GloboSat to distribute SaharaOne channels in UK, Europe

(9 October 2006 8:00 pm)

MUMBAI: In a bid to garner international subscription revenues and also expand its footprint in UK and Europe, SaharaOne Media and Entertainment has entered into a long term deal with New York based broadcast distribution outfit GloboSat Entertainment in order to help the company launch its channel services at various countries.

SaharaOne Media and Entertainment CEO Shantonu Aditya says, "Through the association with GloboSat Entertainment, we are looking forward to the expansion of our channels in newer markets through this partnership so as to entertain our viewers worldwide."

The company is also eyeing broadband as well as mobile platforms in the US. GloboSat Entertainment is said to be in talks with a couple of moblie companies in this regard.

One such company that the GloboSat is talking to for carrying the two Sahara channels (Sahara One and Filmy) is US based made for mobile company Ithentic.

The channels will soon be on JumpTV, the subscription-based broadcaster of ethnic television over the internet. JumpTV already streams other Indian channels SET, India TV News, Kairali TV, People TV and Amrita TV.

GloboSat president and CEO Sudhir Vaishnav says, "Our strategic partnerships with DTH, cable, broadband, IPTV, mobile and other platforms spanning across North and South America, Europe and UK help our broadcast partners to build international presence faster."

The media company will soon launch the channels SaharaOne and Filmy in UK and Europe. The two channels will soon be visible in Bangladesh as well. The channels will also be accessible on Rogers Cable in Canada.

The general entertainment channel SaharaOne already has its presence in US on Echostar. And the movie channel Filmy is offered on DirecTV, the other DTH platform in US controlled by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp.

The two channels have recently been launched in Nepal and Maldives. The company now plans to push SaharaOne in the Middle-East, where the movie channel has already made its entry via the Pehla platform.

The company is also targeting to push the two channels in Africa as well as in Australia in due course.