Creative account of BIG-CBS goes to McCann

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, in August this year. Following this announcement the BIG CBS Networks Pvt Ltd, called for a multi agency pitch and finally McCann Erickson has been announced as the creative agency that will be handling the creative services.

The agency is going to handle the Network's creative duties for it's soon to be launched three channels and the ad spend is believed to be of a sizeable worth. A lot of agencies participated in the pitch, and it is believed that McCann Erickson and Rediffussion Y & R were the main contenders. The news has been confirmed by a industry insider, though no official statement was provided.

RBNL and CBS Studios International had announced the joint venture company BIG CBS Networks Pvt Ltd. in August this year. Following the launch the Network had announced that it would gradually introduce three channels- BIG CBS Prime, a premium English general entertainment channel, BIG CBS Spark, India's first ever English youth channel and BIG CBS Love, India's first ever women's English entertainment channel.

While BIG CBS will initially focus on the English language general entertainment channels, the joint venture may also explore the option of launching Hindi Language and Regional Language general entertainment channels along with other possible projects in the future.

The joint venture with Reliance in India marks CBS Studios International's second significant launch of international channels in key markets this year. Last September, CBS established a joint venture with Chello Media to launch a suite of CBS branded channels in the U.K. The company also has ownership interests in SCI FI and TV1, which are pay television channels in Australia.