Warner Bros. Discovery India
From Wikipedia the free encyclopedia
 | |
| Formerly | Turner Broadcasting System India (1989–2020) Warner Media Entertainment Networks India (2020–2022) |
|---|---|
| Company type | Division |
| Predecessor | WarnerMedia India(2019-2022) Discovery India (1995–2022) |
| Founded | 1995 (original) 2022 (merger with Discovery India) |
| Headquarters | India |
Area served | India |
| Products | |
| Owner | Warner Bros. Discovery |
| Parent | Warner Bros. Discovery International |
Warner Bros. Discovery India is a division of Warner Bros. Discovery Asia-Pacific that operates several television channels in India, along with the Discovery+ streaming service.[1][2][3]
History
Turner International India (TimeWarner)
In 1995 Turner came to India with launch of Cartoon Network, the first kids channel in India.
In 2004 the company launched Pogo.[4]
Turner's CNN International only reached the urban population in India. To reach the Indian masses Turner Broadcasting System together with an Indian company, Global Broadcast News (currently TV18 Broadcast Limited), launched the channel in India as CNN-IBN on 18 December 2005. The channel was completely run by TV18 Broadcast Limited, which only used the Cable News Network (CNN) brand name.[5]
The company launched WB Channel on 15 March 2009.[6] The channel featured a mix of Hollywood films and (formerly) television dramas from the Warner Bros. Vault.
In 2009Real TV was launched, Real was a Hindi entertainment channel launched by Turner International India in a 50:50 joint venture with Alva Brothers Entertainment on 2 March 2009 based in Mumbai, Maharashtra. The channel ceased all its operations in March 2010 due to low GRPs and minimum viewership. Also, the channel lacked sponsors and new shows since September 2009 and aired re-runs of its former shows.[7][8][9][10][11]
On 8 December 2009, it was announced that Turner Asia Pacific Ventures (a wholly owned subsidiary of Turner Broadcasting System) had acquired a 92% stake in NDTV Imagine Ltd.[12] NDTV's 76 percent stake in NDTV Imagine would be given to Turner for $67 million, and the Time Warner company would acquire fresh equity worth $50 million to get 92% control. NDTV Imagine Ltd. ran NDTV Imagine, NDTV Lumiere and NDTV Imagine Showbiz television channels and film production transfer of shares, amounting to 85.68% of NDTV Imagine Ltd, by NDTV Networks Plc to Turner Asia Pacific Ventures.[13] The three channels will be under Turner General Entertainment Networks, a holding company that will infuse fresh capital to fund the network's growth. The 'NDTV' brand was dropped, and the channels were relabeled Imagine TV, Lumiere Movies and Imagine Showbiz. Imagine Showbiz was sold in January 2011 to Reliance Broadcast Network.
In 2015, the company launched Toonami.
Before the launch of HBO India, HBO Asia tried replicating the premium model in India. But then HBO decided it wasn't commercially viable, so the channel was launched in India and also in Bangladesh, Pakistan and Maldives.[14]
TiimeWarner with collaboration with Eros International launched HBO Defined and HBO Hits across India on 21 February 2013 on Dish TV and Airtel Digital TV. These channels are commercial-free. The content of both the channels include movies as well as most of HBO Original Programming. When the channels launched, the main HBO channel stopped airing original series.[15]
In 2015, HBO had decided to exit the Indian market and license the channel to Turner International India previously it was handled by Asian feed.[16] The channel was revamped in February 2016 after a survey conducted by the channel team to better suit the masses.[17][18] HBO Defined and HBO Hits would be handled by Star India, however HBO Defined and HBO Hits SD was shut down on 31 December 2015 while HBO Hits HD was replaced by HBO HD on 4 September 2016.[19]
On 15 May June Toonami got shutdown and Cartoon Network HD+ was launched on 18 May 2018.
WarnerMedia
After AT&T acquired TimeWarner in USA, the company became to known as WarnerMedia world widely.
