MUMBAI: Monica Tata has been appointed managing director of HBO India.

Tata joins the home entertainment network with immediate effect. She will be based in Mumbai and report in to HBO Asia CEO Jonathan Spink.

At HBO India, she will be responsible for introducing and developing various initiatives to enhance the company?s offerings in India and its subcontinent, including providing strategic direction and managing partner relationships.

Spink said, ?We are pleased to have Monica join the HBO Asia family. With Monica?s experience in the industry and her familiarity with our brand and channels, she is the ideal candidate to develop and grow HBO?s brand and market share in South Asia."

Tata said, ?I am excited to join the HBO Asia family as I love the brand and this is an exciting opportunity for me."

There are three 24-hour HBO movie channels available to viewers in India ? HBO, the blockbuster movie channel which was launched in 2000, and two premium advertising free movie channels, HBO Defined and HBO Hits, launched earlier this year that showcase the best of Hollywood and Bollywood content in high-definition and standard-definition.

One of HBO?s aims this year will be to build the distribution of the two premium channels. Tata said that as of now they are on two platforms Dish TV and Airtel. "We are negotiating with the other operators."

Tata adds that Shruti Bajpai who was HBO South Asia country manager has relocated to Dubai. "She continues to oversee marketing activities for HBO."

Tata has over 23 years of media experience and was most recently the General Manager, Entertainment Networks, South Asia for Turner International India where she was responsible for steering and overseeing all network initiatives across Turner?s entertainment brand portfolio in South Asia.

Prior to joining Turner she was the senior vice president -
advertising sales, Star India, where she was responsible for
advertising revenue on Star Movies, Star World, Channel [V], National Geographic Channel and the History Channel.

MUMBAI: Building on their partnership forged since the creation of the OCS in 2008, HBO and Orange Cinema Series, a movie and series service in France have renewed their multi-year agreement.

HBO president, programming sales Charles Schreger said, "HBO has been with OCS since the beginning. The respect and care given to our programming has been everything we could ask for from a partner. We could not be happier to continue this relationship and to have them serve as the home for our premieres in France."

OCS said this agreement confirms and bolsters our position as the first exclusive broadcaster of HBO programming in France. OCS will continue to air HBOs new series and to offer them 24 hours after their premiere broadcast in the US. OCS subscribers will, among others, be able to view season two of ?Girls? in January, season three of ?Game of Thrones? in April, season six of True Blood in June and season 4 of Boardwalk Empire in September 2013.

In addition, OCS subscribers will be able to view on-demand past seasons of shows including ?The Newsroom?, ?Veep?, ?Game of Thrones?, ?Boardwalk Empire?, ?True Blood?, ?The Sopranos? and ?The Wire?.

Orange head of content, OCS president Serge Laroye said, "For OCS, this new agreement with HBO, reinforces its editorial promise and contributes to its development. OCS is a unique service which boasts innovative services combined with rich, high-quality film and series. HBO series are must-watch events. They are central to OCS? positioning and help enrich its offering. We are very pleased to be able to pursue our partnership with HBO and, with this agreement, bring it to another level."

OCS is a bouquet of five thematic channels dedicated to cinema and series which offers its subscribers exclusive first run programming allied with innovative functionalities. Viewers have the opportunity to watch all of the programs live or on-demand. Among the innovative services there is "US+24", which gives fans of US series access to a selection of exclusive series, available on demand, 24 hours after they are first broadcast in the United States. There is also startover function, so that a program can be rewound to the beginning while it is being broadcast.

After successful launches in 2012 on Canalsat, SFR, Parabole R?union and Tahiti NUI, OCS continues to enrich its offering and to extend the distribution of its service to other operators.