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According to Zee Telefilms sources, the carriage deal was signed
last week and the two sports channels have already made an appearance
on the DTH platform that is marketed under the Dish TV brand name.
ESS' coming aboard could well pave the way for the Star Network
and Sony-Discovery One Alliance channels to also join Dish.
Both ASC Enterprise, the DTH licence holder, and Zee Telefilms
are companies promoted by Subhash Chandra.
However, at the moment, the full financial details are not known.
What has been indicated is that the present carriage deal is valid
for two years.
Contacted by indiantelevision.com, ESPN Software India MD R.C.
Venkateish confirmed reaching a pact with Dish TV with a memorandum
of understanding being signed on Saturday.
"As content providers, we are always looking out for platforms
to have our content distributed. DTH is one such outlet and we expect
that the (Zee/ASC) DTH platform would only add to our revenues and
distribution reach," Venkateish explained.
Though Venkateish refused to spell out the commercial aspects of
the deal in detail, he did admit that it would be valid for two
years giving the managers of the DTH platform enough time to establish
the service and increase penetration.
According to information available with indiantelevision.com, the
complex DTH pact envisages, amongst other things, ESS being paid
for the two sports channels a rate per subscriber that would be
close to the price of Rs 32 announced by the broadcaster for CAS
regions.
The deal also has provisions for ESS getting paid for a mutually
agreed upon minimum number of DTH households after six months.
It is expected that with ESPN and Star Sports coming on board,
Dish TV's saleability would increase, though, ideally, Dish TV management
would also like to strike a deal with Ten Sports, which has the
rights for the forthcoming India-Pakistan cricket series to be played
in Pakistan, for carriage of that channel too on the DTH platform.
Meanwhile, indiantelevision.com also learns that more third-party
channels are expected to be added to the Dish TV bouquet soon, raising
the total number of channels from the existing 48, which includes
the newly-introduced ESPN and Star Sports channels.
Pointing out that some technical upgradation would be needed to
accommodate more channels, which had been announced as part of a
second phase expansion, Zee Telefilms vice-chairman and head of
Zee's cable arm Siti Cable, Jawahar Goel, said, "Getting more
third-party channels is an on-going process and we are poised to
bring in some more channels."
The Dish TV-ESS deal comes close on the heels of the house of Tatas
announcing a 80:20 joint venture agreement with the Rupert Murdoch-controlled
Star Group Pvt. Ltd. for a DTH service in India. The joint venture,
however, is yet to submit a reworked application to the Indian government.
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