MUMBAI: It's a dog eat dog world in the television business. And to get a little leg up on the rest, Sony Entertainment Television (Set) India (now Multi Screen Media) has acquired the satellite rights of Slumdog Millionaire and its Hindi version Slumdog Crorepati from Fox Star Studios.

At a time when everyone is cutting costs and slashing budgets, Set reportedly, has sealed this deal for around Rs 50 million . No confirmations were available on the sticker price, but film industry observers heaved a sigh of relief as the Sony purchase broke a rather long self-imposed freeze on movie acquisition by channels.

Slumdog has been nominated for 10 Academy Awards, 11 BAFTA Awards and has pocketed four Golden Globe Awards.

Set India will air the English version - Slumdog Millionaire - on its English movie channel, Sony Pix, while the Hindi version will be telecast on Max.

However, movie aficionados will have to wait to catch the flick on air, as MSM has agreed to a six month post theatrical release TV premiere window for the film.

MSM CEO Kunal Dasgupta stated "Slumdog Millionaire is a great story. We have just made sure that the movie found its proper home in India. Having this film as part of our library is only natural for us."

Pix business head Sunder Aaron added, "Slumdog Millionaire is a movie that has taken the world by storm. We aim to make Pix the number 1 English movie channel in India, so our viewers can expect many such big movies on Pix this year."

Filmed and set in India, Slumdog Millionaire is a story based on the life of an impoverished Indian teenager Jamal Malik, who is a contestant of the Hindi version of the game show, Who wants to be A Millionaire? He is just one question away from winning Rs 20 million when he is arrested on suspicion of cheating. Jamal
starts to tell the police the story of his life and so the plot unfolds.

Pix will also be airing live the Bafta Awards on 9 February, where the movie has received the highest number of nominations in the history of the Baftas. The channel also has the telecast rights of The Football Association Challenge Cup (popularly known as FA Cup). Pix has also premiered The Queen, directed by Stephen Frears.