BIG CBS Prime to launch in November, just after Diwali

Early August this year, Reliance Broadcast Network Limited (RBNL), part of The Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group, and CBS Studios International, a division of CBS Corporation, announced their equally owned joint venture- BIG CBS. The venture was an initiative to launch three new channels, BIG CBS Prime, an English General Entertainment Channel (GEC); BIG CBS Spark, India's first ever English youth channel and BIG CBS Love, India's first ever women's English entertainment channel.

Following this the company ' BIG CBS has rolled out its plans to launch the first channel BIG CBS Prime sometime post Diwali. BIG CBS Prime will have content from CBS's programme library and will have the latest seasons of shows like "The Defenders', "Blue Bloods', "NCIS', "Survivor', "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation' and "Rachael Ray' among other shows.

Presently the company has tied up with BIG TV and Digi Cable, and aims at being available in 80% of homes across the country.

Talking exclusively to Adgully, Aparnaa Pande, Business Head, BIG CBS Networks Pvt. Ltd, said, "All the shows that we have are the latest seasons, so they are shows which the Indian audience is familiar with and the audiences have been watching the old seasons of these shows. So what we are giving to them are the latest and freshest shows. It is our key USP because nobody has heard of daily shows in the USA within 24 hours in India."

The company has already spent some crores in the teaser campaigns already and has some elaborative plans for the promotion and marketing of the channel.

The channel's current TG is audience in the age group of 18-34 years (SEC A and B). "In the beginning we have no plans to reach out to the Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities, because most of our target audiences are concentrated in the metros. Maybe later in the second stage, after we have established the channel then probably we will plan something for the smaller pockets too," Pande added.

The company has also planned a brand campaign for the launch of the channel. Talking about the advertisers' response, Pande, said, "We have got a great response from the advertisers. Our sales team has gone out and started presenting in the market. Moreover, they have never heard of such a thing and we have got a mind boggling response."

The company also plans to launch BIG CBS Spark in December and BIG CBS Love in February. | Prabha Hegde [prabha(at)adgully.com]