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TV18, a group company of Network18, on Thursday announced plans to launch a business magazine in India in partnership with international business publisher Forbes Media.
The alliance includes a content licensing arrangement and also envisages introduction of other Forbes products in the country. The partnership will bring in strengths in the print space and synergise well with its television and new media properties.
"Our partnership with Forbes for a business magazine is another compelling testimony to the growing acceptance of the Indian growth story worldwide. Rapid economic expansion, change in consumer mindsets and deepening of the market economy in the country have led to an enabling environment for business brands. We will be strongly positioned to deliver a benchmark offering in the market by fusing the strong editorial and brand lineage of Forbes and our proven expertise in the Indian business media market," said Raghav Bahl, managing director, Network18.
The group has publicly made its intention to get into the print medium which includes forays into magazines and newspapers.
To operationalise its strategy it bought over majority equity stake in specialised magazine company Infomedia India from ICICI Venture. This has been now followed up by the Forbes deal. Bahl in interviews has talked about looking for a foray into the newspaper segment which could also include acquisition.
TV18 is just one among the many other media houses which are tying up with foreign publishing firms to bring their products in the country.
Ananda Bazaar group for instance has tied up with Fortune magazine, a direct competitor to Forbes internationally. Outlook has tied up with the People magazine.
With this venture, the group will now have presence across the media and entertainment space. Network18, through its companies TV18, Global Broadcast News (GBN), Web18, Newswire18, Studio18 has presence across television broadcasting, internet, films, home shopping, events, and so on.
This year has witnessed two major deals for the growing media conglomerate. Early this year, it formed a joint venture with Viacom, called Viacom 18, under which it will launch Hindi general entertainment channels among several other channels.
This apart, this week it acquired Infomedia India, which publishes yellow pages and other magazines.
This also marks the entry of Forbes into India. "India is one of the prime markets Forbes wanted to enter for sometime. We were waiting for the right partner and have reached a partnership agreement with Network18, one of the most respected and fastest-growing media companies in India. We look forward to making Forbes available to this forceful market soon," said Steve Forbes, chairman, CEO and editor-in-chief, Forbes.
Forbes magazine itself is a legendary business brand celebrating 90 years of existence this year. It enjoys a loyal following amongst a 5 million strong global audience comprising business leaders, entrepreneurs, corporate executives and upwardly mobile professionals.
In recent years, Forbes magazine has increased its international presence with highly successful titles such as 'Forbes Asia' and licensed local language editions such as Forbes China, Forbes Russia and Forbes Arabia among others.
Forbes magazine is renowned for its wide array of business content ranging from leadership, finance & international business to marketing, technology & entrepreneurship.
It has also diversified into being a globally accepted benchmark for quality & performance with its famous lists covering companies, people & places, education, personal finance, sports, lifestyle & technology, apart from special reports.
