MUMBAI: BBC Worldwide Channels has launched three of its channels, BBC Entertainment, BBC World News and BBC Lifestyle, on newly launched Indonesian pay TV platform, max3.

max3 is the retail brand of Biznet Networks, a leading telecommunication and multimedia operator in Indonesia whose services currently include unlimited broadband internet service and pay TV services.

With the debut of BBC Entertainment in Indonesia, the full suite of BBC?s channels will now be available in the country.

?Indonesia is a very important part of BBC Worldwide?s growth strategy in Asia, and we are very pleased to be working with Biznet to launch our channels on their new platform,? commented BBC Worldwide Channels Asia SVP and GM Mark Whitehead. ?We are confident that the high quality and award winning programmes on BBC Entertainment, together with BBC World News and BBC Lifestyle will be popular with max3?s viewers.?

2012 has been a year of tremendous growth for BBC World News. "The channel surpassed the 300 million household figure in May, and several international news events of the year allowed BBC World News to do what it does best. That Biznet sees the value in carrying us in what is a strategic Asian market does not come as a surprise. We look forward to working with them to build the BBC World News brand in Indonesia, especially as we are about to move into new state-of-the art studios in London,? said BBC Global New Director Distribution Colin Lawrence.

?We are very happy that three of the BBC channels will join us when we launch our platform. We are confident that high quality content is a key factor in driving our subscription growth. We are confident that BBC World News, BBC Lifestyle and BBC Entertainment will make max3?s offerings even stronger and more sought after by our subscribers," said Biznet Networks President Director Adi Kusma.

MUMBAI: After trying to get its channels off the ground for the past five years, BBC Worldwide Channels has decided to stop airing its two entertainment channels in the country - BBC Entertainment India and CBeebies.

The channels will stop airing by the end of the month. BBC World News will, however, continue to air.

The news has come as a surprise to some given that in 2010 the channel had appointed Deepak Shourie as its director for South Asia and refreshed BBC Entertainment in 2011 with a focus on entertainment, infotainment and factual content. BBC Worldwide Channels was trying to make a serious push on the distribution front.

BBC Worldwide Channels Asia senior VP, GM Mark Whitehead said, "The decision to withdraw BBC Entertainment and CBeebies has not been an easy one; India is a dynamic and fast growing media market but remains uniquely challenging for pay TV channels. Specifically, delays in digitisation and the need for channel operators to pay cable platforms for carriage makes the economics of running channels very challenging at this time."

A rival broadcaster on condition of anonymity says that the numbers must not have added up. "It might make sense for them to return in 2015 if the digitisation process is complete. Right now placement costs are not going down. These costs will go down only by the end of next year when the second phase of digitisation is over. Also remember that Cbeebies does not carry ads. So to pay carriage fees on that is a losing proposition."

He adds that British content is more niche than American content. "A few shows had gotten traction like ?Sherlock?, ?Top Gear?. But when they did their annual review and looked at the markets that they operate in, the decision must have been that India for now does not make sense."

Whitehead adds that despite this, BBC Worldwide remains committed to India. "BBC World News ? the BBC?s international news and current affairs television channel ? continues to be available across the market, along with the bbc.com and bbchindi.com websites, BBC Hindi radio and Global India, a new primetime programme produced by BBC Hindi TV which will launch on five ETV channels later this week.

"In addition, BBC Worldwide operates a TV production business, a content syndication business and Lonely Planet in India. The company is also evaluating the potential for a number of digital initiatives which have been successfully developed in other markets. BBC programmes will also continue to be available on other channels in India, both terrestrial and cable, as well as digitally on our YouTube channel."

In the coming weeks, BBC Worldwide will be ensuring a smooth transition for its staff affected by this decision.