WarnerMedia announced on 15 October 2020 that HBO South Asia and WB Channel would close down on 15 December 2020. The HBO channel would no longer be available in India and Pakistan after this date, while WB Channel ceased to exist in India, Bangladesh, Pakistan and the Maldives.[20]
HBO India had closed down at midnight with the last movie on the SD channel being Mad Max: Fury Road (completed 1 hour before the shutdown) and the last movie on the HD channel being Memoirs of a Geisha. HBO Pakistan was also closed down at midnight.[20]
Warner Bros. Discovery
In July 2022, Discovery Communications and WarnerMedia merged in India. And announced a new team.[21]
In 2023 Warner Bros. Discovery and Viacom18 today announced a new multi-year agreement, making JioCinema India's new streaming home of HBO, Max Original and Warner Bros. content starting next month.[22]
Units
- Discovery+
- Discovery School Super League
- CNN-News18- A 24-hour English news channel in partnership with GBN (a TV18 company)
- ZEDO
Warner Bros. Pictures India
| Year | Film | Notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | Saas Bahu Aur Sensex | First Indian movie distributed by Warner Bros. India. | [23] |
| 2009 | Chandni Chowk to China | Hindi movie | [24] |
| 2010 | Atithi Tum Kab Jaoge | Hindi movie | [25] |
| Jaane Kahan Se Aayi Hai | Hindi movie | [26] | |
| Phas Gaye Re Obama | Hindi movie | [26] | |
| 2011 | Utt Pataang | Hindi movie | [26] |
Former Units
- Media Pro Enterprise India Pvt. Ltd., in partnership with Star Den Media Services Pvt. Ltd. Formed in May 2011, the company distributes the largest channel bouquet covering a total of 65 channels.
- Real (a 50/50 joint partnership between Turner and Alva Brothers.)
- Zee Turner Limited, a TV distribution company, in partnership with Zee Entertainment Enterprises.
Owned channels
Operating channels
Warner Bros. Discovery India currently owns and operates 18 TV channels (12 SD + 6HD) across many Indian languages – English, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada, Marathi and Bengali.
| Channel | Logo | Launched | Language (s) | Category | SD/HD availability | Notes | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cartoon Network |  | 1 May 1995 | English Hindi Tamil Telugu Malayalam Kannada | Kids | SD & HD (as Cartoon Network HD+) | 1st kids channel in India and oldest among other sister channels. | [27][28] |
| Pogo |  | 1 January 2004 | Hindi Tamil Telugu Malayalam Kannada Marathi | SD | [29] | ||
| Cartoon Network HD+ |  | 18 May 2018 | Hindi English Tamil Telugu | HD & SD (as Cartoon Network) | Different feed from Cartoon Network. | [30] | |
| CNN International |  | 1 January 2000 | English | News | SD | [31] | |
| Discovery Channel |  | 15 August 1995 5 March 2010 (HD feed) | Hindi English Tamil Telugu Malayalam Kannada Bengali Marathi | Wildlife and Information | SD & HD | [31][32] | |
| Animal Planet |  | 29, March 1999 (SD Feed) 23, July 2014 (HD feed) | Hindi English Tamil | [33] | |||
| TLC |  | October 2004 (SD) 2 June 2014 (HD) | English and Hindi | Knowledge and Lifestyle | Formerly Discovery Travel & Living | [31][34] | |
| Discovery Science |  | January, 2010 | SD | [31] | |||
| Discovery Turbo |  | [31] | |||||
| Investigation Discovery |  | 1 June 2014 (SD) 31 January 2018 (HD) | General Entertainment | Formerly Discovery Jeet (2018-2019) and Jeet Prime (2019-2020). | [31][35] | ||
| Discovery Kids |  | 7 August 2012 | Hindi Tamil Telugu Malayalam Kannada Marathi | Kids | [36][37] | ||
| Eurosport |  | 6 February 2017 (SD & HD) | English | Sports | SD & HD | Formerly | [31][38] |
| DTamil |  | 1 April 2003 | Tamil only | Wildlife and Information | SD | Formerly Discovery12 and Discovery Tamil. | [31][39] |
Defunct channels
| Channel | Logo | Discontinued | Replaced By | Language | SD/HD Avability | Category | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Imagine TV |  | 12 April 2012 | Hindi | SD | General Entertainement | [40][41] | |
| Imagine Showbiz | 15 August 2008 | [40][41] | |||||
| Real | March 2010 | [40][41] | |||||
| Toonami |  | 15 May 2018 | Cartoon Network HD+ | English and Hindi | Kids | [42] | |
| WB Channel | 15 December 2020 | Movies | [43] | ||||
| Lumiere Movies | 2012 | [44] | |||||
| Investigation Discovery | | 12 February 2018 | Discovery Jeet | Hindi and English | SD & HD | General Entertainment | [45] |
| Discovery Jeet | 31 January 2018 | Jeet Prime | [46] | ||||
| Jeet Prime | 13 January 2020 | Investigation Discovery | [47] | ||||
| HBO |  | 15 December 2020 | English | SD & HD | Movies | [43] | |
| HBO Defined | | [48] | |||||
| HBO Hits |  | 31 December 2015 | HBO HD | [49] |
References
- ^ "HBO Max and Discovery+ to Merge as Streaming Platform 'Max': Report". Gadgets 360. 12 April 2023. Retrieved 4 November 2023.
