Taj Television to distribute Zee and Turner channels

Arun Kapoor will head Taj Television, which will continue to distribute Ten Sports channels.

Post the MediaPro (a distribution JV between Star Den and Zee Turner) split, Zee Entertainment Enterprises (ZEEL), has got on board Taj Television India, a subsidiary, to handle the distribution for its channels. Taj Television has a repertoire of 47 television channels, which include well-known brands belonging to ZEEL, Zee Media Corporation, and Turner International India.

According to the official communique, Taj Television distributes channels that are leaders in 15 out of the 19 markets and has nine leadership channels across eight genres. The latest addition to the bouquet is Zindagi, a Hindi GEC, which will be launched on June 23. The channel reinforces the vision of ZEE's corporate philosophy 'Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam - The world is my family' and aims to unite people in India and across the world with shows produced overseas.

Arun Kapoor, who led MediaPro for the last three years, will head Taj Television as its chief executive officer. Meanwhile, Rajesh Sethi will continue to be the CEO for Sports broadcasting network of ZEEL. Punit Goenka, MD and CEO, ZEEL says, "I am very pleased to announce that Taj Television, which earlier was distributing Ten Sports, will now distribute all the channels of Zee Entertainment and Zee Media Corporation, while also representing Turner channels as its authorised agent. I would like to thank all our DTH and cable partners who have been part of our growth journey and look forward to their continued support to Taj Television."

Says Kapoor, "With Taj Television being created as the distribution entity for the network, we bring together the best of television channels to our customers. We are confident that the new channel Zindagi will really connect with the viewers and help grow Taj Television offering even stronger."

Atul Das, president, Taj Television adds, "With digitisation having been completed in Phase I and Phase II cities in India, we now look forward to its implementation in the rest of the country. Taj Television will aim to create a harmonious relationship within the ecosystem and create value for all stakeholders."

Taj Television distributes brands like Zee TV, Zee Cinema, &pictures, Ten Sports, Zee Cafe, Zee Studio, Zing and a repertoire of regional language channels including Zee Marathi, Zee Bangla, Zee Telugu, Zee Kannada and Zee Tamizh, besides the HD channels like Zee TV HD, Zee Cinema HD, Zee Studio HD and Ten HD. Taj Television also distributes channels of Zee Media Corporation, the company's news network in India with two national and eight regional channels. These channels are available across the country.

Taj is also distributing the leading channels in the kid's space and English movie segment. These include HBO, Cartoon Network, Pogo, CNN and Warner Brothers as an authorised agent of Turner International.