MUMBAI: Media and entertainment firm Viacom18 today said it is expanding its regional footprint and will launch a regional general entertainment channel (GEC) Colors Tamil in the last quarter of 2017.
This will be the network's seventh regional entertainment brand and third in the South market.
Viacom18 operates GECs in the Kannada, Marathi, Gujarati, Odia and Bangla markets and the company had last year launched its second GEC in the Kannada market -- Colors Super.
"Driving regional aggressively is one of our foremost strategic thrusts. Given that almost 60 per cent of our country speaks in regional languages and this market is under-indexed on television, it is imperative that this segment will continue to grow rapidly in the years ahead," Viacom18 Group Chief Executive Officer Sudhanshu Vats said in a statement.
"The launch of Colors Tamil is a step towards widening our reach in regional markets by entering the largest regional market in the country. The Tamil content market is highly competitive and well-primed for disruption, making this the opportune time for our entry," he added.