Modi Group Plans Dth Service In July

Modi Entertainment is set to become the first entrant to the countrys direct-to-home (DTH) broadcast market with tentative plans to launch a 50-channel package in July.

The company has signed a pact with Thailand-based Shinewatra for leasing seven KU-band transponders on Thaicom-3 satellite, scheduled to be launched in March.

Part of a group of companies controlled by K K Modi and L K Modi, which also has interests in chemicals and consumer products, Modi Entertainment has the exclusive distribution rights for the 24-hour sports channel, ESPN, in India and is planning to raise $250 million through private placement of equity and strategic partnerships for the DTH project.

K K Modi is the chairman of the K K Modi group and L K Modi is the managing director of Modi Enterprises as well as vice-chairman of Modi Entertainment.

The DTH television service is likely to be launched in July and a final decision will be taken after seeing the outcome of the proposed broadcasting bill which the government wants to introduce in the budget session of Parliament, a Modi group executive said yesterday.

The draft bill proposes to auction the licence for providing DTH service in the entire country to not less than two parties with the licence fee, tentatively pegged at Rs 100 crore per annum, to be decided by an independent regulatory body.

Modi Entertainments DTH service will have a basic 50-channel package besides some premium view-per-demand channels. Most of the existing free-to-air channels like the CNN, TNT, Cartoon Network and MTV are expected to be on the DTH platform.

Other channels likely to be on the platform include HBO, Nickalodeon from the Disney Channels Viacom stable besides other TV programmes from US-based Universal Studio with which Modi Entertainment has a joint venture for building multiplexes in the country.

Shinewatra is believed to have agreed to set up a broadcasting centre in Bangkok for the DTH service.