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BANGALORE:
After recently signing up direct-to-home service provider
Tata Sky, Neo Sports Broadcast has inked a contract with Amogh
Broadband Services. The multi-system operator (MSO) is owned
by Anitha Kumaraswamy, wife of Karnataka chief minister H
D Kumaraswamy.
The
deal is expected to offer deeper penetration in parts of Bangalore
and Karnataka for Neo Sports' channels - Neo Sports and Neo
Sports Plus.
Neo
is on an aggressive distribution ramp up for the forthcoming
India cricket season beginning later this month - the one-day
international series with Australia to be followed by the
Pakistan tour of India. The bouquet of the two channels will
cost subscribers Rs 37.25.
In
the first phase, Neo went to the traditionally less penetrated
states such as Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan
and claim that they are 100 per cent present in Gurgaon and
major cities of Gujarat.
Neo's
next aim was to cover platforms such as DTH and some of the
major multi-system operators (MSOs).
In
the third phase of the rollout by mid September, Neo intends
to cover much of the South, another traditionally less focussed
region for national broadcasters.
On
a national level, Neo is in advanced talks with the major
MSOs – Incablenet, Hathway Cable & Datacom and Wire
and Wireless India Ltd (WWIL) for carrying the signals in
the cities they are present in. "We are likely to complete
our negotiations with Hathway by early next week and the other
big players soon," revealed Neo president affiliate sales
and platforms Arun Poddar.
In
Kerala, the channel is in advanced talks with Asianet and
the Association of Cable Operators. Andhra Pradesh will be
tackled later, Poddar said.
In
July, Neo decided to independently distribute its channels
after its distribution arrangement with Star India ended abruptly.
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