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.

MUMBAI: Vh1 India will kick off Mike Judge?s ?Beavis and Butt-Head? on 24 June at 7 pm.

The presenting sponsor of the show is Samsung Galaxy SIII.

The show centers around two socially awkward, metal loving teenage delinquents who live without any adult supervision at home. These dim-witted, under-educated friends lack any empathy or moral scruples even for each other.

Their favourite activity is to watch music videos all day and criticise them with much fervour. And this time around they have more than just music videos to make fun of. Jersey Shore, the Internet, Ultimate Fighting will all be crossing their TV screen and be ridiculed with a lot of excitement. Despite having no experience with women, their other signature trait is their obsession with sex, and their tendency to chuckle and giggle whenever they hear words or phrases that can even remotely be construed as sexual or scatological!

Viacom18 Media senior VP, GM English entertainment Ferzad Palia said, ?We?re very excited to launch Mike Judge?s Beavis and Butt-Head - a show which is sure to stand out in the English entertainment category. It?s been one of the most popular shows in the West and Vh1 has a strong 360-degree launch marketing campaign to support the series too. We are confident that Beavis & Butt-Head?s world famous whacked-out personalities will resonate well with the Indian audiences."

Known for their super cool comments? Beavis and Butt-Head have entertained audiences in the West with their most common activity of watching music videos, which they tend to judge by deeming them "cool", or by claiming, "This sucks!" They also apply these judgments to other things that they encounter and usually deem something "cool" if it is associated with violence, sex, or the macabre.

Vh1 also goes a step further to interact with its audience on the digital space. On Facebook (www.facebook.com/vh1india) , users can type any question they want in the text box and they will get an instant response from Beavis and Butt-Head! This promises not only to be riotous but also takes interactivity with the characters to the next level. Users will also be able to take part in exciting contests, download wallpapers, games, watch videos and win merchandise.

MUMBAI: Viacom18 has appointed Vivek Bahl as network advisor content.

Bahl?s immediate focus will be to work on the regional channels the group plans to get into. He will also play a strategic role in planning and development of new content.

He will report to Colors CEO Raj Nayak and has a parallel line of reporting to the regional head.

Bahl joins in from Turner India, where he was the chief content officer for all Turner channels.

Nayak said, ?Vivek comes with great experience in developing content for different genres and his understanding of the television and entertainment industry is quite phenomenal. We believe he will play a significant role in not only in further developing and strengthening the current content on Viacom18?s offerings but also in the expansion of the network?s upcoming regional channels.?

Bahl comes in with over 25 years experience in television, films and advertising. He has played various roles of creating, writing, programming, producing and directing entertainment content.

Prior to Turner, he was executive creative director for Star India and he co-produced the series ?Navya? for Star Plus. He has also worked with Mahuaa Network in a consulting role to set up their new regional channels and Zee TV.

MUMBAI: Viacom18, the joint venture between Network18 Group and Viacom, has posted a fourth straight quarterly loss as its operating expenses surged 185 per cent, mainly on account of discontinued operations - deferment of the Hindi movie channel and TIFC (The Indian Film Company).

Viacom18, which runs a clutch of entertainment channels including flagship Hindi general entertainment channel Colors, reported a net loss of 337 million for the three-month period ended 31 March 2012, as against a profit of Rs 45 million in the year-before quarter.

In the first three quarters, Viacom18 had also coloured the books red with a net loss of Rs 10 million, Rs 284 million and Rs 532 million respectively.

Viacom18 posted a revenue of Rs 6.28 billion, up 131 per cent from Rs 2.72 billion. However, it clarified that this includes Rs 2.34 billion realised from the sale of the movie library that it had built up for the proposed Hindi movie channel.

?Our continuing business grew at 16 per cent over the corresponding quarter last year,? the company said.

Meanwhile, operating expenses jumped to Rs 7.16 billion for the quarter, from Rs 2.72 billion in the year-before quarter. Marketing, distribution and promotional expenses jumped from Rs 826 million to Rs 1.29 billion, while production expenses and other expenditure doubled to Rs 3.17 billion from Rs 1.51 billion. The company also listed expense of Rs 2.38 billion for its deferred Hindi movie channel.

Viacom18 posted operating (Ebidta) loss of Rs 887 million in the quarter, as against a profit of Rs 204 million.

Viacom18 also posted individual Ebitda for TV continuing operations, new operations and discontinued operations. Notably, the company has suffered operating loss from TV continuing operations including motion pictures also, which was until now a profit making business.

The Ebitda loss stood at Rs 116 million, compared to a profit of Rs 204 million a year ago.

Viacom18 clarified that one-time losses amounting to Rs 477 million in Q4 were incurred with respect to the discontinued operations - deferment of the Hindi movie channel and TIFC, while Rs 294 million was incurred with respect to costs towards the new channels ? Sonic, Comedy Central and Colors HD.

For the full fiscal ended 31 March 2012, the net loss stood at Rs 1.13 billion, from a net profit of Rs 851 million in the earlier year. Operating revenue stood at Rs 15.84 billion (from Rs 11.04 billion), while expenses were at Rs 16.97 billion (from Rs 9.85 billion).

Viacom18 said that the fourth quarter and full fiscal numbers have been subjected to limited review by the auditors and segmental numbers are on a proforma basis.