MUMBAI: For the first time MTV has renewed a primetime scripted series for a third season, making it the largest episode order in the scripted category to date.

MTV?s drama series ?Teen Wolf will gets its third season run, the US broadcaster announced at Comic-Con. It will feature 24 episodes, double the number of its first and second seasons, and will shoot in Los Angeles.

The drama about transformation is set against the backdrop of contemporary teen life, with a forbidden, romantic love story at its core. The series stars Tyler Posey as Scott McCall, Crystal Reed as Allison Argent, Dylan O?Brien as Stiles, Tyler Hoechlin as Derek Hale, Holland Roden as Lydia Martin and Colton Haynes as Jackson Whittemore.

MTV Programming head David Janollari said, "?Teen Wolf? represents a terrific foray into the scripted world for the millennial MTV audience, and marks tremendous success in the continued diversification of our schedule. Renewing the show for a third season celebrates the creative vision of executive producer Jeff Davis and the remarkable talent of the cast who bring this bona fide fan favourite to life."

?Teen Wolf? is part of MTV?s continued commitment to scripted programming, along with the comedy ?Awkward?, the launch of the comedy ?The Inbetweeners ? on 20 August, and the dramedy ?Underemployed? which will launch later this year.

Mumbai: MTV is launching a new show titled ?MTV Rush? on 15 July. The 13-part series will air every Sunday at 7 pm.

Produced by Milind Soman?s Face Entertainment in association with Bijoy Nambiar?s Getaway films, the show?s title sponsor is Vodafone. It is created by Nambiar (director of ?Shaitan?).

The story revolves around 12 characters and the one common string - a college festival. The film will roll out in 13 episodes and every episode will focus on one character. The series will see cameo appearance by popular faces like Pratik Babar, Shruti Hassan and Javed Jaffrey.

The show will provide a dose of entertainment, drama, action and some nail biting moments.

MTV India EVP and business head Aditya Swamy said, ?MTV Rush is a fresh concept and will be relayed as a 13 part series. We are very lucky to have one of Bollywood?s new age and very talented Directors, Bejoy Nambiar associated with the series. One must see the movie to believe how he can weave 12 different stories into one smashing narrative.?

Nambiar said, ?Rush to me is a visual trip that significantly portrays the lives of 12 characters over a period of 48 hours. Set against the backdrop of a college fest, the concept goes beyond just stories, it is the rush of life changing incidents, harsh realities and crazy moments...it?s not just a show, it?s going to be the trip of your life.?

Vodafone India senior VP brand communication and insights Anuradha Agarwal said, ?Vodafone MTV Rush promises to be a one of its kind show on Indian television and we are happy to partner the brand new concept.?

MUMBAI: Raghav Bahl is restructuring his media and entertainment companies under three operational heads as he gears up for expansion after getting Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) to indirectly invest in it.

Forming IndiaCast, a distribution company that houses content syndication as well, Bahl has got individual heads to shepherd the entertainment, news and distribution businesses that are entering a new growth phase.

Bahl‘s broad plan could be to bring the ETV regional entertainment channels under Viacom18 operational management while its news entities will be under TV18, a source familiar with the development says.

It is not clear yet if this operational structure will be allowed to transition into an equity arrangement. For this to happen, media conglomerate Viacom will have to agree to invest and induct the ETV entertainment channels into the joint venture company, Viacom18, where it holds 50 per cent stake.

"Nothing has been finalised yet. Viacom, no doubt, will be happy to have the regional GECs under Viacom18. A lot will also depend on how RIL wants the structure to evolve. But there are other issues as well," the source says.

As part of the plan to fortify its regional presence, TV18 acquired partial ownership in the broadcasting assets of Eenadu after valuing it at Rs 21 billion. With the purchase, the company has got 100 per cent stake in 5 regional news channels of ETV (where RIL has 100% interest), 50 per cent stake in 5 regional GEC channels excluding Telugu (where RIL has 100% interest) and 24.5 per cent stake in ETV Telugu channels (where RIL has 49% interest). The news channels include ETV Uttar Pradesh, ETV Madhya Pradesh, ETV Rajasthan, ETV Bihar, and ETV Urdu. The regional GECs are ETV Marathi, ETV Kannada, ETV Bangla, ETV Gujarati and ETV Oriya.

