News Headline | Indian Television Dot Com

SET-Discovery JV formalised; search on to get more channels on platform

Submitted by ITV Production on Jun 27, 2002

Sony Entertainment Television India (SET India) and Discovery Communications India (DCI) today announced the formation of their joint venture company - SET Discovery Pvt Ltd.
And in a clear indication that Sony was on the lookout to add more channels to the "One Alliance" platform, the official release says SET "would continue to seek opportunities with other channels."

As a continuance of the close involvement of its parent company in SET India, the JV includes two representatives from Columbia TriStar International Television - Martha Eberts and Michael March (both are also directors in SET India). The other two members of the SET Discovery management team are Kunal Dasgupta (who will be leading the company) and DCI CEO Deepak Shourie.

Shantonu Aditya, currently SET India‘s head of the distribution business, will oversee day-to-day operations of the new company which will handle the distribution of both channels and will include ground cable and affiliate businesses.

Announcing the newly formed venture, Aditya said: "With Discovery joining our existing bouquet of channels, The One Alliance partnership, announced earlier this year, is uniquely placed to offer our viewers an enhanced genre of programming supported by our combined distribution strength. We are now strategically positioned to be the No. 1 television network in the country."

SET India holds 74 per cent of SET Discovery‘s equity with the remainder being with DCI. Today‘s announcement comes a little over a month after the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) cleared the JV proposal.

Pakistan in talks with Hughes for satellite deal

Submitted by ITV Production on Jun 27, 2002

News Headline

Pakistan is negotiating a satellite deal with European and US operators to buy two satellites, one to occupy the 38 E orbital slot allotted to the country, and the other as a back up option in the same slot.

Reports in the national newspaper Dawn say Pakistan has sent a high-level delegation to Germany to negotiate with Hughes Global Services for the Anatolia 1 satellite. The satellite, which started life as Palapa C1, is a series 601 satellite, built by Boeing, which was resold to Hughes in January 1999. It was first launched on 31 January, 1996, using an Atlas 2AS booster and was slotted at 150 degrees East after launching from Kourou in French Guiana. Quoting Federal Minister for Science and Technology Dr Atta-ur-Rehman, the Dawn says Turkey, which currently has the satellite in its 50 E orbital slot, has expressed its inability to do frequency coordination for the satellite.

Meanwhile, the Daily Jang says that Pakistan‘s ministry of science and technology has invited internationally recognised consultants to assist in developing the country‘s PAKSAT satellite project to "enhance the country‘s communications as well as strategic capabilities." The newspaper says the orbital slot allocated to Pakistan by the International Telecommunication Union at 38 deg E would lapse in April 2003 unless the country has a satellite in place with transponders switched on and international approval is obtained for ownership of the slot.