The Hindu Business Line : UTV channels to focus on international audiences

New Delhi, July 3 UTV Global Broadcasting Ltd is betting on international markets to contribute about 20-25 per cent of its distribution revenues a year from now. It has already made two of its channels available through cable in Sri Lanka, Nepal and Maldives; by next month they will be visible in Japan and Australia amongst other countries.

The broadcasting division of UTV has entered into an agreement with the Tokyo-based IPTV service provider, The New Media Group (TNMG), to launch its Hindi movie channel UTV Movies and its English business news channel UTVi. The channels will be available through TNMG’s ‘World On-Demand’ in Japan, Australia and New Zealand. “In the third quarter we will also be reaching the US markets through cable and DTH, following which we will be going to UK and other European countries, said Mr Shantonu Aditya, Executive Director, UGBL.

The target audience is the Indian diaspora in these markets. The channels will be bundled in “Community Packages” intended for subscribers of TNMG’s World-On-Demand as well as in the World News Pack and Asian Culture Pack. According to Mr Sumit Ahuja, Vice-President Distribution and Sales, TNMG, the offering will help them take their message of cross cultural content into multiple communities.

Mr Aditya is confident of finding an audience outside of the target group too. “UTV movies has many contemporary titles, including this years blockbusters such as Jodha Akbar, Race and Jannat,” he said. The company also plans to sub-title the movies for the US and UK markets, expanding the audience reach.

UTV Global Broadcasting distributes the five channels it has launched in the last one year.

They include Bindass, Bindass Movies, and the three channels under the UTV banner — World Movies, a Hindi movie channel and an English business news channel.

Related Stories:
UTV upbeat on World Movie channel

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