LONDON – Sony Pictures Television has acquired five UK TV new pay-TV channels in a bid to expand its British foothold, after launching Sony Entertainment Television here last year.
Sony has bought Dolphin Broadcasting Limited, which owns the five Movies4Men themed channels and has taken a majority stake in Dolphin’s TV ad sales business.
The deal – for an undisclosed sum – will give Sony additional channels as well as a platform to build out its advertising sales operation across Europe, where it already has joint ventures in Romania and Croatia.
Targeting an older male audience, the Movies4Men, Movies4Men+1, Movies4Men2, Movies4Men2+1 and Men&Movies channels show a mix of action, war, classic and adult movies and TV series and are available in 10 million Sky homes.
“Increasing our foothold in the UK is an important part of our EMEA growth plan,” said Eddie Nelson, SVP Sony Pictures Television Networks.
“As a well-established specialist in the UK’s multichannel market, Dolphin is an ideal fit for SPT as we develop our channel portfolio and focus on expanding Dolphin’s market share of advertising sales.
Sony now has 46 channels operating across Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Europe, the EMEA region, broadcasting in 19 languages across 52 territories.
