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NEW
DELHI: Boosting its investments in India, Turner International
Wednesday announced it would roll out a Hollywood entertainment
channel on 15 March in partnership with sister arm Warner
Brothers Entertainment.
The
channel is called 'WB' and will have a mix of Hollywood movies
and TV series. Having the tagline ‘Now that’s Hollywood,'
it will be distributed by Zee Turner.
The
Warner branded pay channel is targeted at the upward mobile
class between the age group of 15-44.
Says
Turner Broadcasting System Asia Pacific president Steve Marcopto,
“Following on the successful launch of Real, our first
Hindi general entertainment channel, early this week, we are
thrilled to be introducing another distinctive new channel
from Turner Broadcasting, WB. For nearly two decades Turner
Broadcasting Systems has built its leadership in the India
media and entertainment industry on bedrock of rich, powerful
and compelling content. Now we expand our foundation with
WB, leveraging the greatest hits from the largest and fastest-growing
film and television library in the world. With a distinctive
feel and creatively presented franchises, it will indeed be
‘entertainment made better’.”
The
channel's primetime has been divided into five segments -
WB Platinum (which will showcase channel premieres); WB Nitro
(action flicks); WB Triple Play features (all time entertainers);
WB Cinematheque (classic films) and WB Premieres (mix of comedy
and drama series).
“We
are pleased to be providing our programming and the iconic
Warner brand to our sister company Turner to launch WB branded
service and to bring the best of Hollywood entertainment to
viewers in India. Available 24 hours per day, WB will showcase
our world-class motion picture franchises and hit TV series,
and we look forward to working closely with Turner to make
WB a hit with Indian viewers,” adds Warner Bros. International
Television president Jeffrey R Schlesinger.
Schelesinger
further added that while India is an important market for
the broadcaster in the APAC Region (Asia Pacific), it will
take some time for it to become the fastest growth market
in terms of revenue.
Since
the launch date of 15 March coincides with Warner Brothers’
86 anniversary, Turner will launch WB86, a 86-hour movie marathon,
wherein the channel will show some of the most popular movies
ranging from Casablanca to The Dark Night.
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