | General Entertainment | SD+HD | Previously known as ETV Marathi |
| Colors Odia | 2002 | Odia | SD | Previously known as ETV Odia | |
| Colors Kannada | 2000 | Kannada | SD+HD | Previously known as ETV Kannada | |
| Colors Super | 2016 | SD | |||
| Colors Kannada Cinema | 2018 | Movies | |||
| Colors Tamil | 2018 | Tamil | General Entertainment | SD+HD |
Upcoming channels[]
| Channel | Launching Date | Language | Genre | Availability |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sports18 2 | rowspan="6" Template:TBA | English | Sports | SD+HD |
| Sports18 Hindi | Hindi | |||
| Sports18 Telugu | Telugu | |||
| Sports18 Tamil | Tamil | |||
| Sports18 Kannada | Kannada | |||
| Sports18 Malayalam | Malayalam |
