MUMBAI: The Dubai-based Arab Digital Distribution (ADD) DTH platform's Pehla bouquet has started beaming into mainland Europe.
 

Pehla, which targets South Asian audiences, launched on 1 November as "Pehla - Premium Asian Entertainment Television in Europe". Speaking about the launch, Vinod DMello executive vice-president, network development & marketing of ADD told indiantelevision.com, "We are building our platform on Hotbird with Irdeto conditional access system. At present during the introductory phase we are offering five channels (Sony Entertainment Television, Geo TV, Ten Sports, EuroSports and Eurosports News) and we will shortly be enhancing the bouquet with additional channels in the basic tier and increased subscription options (Pehla Basic, Pehla Silver, Pehla Gold). The recommended retail price (Introductory offer) is Euro 19.90 per month."

For Ten Sports, the Europe beam gives the Abdurrahman Bukhatir-promoted channel its first expansion outside South Asia and the Middle East. This is the fourth dedicated feed that Ten Sports will be offering, after the feeds that are currently in operation for India, Pakistan and the Middle East.

D'Mello said Pehla Europe was targeting the south Asian audience of approximately 1.7 million living in mainland Europe with a competitive pricing strategy, flexible subscription and payment options.

In the Middle East the ADD platform is on Nilesat. ADD operates three DTH bouquet offerings - Pehla, First Net (targeted at Westerners) and Al-Awael (aimed at Arabs). 

As far as coverage is concerned, the Europe beam is one area where Ten has an advantage over ESPN Star Sports because ESS cannot broadcast outside the Asian region.