MUMBAI: Viacom is acquiring Awesomeness TV Holdings, a media company and digital-first destination for original programming which will go live under Viacom Digital Studios (VDS) and play an important role in Viacom’s premium content production ecosystem, drive additional growth at VDS, and strengthen digital and social relationships in youth culture.

Viacom already has strong audience connections with kids via Nickelodeon and young adults via MTV. While VDS has been growing briskly – more than tripling digital streams since 2016 and doubling YouTube subscribers over the past year, as total social views and watch time soared by 112 and 104 per cent, respectively. Awesomeness’ dedicated sales force, branded content studio, and existing relationships with brands such as Hollister, Gatorade and Invisalign will further drive VDS’ growth and profitability.

VDS president and chief business officer of Awesomeness Kelly Day said, “Awesomeness has done an incredible job building their brand into a digital media powerhouse for todays most sought-after and hard-to-reach youth audiences. The team brings strong digital expertise, deep connections with top talent and influencers, and a robust branded content studio and creative agency that will accelerate the growth and scale of VDS.”

With distribution deals with major SVOD players and its own Emmy-winning, youth-focused studios that have produced 200 hours of long-form television and feature film content, Awesomeness’ proven content development and production abilities are good fit for Viacom, which has moved deliberately to ramp up its capabilities in this area recently: consolidating several operations across the Americas into Viacom International Studios to service global markets; moving to a studio model under which Nickelodeon, MTV and other brands will licence and produce shows based on intellectual property for third-party platforms; and building paramount pictures’ paramount television production arm from scratch into a $400-million-and-growing annual business.