NDTV channels ride on StarHub TV to Singapore

The move makes NDTV channels available in 78 countries. Indonesia is expected to be the next market.

After stepping into Papua, New Guinea, Myanmar and the Philippines recently, New Delhi Television (NDTV) has now entered Singapore with its English news and infotainment channels, NDTV 24x7 and NDTV Good Times showcasing on StarHub TV. NDTV 24x7 is a 24-hour English language news and infotainment channel, while NDTV Good Times is a lifestyle channel that explores Indian lifestyle.

NDTV 24x7 will have the India feed being telecast in the new market, while the rest of the world feed for NDTV Good Times will be beamed. The English news channel has three feeds in all, each one dedicated to India, the US and the UK. The lifestyle channel has a feed for India, UK and a common feed for the rest of the world.

The channels were available on Mio TV, Singtel's IPTV platform in Singapore, since 2009. They ceased to exist on the platform about a year ago.

Rohit Jaiswal, associate vice-president, network distribution and affiliate sales, NDTV shares the plans of the company to customise feeds for as many countries as possible. In addition, he says, "StarHub TV carries most of the Indian channels available in India and hence the Indian subscriber base is very strong for the cable company. The dependence on subscription revenues is as high as 70 per cent in the market and we wanted to have our distribution strategy right."

The channels have not explored the advertising revenue stream in the country yet. For the short term, NDTV may consider hiring a local agency. However, later, an in-house sales team may be an option.

The channel is also expected to be launched in Indonesia, and an announcement is expected in the next four-five months.

"The addition of NDTV 24x7 and NDTV Good Times will strengthen StarHub TV's Indian content line-up by offering more entertainment choices for our customers," adds Lee Soo Hui, head of media business unit, StarHub.

Apart from this, the channels are also available on the digital platform of the cable distribution company, StarHub TV Anywhere via www.starhubtvanywhere.com.

Recently ETV launched ETV Telugu in Singapore, while the Maa Group took Maa Movies and Maa TV into the country.