AOL launches Bebo in India

AOL People Networks has announced the launch of Bebo in India, and has marked its entry into the Indian market with Hindi entertainment TV channel, REAL.

The new Bebo experience in India marks Bebo’s continued international expansion and follows launches in France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands and US Latino. Bebo has already gained a strong following as a social experience in the U.K., U.S., Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and Poland with more than 22 million unique visitors worldwide.

Bebo is a social experience that helps individuals discover what's going on with their world and helps the world discover what’s going on with them. Bebo’s Lifestream platform affords users a simple way to connect and keep up with everyone and everything they care about irrespective of which medium they use or where the activity takes place, be it on YouTube, Flickr, Twitter, Facebook, Myspace or another site.

Bebo forms part of the AOL People Networks business unit which combines Bebo, the AIM (excluding AIM Mail) and ICQ personal communications networks, widget technology company Goowy Media, social search and answer service Yedda, social aggregation service Socialthing! and Userplane. People Networks' collection of community platforms reaches 93 million unduplicated users worldwide. Bebo is a wholly owned subsidiary of AOL LLC, a majority-owned subsidiary of Time Warner Inc.

“Working with premium partners such as REAL allows us to bring a wealth of entertainment to users in India from day one. Our platform allows users to connect with other users, content and brands, both globally and locally. The richness of our experience lies in the user’s ability to express him or herself – as evidenced in our new Lifestory feature – and in the ability to connect to people, media and brands through the Lifestream to everyone and everything they care about,” said Nicole Vanderbilt, VP International, Bebo.

On Bebo, users can connect with both existing friends and with other users who share common interests and similar tastes. Through the Lifestream and Open Media platform, they can discover and share the media they love wherever it lives. By partnering with Turner Broadcasting’s REAL, the social network is making several channels of premium entertainment content available to Bebo users in India.

According to Vidyuth Bhandary, Head – Marketing at RGBPL, “Continuing to strengthen Turner’s entertainment brands with pioneering partnerships in India, REAL’s alliance with Bebo will enhance consumer’s content appetite with a new touch point in the dynamic digital domain. REAL, developed in partnership between Alva Bros and Turner International, is a smart, fresh and distinctive entertainment channel that has been tailor-made for the ‘Neo Indians’, who are urban oriented, outward looking and progressive. Digital media will be an important part of our viewer outreach efforts and we will use this media to complement our on-air programming to provide genuine interactivity to our viewers.” He further added, “A large portion of REAL’s demographic is active on social networking sites and therefore we are delighted to partner with Bebo on our flagship show Sarkaar ki Duniya. Working with Bebo, we are certain that we will be able to offer our viewers access to new creative content and new ways of interacting in their own environment.”

REAL is the recently launched smart and distinctive Hindi entertainment TV channel tailor-made for ‘Neo – Indians’. REAL promises a distinctive content blend of reality and fiction, with a fresh story telling approach. The channel offers interactive entertainment experience that is positive, fun and joyful. Real Global Broadcasting Pvt. Ltd. is a 50:50 joint venture between Alva Brothers Entertainment Pvt Ltd and Turner International (Turner Asia Pacific Ventures Inc).

Bebo also plans to incorporate a number of media partners into its groundbreaking Open Media platform including Saavn. As the largest digital distributor in Bollywood, Saavn will allow users easy access to a plethora of the latest releases, music tracks and music videos.

“We are so thrilled to be working with Bebo and think the Saavn channel will help unite Bollywood fans around the world online,” said Vin Bhat, Chief Executive Officer of Saavn. “As the audience for Bollywood becomes more and more globalised, we think Bebo becomes the perfect platform to bring fans together and serve them up the hottest in South Asian entertainment. We are also hoping the channel captures new audiences for Bollywood and inspires mainstream breakthroughs for the films, music, and stars that captivate billions of people around the world annually.”