Viacom airs six-year deal for six channels in Turkey

MTV will relaunch on the Digiturk pay TV service in Turkey in a six-year carriage deal that covers six Viacom channels in all. Viacom International Media Networks (VIMN) extricated itself from a joint venture with Multichannel Developers that ended in dispute and with MTV being pulled from the Digiturk platform.

The new agreement clears the way for localised versions of the European feeds of six VIMN channels on Digiturk. MTV and MTV Live will roll out on March 1.

Kids channels Nickelodeon, Nickelodeon HD and Nick Jr. will also launch exclusively on Digiturk. Nick will launch on March 1 and the other two soon after.

The carriage deal between VIMN and Digiturk also covers VH1, which was already on the platform. As part of the deal, Digiturk will sell take on ad sales for MTV and Nick in Turkey.

“We’re pleased to announce our new partnership with Digiturk for the distribution of our channels across Turkey,” said Antonio Campo Dall’Orto, executive vice-president, VIMN South Europe, Middle East & Africa. “We’re excited to be expanding our presence in the Turkey, where we see vast opportunities to grow and strengthen our youth and kids’ properties.”

MTV originally launched in Turkey in 2006 before being pulled from Digiturk in 2010.