SaharaOne go global with FILMY

Wednesday, October 11, 2006

Mumbai (UNI): As part of its agressive plans to have a global footprint, SaharaOne Media and Entertainment Ltd today announced a tie-up with Global Entertainment and Broadcasting Company (Globosat) for overseas distribution rights in UK and Europe. Addressing a press conference here, Shantonu Aditya, CEO, SaharaOne Media and Entertainment Ltd, said with this tie-up, SaharaOne TV, the company's flagship channel and its movie channel 'Filmy' will provide its entire gamut of television programmes to viewers across markets in Europe and U K. The Channel is available in the U S on EchoStar, in the Middle East on Pehla and has recently introduced its services in Nepal and Maldives. The Channel will make its presence in Bangladesh soon, he informed.

He said 'Filmy' the movie channel is also available on Direct TV and in Maldives and Nepal. Bangladesh and Middle-East are the countries next on the agenda where the channel will be available shortly. Mr Aditya said the tie up with GloboSat began a year ago when the channels were launched in U S, ''Today, we have about 80,000 subscribers. We are looking forward to the expansion of our channels in newer markets through this partnership. Our future plans are to stay ahead in competition,'' he added. The channels will be launched in Europe at the end of November this year and in U K by January, he said.

Sudhir Vaishnav, President and CEO, GloboSat while speaking on the occasion said, ''with our state-of-the-art production and broadcast facilities in New York and Toronto, we are able to create local content as per market needs. Our strategic partnerships with DTH, cable, Broadband, Mobile and other platforms spanning across North and South America, Europe and U K help our broadcast partners to build international presence faster.'' Adris Chakraborty, director of GloboSat said his company's major goal was to enhance the reach of its channel partners across international markets and platforms. ''Our aim is to help television channels to expand its international presence at an optimum cost and reap additional revenue streams with marginal costs,'' he added. He said GloboSat is planning to set up office in India. ''We have been approached by several overseas television networks for distribution of their programmes in India,'' he said.