Bloomberg Media launches joint venture in India

Bloomberg Media has unveiled a new joint venture in India with Quintillion Media, a digital news venture founded by Raghav Bahl, an entrepreneur who was instrumental in bringing CNBC programming to India, reports Brian Steinberg of Variety.

Steinberg writes, “Under the rubric BloombergQuint, the two companies will produce TV programming, digital and mobile content and live events across India and deliver business and financial news to a population whose interest in such stuff is growing exponentially, according to Bahl.

“Bloomberg has partnered with other companies to deliver its TV programming abroad, said Justin Smith, chief executive of Bloomberg Media, during an interview at the company’s New York headquarters, but this alliance marks the first time Bloomberg has sought a partnership to encompass multiple media platforms.

“‘It’s one thing to want to bring your brand as part of a global strategy, to have an outpost in a market,’ he said. ‘It’s another thing to intentionally say we want to be the leading distributor in Indian business media over the next number of decades. We want to do that for digital. We want to do that for television. We want to do that for live events, and other platforms down the line.’

“Under the terms of the deal, Bloomberg will have a minority stake in the new joint venture. Bahl and Smith declined to offer specific financial terms. ‘We will invest what it takes, within reason,’ said Smith. The company has distributed programming in India through a deal with Reliance Communications that recently ended.”

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