Sony Pictures Television has inked a major deal to acquire UK-based CSC Media Group, in a move that boosts Sony Pictures’ UK presence with CSC’s 16-channel portfolio.

The deal was struck between Sony Pictures Television Networks and private equity firm Veronis Suhler Stevenson (the majority shareholder in CSC Media).

For Sony Pictures Television, a wholly owned subsidiary of Sony Pictures Entertainment, the purchase will expand its offerings in the music and kids genres with the addition of hit brands including True Entertainment, POP and Chart Show TV.

Sony will tap into CSC Media Group’s kids content. CSC children’s channels include POP, aimed at kids ages four to nine, preschool-centric digital channel Tiny Pop, PopGirl for girls ages seven to 12, and Kix, which is devoted to boys.

The deal is set to benefit CSC Media as well, especially in the global growth area. Sony Pictures first entered the UK market in 2011, with one channel feed – Sony Entertainment Television.  Since then, it has grown to nine channel feeds across multiple platforms, including two free-to-air national feeds on Freeview. Combined, Sony Pictures’ channels reach over 20 million viewers per month.

In addition to its US production business, Sony Pictures has 18 wholly owned or joint-venture production companies in 13 countries and offices in 32 countries. Its worldwide TV networks portfolio includes 126 channel feeds available in 168 countries, reaching more than 980 million households worldwide. Sony Pictures also creates original content for and manages Sony Pictures Entertainment’s premium video website Crackle. For CSC, being able to tap into this larger portfolio will help advance the UK-based channel group.

In other UK broadcast news, Viacom also recently expanded its UK presence. The MTV and Nickelodeon owner bought Channel 5 Broadcasting earlier this year.