MUMBAI: It is a partnership that promises to be mutually beneficial. Sahara One Media and Entertainment Ltd has signed a long term agreement with Aastha Broadcasting Network Ltd, wherein the former will be handling the latter's ad sales business.

The company will handle the ad sales of Aastha's Indian feed beginning 1 February 2006. With this, Sahara One Media and Entertainment will have three channels under its umbrella as far as the ad sales function is concerned - Sahara One Television, Filmy and Aastha TV.

Giving the rationale behind the deal, Sahara One Media and Entertainment CEO Shantonu Aditya said, "There is a huge opportunity in the religious and lifestyle space. Aastha is a leader in the religious space and commands almost 70 per cent of the market share. The revenue potential is great in the space. Religious channels' ratings are almost as much as that of music channels and sometimes even higher and there is certainly the potential of it growing even further."

"Over the past three months, the ad-sales team of Sahara One has given a strong performance as a result of which ad revenue has increased several-fold. Our agreement with Aastha is a reflection of the industry's confidence in our strong potential, and I am sure that together Sahara One Television and Aastha will provide even greater reach, value and effectiveness to advertisers," Aditya added.

As for Aastha, the network is looking at concentrating on programming and worldwide distribution. Hence it decided to outsource its ad sales function to Sahara One.

Aastha Broadcasting Network chairman and managing director Kirit Mehta said, "Aastha has gained significant viewership and reach and has occupied noticeable space in the ever expanding C&S television universe that offers advertisers an attractive opportunity to reach mass audience. With us concentrating on content creation and worldwide distribution activities, we deemed it appropriate to outsource ad sales and marketing expertise."

"Considering the performance of Sahara One Media and Entertainment and the marketing infrastructure established by them, we decided to enter into a mutually beneficial relationship. I am confident it will be a win-win situation for all - Aastha, Sahara One, and most importantly, the advertisers."