| MUMBAI:
Liberty Global, the largest owner of cable-television systems outside the US,
is taking the channel route as its entry strategy into the Indian market. While Liberty remains
"excited" about the prospects of digital cable rollout in India, what
is more concrete at this juncture are its plans to introduce a number of niche
channels in the country.
Says Kamlesh Patel, Liberty
Global director of strategy – India, about the cable major's forthcoming
initiatives in the Indian broadcast space: "Women and men’s lifestyle
channels separately, a cooking channel and a channel on international theatre
are four genres amongst the several we are looking at." Asked to elaborate,
Patel says, "We believe that digital penetration both through DTH and cable
is going to generate a surge in demand for content in certain genres. The consumer
is going to demand quality programming. We have a strong track record of launching
channels around the world and are currently working on plans with local broadcasters
to assemble certain niche channels aimed directly at the Indian market. Naturally
we would like to maximize the synergy with local partners through our existing
content library and cable networks." Queried as to whether the channels
Liberty was planning to launch would be restricted solely to addressable platforms,
Patel says, "Not necessarily, as it depends on the genre." And
what of the current status of Liberty's plans to enter the cable arena? Patel
offers, "We remain excited about the prospects of digital cable rollout in
India and continue to monitor and talk to all the leading MSOs in the industry.
We are currently reviewing a number of plans with certain groups who have made
some interesting developments in this area. 70 million cable homes are here to
stay and grow, although a relaxation of the regulatory environment would help
accelerate investment." | 
