Nickelodeon to Make Asia Debut

The Nickelodeon cable channel--part of Viacom’s MTV Networks--on Tuesday announced its move into Asia, with channels scheduled to debut in Japan and the Philippines by fall 1998. The popular children’s channel is already seen in Europe, Latin America and Australia. In Japan, Nickelodeon has signed deals for cable and satellite broadcasts in Japanese; their exclusive satellite partner will be DirecTV Japan. In the Philippines, Nickelodeon will be available in English on cable, through a deal with Asian Cable Communications Inc., the Philippines’ leading cable TV distributor.