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MUMBAI:
Star India and Digital Entertainment Networks (Den) today
announced a joint venture to create a platform for distributing
television channels in India via all fixed networks including
cable, DTH, IPTV, HITS and MMDS. The 50:50 joint venture will
be headquartered in Mumbai.
Under
the agreement, the joint venture will be an exclusive distributor
for Star India for all channels distributed domestically by
Star India. It will also seek to expand its bouquet offerings
by including other third party channels for distribution.
“It
is an important growth initiative in the distribution platform
business and enables us to better harness the growth opportunity’,
said Uday Shankar, CEO, Star India. “We are pleased to
tie up with a group of professionals who we find are strategically
aligned to our vision of this business and its growth prospects.”
“Den
is excited to join forces with India’s richest content
provider in building an independently-run and robust channel
distribution platform. Our vision is to incorporate the world’s
best practices to create a platform of premium content, which
adds value to the entire distribution chain. We feel this
joint venture presents a compelling opportunity to all content
providers,” said Sameer Manchanda, promoter and chairman
of Den. “It combines professional management, domain
knowledge and compelling content to provide world class products
and services to the Indian consumers.”
Den
is a cable network set up by Global Broadcast News joint MD
Sameer Manchanda as lead promoter and TV18 MD Raghav Bahl
as founding partner. Former Set Discovery president Anuj Gandhi
is chief executive of the venture.
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