ITV drives Granada into Middle East

The distribution arm of UK prodco ITV Studios has secured new carriage deals with three pay-TV platforms for its Asia-based entertainment channel ITV Granada.

ITV Studios Global Entertainment (ITVSGE) will send Granada (fka Granada TV) into the Middle East after partnering with the OSN DTH network. It will be available to subscribers in territories including Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Cyprus, Turkey, Egypt and UAE later this year.

India’s Bharti Airtel network will air Granada later this year, launching the channel in India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Maldives, Nepal and Bhutan.

South Korean cable operator CJ HelloVision will also broadcast the channel through its CJ Tving service, which makes 140 channels available to view on PCs, smartphones, tablets and smart TVs. It was previously only distributed in South Korea through SK Broadband’s IPTV service Nine Planners.

Granada airs entertainment shows, drama, comedy, reality and talkshows from the catalogue of UK-based commercial broadcaster ITV, including Coronation Street, Emmerdale, I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here!, and Dancing on Ice.

“The high-quality line-up of UK-produced programming available on ITV Granada is attracting huge interest in Asia and the Middle East,” said Augustus Dulgaro, ITVSGE’s senior VP sales Asia Pacific.

“Since its launch the channel’s reach has rapidly increased throughout the region and we are delighted to sign these new agreements which will bring ITV Granada to a range of key territories.”

Granada is already available across Asia through MioTV Singapore, Astro Malaysia, Now TV Hong Kong and Star Hub Singapore. The new deals extend its reach to 5.5 million people in more than 15 countries.