NDTV gets a boost

India's success in the IT-Software and outsourcing world has been well documented. Be it the fancy BPO,KPO or LPO India had always had the better of it when it came to the 'O'. All this while Indians have always maintained that they were destined to be the next Superpower.

However in a recognition of India's growing entertainment market in particular and the nation in general, Global media and entertainment firm NBC Universal acquired a 26% stake in New Delhi Television (NDTV) Networks for $150 million. What it means is that NBC has bought stake in the entertainment arm (NDTV Imagine),Lifestyle Channel (NDTV Good Times), Convergence, NGen and NDTV Labs. What's more significant is that they have not bought any part of the 3 news channels. What it also means is that NBC has now got a firm foothold in India as it may now join NDTV to launch its channels in the country.


NDTV Networks had last year raised $120 million through private equity placement that reportedly included Lehman Brothers, Goldman Sachs, Credit Suisse and Velocity Interactive Group (earlier called ComVentures) for a nearly 24% stake.

This is the third deal of a major US media conglomerate taking a stake in a TV network in India recently.Viacom has a 50 - 50 JV with Network18 in Viacom 18 and Disney has picked up a 14.85% stake in UTV. CNBC, which is controlled by NBC, has an equity joint venture with Television Eighteen, which runs the CNBC-TV18 business news channel in India.