- ^ www.ETTelecom.com. "WarnerMedia, Discovery complete merger, become Warner Bros Discovery - ET Telecom". ETTelecom.com. Retrieved 4 November 2023.
- ^ "What the WarnerMedia-Discovery deal means for India". Indian Advertising Media & Marketing News – exchange4media. Retrieved 4 November 2023.
- ^ "Turner International India to launch 24-hour kids' channel, POGO". afaqs!. 25 November 2003. Retrieved 4 November 2023.
- ^ "IBNLive, CNN-IBN | PreventionWeb". www.preventionweb.net. 27 October 2010. Retrieved 4 November 2023.
- ^ "Turner And Warner Bros. Entertainment To Entertain India With The Launch Of A New Channel: WB". www.warnerbros.com. Archived from the original on 22 December 2017. Retrieved 19 December 2017.
- ^ Sangeeta, Talwar (16 February 2010). "What keeps 9X and Real up and running?". afaqs. Retrieved 17 December 2015.
- ^ Turner launches Hindi GEC via local JV Real shutters within a year. Television post. 2 September 2013.
- ^ Imagine TV to shut down as viewership declines. Livemint. Shuchi Bansal. April 2012.
- ^ Second Time Unlucky. The Hoot. 19 April 2012.
- ^ Imagine is not Real: Steve Marcopoto, Turner Broadcasting. Exchange4Media. Noor Fathima Warsia. Monday, 9 May 2011
- ^ "Turner buys 92% stake in NDTV Imagine". Biz Asia. 8 December 2009. Archived from the original on 5 September 2012. Retrieved 1 June 2012.
- ^ "Turner completes acquisition, NDTV Imagine becomes Imagine TV". Indian Television. 24 February 2010.
- ^ OSBORNE, MAGZ (21 August 2000). "HBO Asia May Expand Ad-Supported Approach". Multichannel. Archived from the original on 22 December 2019. Retrieved 22 December 2019.
- ^ "HBO Defined and HBO Hits go on-air". Indian Advertising Media & Marketing News – exchange4media. Archived from the original on 24 January 2018. Retrieved 23 January 2018.
- ^ Kohli-Khandekar, Vanita (19 December 2014). "Is HBO giving up on its India market?". Business Standard India. Archived from the original on 22 December 2019. Retrieved 22 December 2019.
- ^ "HBO India gets branding, packaging revamp". afaqs!. Archived from the original on 22 December 2019. Retrieved 22 December 2019.
- ^ Malvania, Urvi (24 February 2016). "HBO moves from niche to mass". Business Standard India. Archived from the original on 4 July 2022. Retrieved 17 December 2020.
- ^ "#Experience The Magic with HBO HD!". Turner. 6 September 2016. Archived from the original on 24 January 2018. Retrieved 23 January 2018.
- ^ a b "Popular English film channels HBO and WB to be discontinued in India; find out why". DNA India. 18 October 2020. Archived from the original on 28 November 2020. Retrieved 16 December 2020.
