Furthering its stated goal to become a “family entertainment powerhouse,” Toronto-based Knightscove Media–which specializes in the creation, distribution and financing of family-focused live-action feature films and TV–is making its first foray into broadcasting with the acquisition of a controlling interest in Toronto’s FDR Media Group.
Knightscove paid $1 million to acquire a 51% interest in FDR, an ethnic TV operator that broadcasts original and library HD programming in both Hindi and English and is set to launch two new HD TV channels–the action channel Bollywood Times Television and the female-focused service Mehndi. The sale is expected to close on Sept. 16.
According to Knightscove president and CEO Leif Bristow, FDR and Knightscove have secured carriage for the two channels with undisclosed broadcasting distribution undertakings (BDUs), guaranteeing they will have a national footprint when they launch on Oct. 1. The services will reach more than 90% of the country’s 460,000 South Asian households, said Bristow.
Knightscove will program the two channels with a combination of Canadian-created content, as well as content sourced from some of India’s largest studios.
The FDR acquisition is the latest in a string of high-profile acquisitions and personnel appointments for Knightscove. In January, the company purchased independent producer Ellis Entertainment for $2.8 million, providing it with access to what it describes as a “treasure trove” of more than 600 titles in genres spanning children’s television, history and nature.
In May, Knightscove also named former MediaCom Canada CEO Amanda Ploughman to its board of directors, where she will help develop the company’s brand identity and platform.
Bristow said a “fairly sophisticated” marketing strategy has been completed, and the company is currently in conversation with several agencies about communicating that strategy.
“Amanda and [FDR Media Group CEO] Ron Maitra are sitting down to go through the marketing proposal and making sure that we’ve got the absolute best team,” said Bristow. “We couldn’t have a better person than Amanda to help oversee that.”
With a seasoned executive team that includes internationally known producer-distributor Stephen Ellis as EVP, and former YTV vice-president of programming and production Dale Taylor as president of its TV division, KnightTV, as well as a board of directors that includes Citytv and YTV co-founder Jerry Grafstein and former Alliance Atlantis Communications executive vice-president, corporate development and general counsel Paul Laberge, Bristow said that Knightscove will be aggressively looking to grow its brand portfolio.
“If we could work over time to manage 10, 12, 14 channels under one roof, instead of two or three, then we’re that much stronger,” said Bristow. “The same management team can manage a group of specialty channels as opposed to one or two.”
On the sales side, Bristow said that preliminary conversations with media buyers about the ethnic channels have been “exceptionally positive,” with some of the channels’ original Canadian content already being created in tandem with advertising partners (Bristow wouldn’t disclose which companies are onboard).
“Right now the South Asian community has surpassed the Chinese community as the number-one visible minority in Canada,” said Bristow. “That’s 460,000 households growing at 8% per annum compounded. It’s an affluent community and it’s fluent in English. Understanding how to market directly to, and getting to that audience, is of absolute interest to a lot of the major advertisers and brands in the community.”
Bristow said that future announcements are coming on both carrier partnerships and programming lineups.
