Consolidation in the distribution business continues, and this is a big one - STAR DEN Media Services, a 50:50 joint venture between Star India and DEN Networks, has agreed to form a 50:50 joint venture with Zee Turner Limited for jointly distributing channels licensed to the two distribution entities across. The joint venture company will be called Media Pro Enterprise India Private Limited. Zee Turner is itself a 74:26 joint venture between Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd and Turner International Private Limited. The Zee Turner alliance is around 10 years old. From a cable, DTH or IPTV service provider perspective, this deal brings to the same distribution entity, channels from the STAR DEN bouquet - Star Plus, Star One, Star Gold, Star Moviews, Star World, Vijay TV, Star Utsav, Star News, Channel V, NatGeo, Fox History and Entertainment, FC, Asianet, Asianet Plus, Star CJ, NDTV 24x7, NDTV India, among others, as well those from Zee Turner - Zee TV, Zee Cinema, Cartoon Network, HBO, WB, Zee Studio, Zee Business, Zee Cafe etc. At present, the TV content distribution business is largely controlled by access service providers - DTH companies and Multi-System Operators (MSO)s, which take a carriage fee for distributing channels. A consolidation between distribution aggregators gives the channels an opportunity to negotiate lower carriage fees. Meanwhile, CNBC-TV18 reports, quoting unnamed sources, that Competition Commission of India is examining the Media Pro deal. Note that PTI has also reported the same, also quoting sources. Readers should keep in mind that CNBC-TV18…