- ^ "Arjun Nohwar named General Manager India of Warner Bros. Discovery, Megha Tata to move out - Exchange4media". Indian Advertising Media & Marketing News – exchange4media. Retrieved 3 November 2023.
- ^ "Warner Bros. Discovery and Viacom18 announce exclusive content partnership for India". afaqs!. 27 April 2023. Retrieved 3 November 2023.
- ^ "WarnerBros.com | Warner Bros. Pictures India Enters Into An Exclusive Three Film Pact With People Tree Films | Press Releases". www.warnerbros.com. Retrieved 3 November 2023.
- ^ Shackleton2007-08-22T06:21:00+01:00, Liz. "Warner Bros enters Hindi-language film production". Screen. Retrieved 3 November 2023.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ Nayar, Ravi (14 June 2018). "4 famous Hollywood studios that've collaborated with Indian Film Production Houses". Medium. Retrieved 3 November 2023.
- ^ a b c "6 Hollywood Production Houses That Have Come To Bollywood". Business Insider. Retrieved 3 November 2023.
- ^ "Cartoon Network - How has Cartoon Network been able to run successfully in the Indian Television - Studocu". Studocu. Retrieved 1 August 2023.
- ^ "Warner Bros. Discovery DTH Entertainment Pack @ Rs. 15/- | Cartoon Network India". Retrieved 7 August 2023.
- ^ "Turner International India to launch 24-hour kids' channel, POGO". afaqs!. 25 November 2003.
- ^ "Cartoon Network HD+ launched in India".
- ^ a b c d e f g h Warner Bros Discovery Network | Buy @₹15/month | Contact your Cable/DTH Operator Now!, retrieved 7 August 2023
- ^ "Discovery Channel to complete 20 Years in India". 2015.
- ^ Warner Bros. Discovery Channels | Entertainment Pack at Only Rs. 15/Month | Animal Planet India, retrieved 7 August 2023
- ^ "TLC to replace Discovery Travel and Living from 1 September". Indian Television Dot Com. 29 July 2010. Retrieved 7 August 2023.
- ^ "Investigation Discovery launched in India". Business Standard.
- ^ Warner Bros Discovery Network | Buy @₹15/month | Contact your Cable/DTH Operator Now!, retrieved 7 August 2023
- ^ Choudhary, Vidhi (31 July 2012). "Discovery Networks launches Discovery Kids in India". mint. Retrieved 7 August 2023.
- ^ Arasu, Basil Kannagi (17 March 2020). "MIB permits Discovery Communications India to launch Eurosport in India; renames DSport & DSport HD to Eurosport & Eurosport HD". dreamdth.com. Retrieved 7 August 2023.
- ^ "Discovery Networks goes full throttle; launches Discovery Channel Tamil". afaqs!. 10 August 2011. Retrieved 7 August 2023.
- ^ a b c "Real reviewsbiz plan, downsizes ops". ITV Team. Indian Television.com. 7 September 2009. Archived from the original on 11 September 2009. Retrieved 16 December 2015.
- ^ a b c "Turner shuts down Imagine TV". Rediff team. Rediff. 13 April 2012. Retrieved 16 December 2015.
- ^ Bureau, Adgully (20 April 2018). "Curtains down on Turner India's kids' channel Toonami from May 15". www.adgully.com. Retrieved 7 August 2023.
- ^ a b "Popular English film channels HBO and WB to be discontinued in India; find out why". DNA India. Retrieved 7 August 2023.
- ^ "Lumiere Movies to shutdown".
- ^ Bansal, Shuchi (22 December 2017). "Karan Bajaj: A winning discovery". mint. Retrieved 13 August 2023.
- ^ "Discovery Jeet to cease original programming by June-end, launch fresh intl content in H2 FY19". televisionpost.com. Retrieved 10 June 2018.
- ^ "Jeet had reached 140 million on launch day". [dead link]
- ^ "Experience the magic with HBO HD!". Turner. 6 September 2016. Archived from the original on 5 October 2017. Retrieved 7 August 2023.
- ^ "Experience the magic with HBO HD!". Turner. 6 September 2016. Archived from the original on 5 October 2017. Retrieved 7 August 2023.