The restructuring exercise comes in the wake of these developments and the exit of Haresh Chawla who functioned as Network18 and Viacom18 Group CEO.

"The role of Chawla was too unwieldy as he had full control of all the group companies . After his exit, a restructuring was needed keeping in mind the growth plans," the source explains.

Network18 Group has a combined turnover of Rs 19.52 billion that includes 50 per cent of Viacom18 (Colors, MTV, etc), the news channels under TV18 (CNBC TV18, CNN IBN, IBN7, etc), the web properties and HomeShop18. As the company gears up to launch a Hindi movie channel (put on hold) and regional-language channels, a breakup in roles is the need of the hour.

"It wasn‘t practical for Chawla to oversee the whole of Bahl‘s empire. His operational role at Viacom18 at times was uncalled for and led to a quiet unrest," says a senior executive who has left the company on condition of anonymity.

Bahl Wednesday announced the hiring of Sudhanshu Vats, a senior executive at HUL, as the group CEO of Viacom18 Media. Under
 him will fall Colors, Comedy Central, MTV, Nick, Sonic, Vh1 and Viacom18 Motion Pictures. He has already recruited Anuj Gandhi, an industry veteran, to spearhead IndiaCast‘s growth.

Bahl‘s new structure will mean that the non-ad sales business falls under the care of Gandhi while Vats gets to groom the entertainment networks and Sai Kumar to directly nurse the news and web businesses while continuing his role as Network18 and TV18 Group CEO.

"Earlier, everybody was reporting to Chawla. Now the reality is that each of these lines of businesses need individual management and are too expanded to be operationally under one CEO," the source says.

Take IndiaCast, for example. The new distribution company, under which also resides the syndication business, is already having a turnover of Rs 4.30 billion. Bahl‘s ambition is to scale this up to the size of the biggies, particularly in a digital environment where there is going to be exponential growth in subscription revenues. Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (Zeel) reported domestic subscription of Rs 9.22 billion in FY‘12 and Rs 1.32 billion through other sales and services (syndication sales, playout & transmission services and facility usage income).

Bahl has given IndiaCast a wider playground, bringing under its umbrella content asset monetisation across geographies, platforms and mediums. The other channel distribution companies do not have such a broad canvass and content syndication falls outside their functional zones.

"Bahl believes that IndiaCast has enough leg room to grow and become a Rs 10 billion company over the next few years after digitisation of cable TV spreads," a media analyst at a broking firm says.

Vats will also have his plate full as the group expands its regional footprint and comes out with a Hindi movie channel and other entertainment products that are sure to launch in a digitised environment.

Kumar will have a tough task cut out for him as he tries to beat slow revenue growth for news channels. The web properties will 

also have to be guided to a scale that will make it comfortable for Bahl to tap the American market for raising capital through a public float.

After being rescued from a debt overhang by RIL, Bahl is laying out the new leadership structure that will provide fertile ground for new growth.

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Sudhanshu Vats joins Viacom18 as Group CEO

Mumbai: Viacom18 Media has appointed Sudhanshu Vats as its group CEO.

Vats will join in August and report to the Viacom18 board. He will be responsible for growth of all Viacom18 brands/businesses including Colors, Comedy Central, MTV, Nick, Sonic, Vh1 and Viacom18 Motion Pictures.

Vats is currently the vice president of Laundry, South Asia and Global Brand Radiant (Rin in India).

Network18 Group founder Raghav Bahl said, "Given Sudhanshu?s rich experience, his ability to lead large businesses and his acute understanding of the Indian diaspora, he is well poised to lead Viacom18 into its next phase of growth. Sudhanshu also brings with him an intense and interesting perspective on the entertainment business and that is sure to add a new dimension to Viacom18."

Network18 and TV18 group CEO Sai Kumar added, "Viacom18 comprises some of the most dynamic brands in the television and entertainment space that cater to a wide spectrum of audiences. Given Sudhanshu?s vast experience and an extremely successful track record with multi-brand portfolios, we?re confident of him driving each of the Viacom18 brands to its deserved place in the category."

"With Sudhanshu on board, we?re confident that Viacom18 will continue to redefine the many spaces it operates in," Viacom International Media Networks president and CEO Bob Bakish said.

Vats comes in with over 21 years of experience, including 19 years in Hindustan Unilever.