TV18 and CNN to part ways from Jan 2016

They have a ten-year licensing pact, which they have decided not to renew

Independent Media Trust (IMT)-owned TV18 will be concluding its 10-year licensing arrangement with Turner’s CNN in January 2016. IMT is owned by Reliance Industries. The two brands — CNN and TV18’s IBN — had entered the agreement in 2005, giving rise to the network’s English news channel, CNN-IBN.

The conclusion of the arrangement will enable each company thereafter to chart its own growth trajectory independently in the India media space.

A P Parigi, group chief executive officer, Network18, said: “The last decade has seen a lot of momentum in the Indian media industry and has been particularly exciting for us. During this time, we witnessed two media houses coming together to redefine the way news was presented to a demanding audience; we at TV18 had benefited from this relationship with CNN. At the launch of the channel, TV18 was a relatively small organisation; that had changed now. Network18 has grown from two news channels in 2005 to 17 news channels in 2015. Today, we have the largest footprint in the current affairs, regional and business news space. The TV18 line-up of channels today are well established and highly regarded in this dynamic, complex and challenging environment.”

CNN International Chief Commercial Officer Rani Raad said, “We are very proud to have created CNN-IBN in our decade-long partnership with TV18. The channel was a pioneering initiative that combined the best of CNN’s global expertise with TV18’s journalistic and newsgathering capabilities. We have truly valued this long standing partnership.”  He further added, “As the number one international news brand in Asia Pacific and the rest of the world, and the winner of multiple prestigious awards, CNN International, continues to lead and serve consumers in India with the best of global news content across multi-platforms.”

It is yet unknown how Turner plans to continue presence in the news broadcast space.