(17 June 2006 10:25 pm)

MUMBAI: The Toronto based JumpTV which provides ethnic television over the Internet, announced that it has signed 11 new exclusive internet broadcast agreements with channels from Pakistan, Thailand, Lebanon, Nigeria and Benin, expanding its network to 270 channels under license.

Channels signed include: ORTB (Benin), Channels TV, Lagos TV and MiTV (Nigeria), Zam TV and Rung TV (Pakistan), Popper, Rak Thai TV, Panorama 07 and Thai Cable Channel (Thailand) and Mlive (Lebanon).

The 11 new channels are expected to be individually priced at $9.95 per month when launched commercially, and some will become part of country/region-specific channel bundles at later dates. The addition of the three Nigerian, four Thai and two Pakistani channels brings JumpTV's Nigerian, Thai and Pakistani channel lineup to seven channels, nine channels and 12 channels respectively, and bundles will be launched for each of these countries soon. The additional Lebanese channel is to be included in JumpTV's Pan Arab Package, which currently includes 23 top Arab channels for $29.95 per month.

Commenting on the partnership with JumpTV, ORTB general director M. Julien Pierre Akpaki said, "JumpTV is enabling ORTB to grow from a number one national channel that is available in Benin only to a global channel overnight. Since a majority of our programming is in French, we believe there is a real market for our content not only among the people of Benin, but anyone interested in West African television."

JumpTV head of content acquisition and global operations Sila Celik says, "JumpTV is thrilled to announce the addition of 11 channels from countries like Nigeria, Thailand, Pakistan and Lebanon. We understand that our subscribers want an array of content from their country or region of origin and these channels add substantially to our offerings."

JumpTV International CEO and president Kaleil Isaza Tuzman says, "The first phase of JumpTV's business strategy has always been to aggregate the most television content from around the globe. Now with 270 channel partnerships, JumpTV continues to solidify itself as the largest broadcaster of ethnic programming, providing its subscribers with live television, when and where they want it."