Home grown media and entertainment group TV-18, now a part of the Reliance Industries stable, on Tuesday said it has renewed its pact with Turner Broadcasting System to offer viewers news, views and debates with a global perspective on the CNN-IBN platform."Both parties embark on this new chapter with a determination to refresh CNN-IBN and provide a credible, non-partisan service that will deliver the latest news about local affairs and an Indian perspective to international developments," a company statement said.
The agreement remains the same two-fold -- brand licensing and content sharing partnership. The duration of the pact, however, was not shared. The renewal also comes just ahead of the much-awaited launch of Reliance Jio 4G services that also has interests in the digital content space. "In this second term of our collaboration, we aim to present a brand new CNN IBN that will bring news with even greater speed, accuracy, clarity and credibility and keep the viewers tuned in to the latest news and developments much ahead of others," said Adil Zainulbhai, chairman of TV18.
"We are really excited about the future of CNN IBN and together with the new management at TV18," added Rani Raad, chief commercial Officer of CNN International.Asked as to what led to the change of heart after parting ways earlier this year, a spokesperson for the Indian entity said CNN and the new management at TV18 renewed their interest with a new-found commitment to invest together and further in the brand they jointly built. "In this second term, CNN and TV18 will forge a much closer working relationship to enable CNN IBN’s globally-savvy viewers to stay ahead. There is renewed interest and commitment from both sides," the spokesperson added.
The spokesperson also said editorial control and day-to-day running of the channel will remain as before with an editorial team of CNN-IBN. The two groups, the spokesperson added, will also work more closely with collaborations and resource sharing to refresh the channel significantly.A part of the larger Time Warner Group, CNN has 42 editorial offices and more than 1,100 affiliates worldwide through CNN Newssource.