Private sports broadcaster Nimbus, which holds telecast rights of cricket matches
featuring India till 2010, today said it would launch an independent bouquet
for distributing content to cable and other TV platforms.
The announcement puts to rest speculation that Nimbus was working on a distribution
deal with Sony Entertainment Television, after an agreement with Star India was
called off.
Nimbus' efforts to reach a distribution deal failed after the
government issued an ordinance making it mandatory for the private broadcaster
to share feed with public broadcaster Doordarshan, ending any exclusivity it
enjoyed.
"The independent distribution route will allow us a rapid
ramp up, better long term control and superior monetising. For the next 2-3
months, the focus will be on getting maximum distribution reach for Neo Sports
and Neo Sports Plus," Neo Sports CEO Shashi Kalathil said in a statement.
Former Zee Turner CEO Arun Poddar has been appointed President
(Sales) for Neo Sports.
Kalathil said the bouquet will be expanded on the basis of
considerable interest and the best option in the Indian environment is to extract
revenues from the cable TV distribution team.
Nimbus has a line up of cricket series till 2010. This year,
Australia and Pakistan are scheduled to visit India and play test and one-day
matches.
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