Viacom18 Media has strengthened its regional network of offerings with the launch of a new 24-hour Gujarati premium movie channel: Colors Gujarati Cinema. This will be the company’s second Gujarati language channel, with a general entertainment channel — Colors Gujarati — already operating in the market.
According to industry sources, this is part of the network’s steady expansion into the regional television segment, which is the fastest growing in the television sector. The company had launched another similar premium movie channel -- Colors Kannada Cinema -- recently. The most recent Gujarati channel launched by the network will be the only such product in the Indian market currently, since no other network offers a Gujarati movie channel. Ravish Kumar, head - regional TV Network, Viacom18, pointed out that, “Gujarati language has clocked the highest growth rate amongst all language TV viewership with an astounding 36 per cent year-on-year growth”. And with movies as a TV genre enjoys 25 per cent viewership in Gujarat, the new launch seeks to draw a boost from both these high-growth trends. For Colors Gujarati Cinema, the network is entering the fray with a library of over 300 titles across genres like action, drama, comedy, romance and mythology.
“Four years ago we consolidated and rebranded our play in regional TV broadcast under the Colors umbrella. Gujarat presents a unique opportunity for us as we can leverage our regional GEC Colors Gujarati’s strong 43% market share position and capture a current whitespace in the market – movie broadcast,” said Sudhanshu Vats, Group CEO & managing director, Viacom18.