Date:06/09/2006 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2006/09/06/stories/2006090616941100.htm

National

Star India bags distribution rights

Mumbai : Rupert Murdoch's Star India on Tuesday bagged the distribution rights for the upcoming NEO sports channels of Nimbus Sports Broadcast, which has BCCI's telecast rights till 2010.

The first of the channels from Nimbus, the cricket-centric NEO Sports, is set to be launched in the last quarter of 2006, which will be followed by NEO Sports Plus, a sports entertainment channel, which is also expected to be launched by the year end.

Star India has exclusive distribution rights for these channels till 2010 and will distribute any future sports channels from the NEO Sports stable, the firms said in a statement here.

"After extensive discussions with a number of interested parties, Nimbus chose Star as its distribution partner based on the broadcaster's market knowledge, quality of management team, distribution reach, and leadership position in India," it said.

NEO Sports is expected to reach a majority of the cable and satellite homes, since it will be powered by Star's distribution capabilities, the companies said.

PTI