Global TV to launch in September

By Maisie McCabe, mediaweek.co.uk, Tuesday, 03 July 2012 11:46AM

Global, the parent company of Global Radio, is making its first foray into TV with the launch of Heart TV and Capital TV in September.

Ashley Tabor: Global chief revealed plans to launch TV stations

Heart TV and Capital TV will have the same brand identity as the Heart and Capital radio stations and will target the same demographics.

The two TV stations will sit in a new division of the company, Global Television, and initially, they will be broadcast on BSkyB's satellite platform and Freesat, the free-to-air satellite platform.

The launch of the TV stations was announced by Ashley Tabor, founder and executive president at Global, in a video link to all Global employees.

It is understood that Global has been planning its expansion into TV since last year and began formulating those plans properly at the beginning of 2012

A spokeswoman for Global Radio said the sales house for the new TV channels would be announced in due course.

Stephen Miron, chief executive of Global Group, said: "The creation of Global TV is another exciting step for the company. We continue to grow our business and I'm sure advertisers will enjoy the opportunity of extending their relationship with Heart and Capital as a result of being on TV."

The unveiling of Global Television is the second expansion news from Global in just over a week – last Monday (June 25), Global Radio bought GMG Radio, owner of the Smooth and Real Radio brands, in a deal thought to be worth up to £70m.

Tabor said: "Global prides itself on clear, simple brand propositions for its consumers. Brand extension is a natural thing for us to do, for example online, mobile and live events, so I'm delighted we're now bringing both Heart and Capital's top-class brand quality to music television."

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This article was first published on mediaweek.co.uk