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MUMBAI:
It has been hot on India in recent times even as its management
has been deliberating on its future in the US and elsewhere.
MGM Studios was earlier reportedly in talks with Reliance
ADA group for a partnership; then it struck a distribution
deal with Star Den to distribute a movie channel to cable
operators in the country. Prior to this, it had struck a deal
with Zee TV group's Dish TV for distributing its channel on
satellite TV. It had also earlier announced that it would
consider launching an India specific channel.
Now
the company has announced that it has hired a new hand - with
knowledge of India and exposure to the market - to head its
Asia Pacific operations. The professional we are referring
to is Ian Hogg, who has been name by the studio's Worldwide
Television operation as senior vice president and managing
director for the Asia-Pacific territory.
In
his new role, Hogg will oversee the distribution of MGM film
and television properties on a variety of platforms including
pay-TV, basic, free TV and digital media in the Asia- Pacific
region. He will also work closely with Marenzi on co-production
and business development initiatives for MGM Worldwide Television.
Hogg will be based in Sydney.
Hogg
had earlier founded and headed 'Theatre Red' a successful
TV production company out of Singapore and was representing
the Distraction Formats catalogue in Asia. It has offices
in Singapore, Indonesia, India, Malaysia and Taiwan.
Hogg
has had over 20 years experience working with companies such
as Channel Ten in Australia, TV3 in New Zealand, R.A. Becker
in Australia, the World Sports Group, before founding Theatre
Red. In late 2007, Hogg sold (TR) and recently relocated back
to his home of Sydney from where he was consulting for one
of Australia's top broadcasters Prime Media.
The
announcement of Hogg's appointment was made by Gary Marenzi,
co-President, Worldwide Television at MGM.
"We
are pleased to welcome Ian to our Worldwide TV Group,"
said Marenzi. "With his tremendous background and track
record in the region, Ian will make a great addition to our
team as we continue to expand our global television business."
MGM
Studios owns the world's largest library of modern films,
comprising approximately 4,000 titles, and over 10,400 episodes
of television programming. Its film library has received 205
Academy Awards, one of the largest award winning collections
in the world, and includes numerous successful film franchises,
including James Bond, Pink Panther and Rocky. MGM ownership
is owned by Providence Equity Partners (29 per cent), Texas
Pacific Group (21 per cent), Sony Corporation of America (20
per cent), Comcast (20 per cent), DLJ Merchant Banking Partners
(7 per cent) and Quadrangle Group (3 per cent).
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