B4U is a

television network A television network or television broadcaster is a telecommunications network for distribution of television program content, where a central operation provides programming to many television stations or pay television providers. Until the mid- ...

focused on

Bollywood Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, refers to the film industry based in Mumbai, engaged in production of motion pictures in Hindi language. The popular term Bollywood, is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (fo ...

based entertainment. The network operates the six channels B4U Music, B4U Movies, B4U Kadak, B4U Bhojpuri, B4U Aflam and B4U Plus which are at present available on more than 8 different satellites, in more than 100 countries in the Americas,

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located enti ...

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Province), East Thrace (Europ ...

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

, and

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an ...

. In addition the company operates

B4U Motion Pictures B4U is a television network focused on Bollywood based entertainment. The network operates the six channels B4U Music, B4U Movies, B4U Kadak, B4U Bhojpuri, B4U Aflam and B4U Plus which are at present available on more than 8 different satell ...

, which is a media and entertainment production subsidiary.

Company history

In 1999, the newly formed network launched B4U Movies and B4U Music in the UK on the Sky Digital platform as a subscription package along with

Sony Entertainment Television Sony Entertainment Television (SET) is an Indian Hindi-language general entertainment pay television channel, that was launched on 30 September 1995, and is owned by Culver Max Entertainment, a subsidiary of the Japanese Sony. SET India's Y ...

. The launch was surrounded in controversy, with rival network

Zee TV Zee TV (stylised as ZEE TV) is a Hindi general entertainment pay television Pay television, also known as subscription television, premium television or, when referring to an individual service, a premium channel, refers to Subscription bus ...

claiming that B4U had stolen its

database In computing, a database is an organized collection of data stored and accessed electronically. Small databases can be stored on a file system, while large databases are hosted on computer clusters or cloud storage. The design of databases spa ...

of subscribers in the UK. The B4U management claimed that they had got hold of the database from ex-employees and has been using it to send mailers promoting its service. In 2001, the network went on to launch the channels in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tota ...

and the

by the end of the year. By 2000, B4U had established itself as a leading brand in Bollywood entertainment for the

Indian Diaspora Overseas Indians ( IAST: ), officially Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) and Overseas Citizens of India (OCIs) are Indians who live outside of the Republic of India. According to the Government of India, ''Non-Resident Indians'' are citizens of Indi ...

. B4U signed a deal with FTV to broadcast Indian fashion shows throughout the world as well as more local events. In 2001, the network won 9

Promax Awards The Promax Awards (also known as the PromaxBDA Awards) honor promotion, design, and marketing by a company or individual that is broadcast, published, or released in their respective markets. Promax International/BPME (branded as "Promax") sponsor ...

. The network then ventured into movie production in 2002, co-producing all films produced by iDream.

Television channels

B4U Today

The network was the media sponsor

Mayor of London The mayor of London is the chief executive of the Greater London Authority. The role was created in 2000 after the Greater London devolution referendum in 1998, and was the first directly elected mayor in the United Kingdom. The current ...

's 2007

Diwali Diwali (), Dewali, Divali, or Deepavali ( IAST: ''dīpāvalī''), also known as the Festival of Lights, related to Jain Diwali, Bandi Chhor Divas, Tihar, Swanti, Sohrai, and Bandna, is a religious celebration in Indian religions. It i ...

Festival in

Trafalgar Square Trafalgar Square ( ) is a public square in the City of Westminster, Central London, laid out in the early 19th century around the area formerly known as Charing Cross. At its centre is a high column bearing a statue of Admiral Nelson commem ...

B4U Films

B4U Films (alternatively named, B4U Productions Plc.) is a wholly owned subsidiary of B4U TV Ltd. (B4U),

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the secon ...

based media and entertainment production company. It was started in 1997, and handles the

motion picture A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmospher ...

production and

distribution Distribution may refer to: Mathematics *Distribution (mathematics), generalized functions used to formulate solutions of partial differential equations *Probability distribution, the probability of a particular value or value range of a varia ...

of B4U. B4U Films produces films in Bollywood as well as in

Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising ...

, where it partners with other leading film studios. They distribute

Lollywood Lollywood ( ur, , translit=lâli vuḍ) refers to Pakistan's film industry based in Lahore, previously the base for both Punjabi and Urdu language film production. Lahore has been the center of Pakistani cinema since the partition of ...

movies as well. It first produced ''Bhai'', which starred

Suniel Shetty Suniel Shetty (born Sunil V. Shetty; 11 August 1961) is an Indian actor, film producer, television personality and entrepreneur who is predominantly active in Hindi films he has also worked in tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and kannada films. In a ...

Kader Khan Kader Khan (22 October 1937 – 31 December 2018) was an Indian actor, screenwriter and film director. As an actor, he appeared in over 300 Bollywood films after his debut film in the 1973 film '' Daag'', starring Rajesh Khanna, in which he a ...

and

Kunal Khemu Kunal Kemmu (born Kunal Ravi Kemmu; 25 May 1983) is an Indian actor who works in Hindi cinema. Early life and background Kunal Ravi Kemmu was born in Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir (state), Jammu and Kashmir, India on 25 May 1983 into a Kashmiri ...

. In 2015 they started distributing Pakistani films by distributing '' Karachi Se Lahore'' worldwide. The latest film, they had distributed was '' Mahira Khan'' starred Pakistani romantic comedy film '' 7 Din Mohabbat In''.

List of B4U films

References

External links

B4U official site

B4U group site
{{DEFAULTSORT:B4u (Network) Foreign television channels broadcasting in the United Kingdom Television stations in India British Indian mass media Television channels and stations established in 1999 Hindi cinema 1999 establishments in the United Kingdom Television broadcasting companies of India Mass media companies of India Television networks in India

Broadcasting Broadcasting is the distribution of audio or video content to a dispersed audience via any electronic mass communications medium, but typically one using the electromagnetic spectrum (radio waves), in a one-to-many model. Broadcasting began ...