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OUR CORPORATE BUREAU
NEW DELHI, Mar 8: BBC has decided to go slow on the launch of subscription entertainment channel -- BBC Prime -- in the country. Sources told The Financial Express that a team from BBC Prime, which had come down from London to judge its commercial viability in India as well as the entire South-East Asia, has concluded that the market is still not ready for it.
Sources stated that the channel may be launched at a later stage in the region. The channel comprises premium entertainment programmes, with focus on European viewers.
BBC Prime has been recently launched in sub-Saharan Africa, which is the first market for the channel outside Europe. The channel was originally launched in 1995 when it replaced the BBC World Service Television general programming channel. The channel is currently been distributed to over 7 million cable and satellite subscribers in Europe and Africa. The channel is being distributed in continental Europe by European Channel Management Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary BBC WorldLtd. The channel is available on the direct-to-home (DTH) platform of multichoice in South Africa.
When contacted, the BBC World spokesperson, however, refused to comment on the subject.
Significantly, BBC World's reach in the country is 10 million homes. The channel has also commissioned programmes to localise the channel for Indian viewers. On the subject of encryption and digitalisation, the spokesperson said the channel has no immediate plans for going pay and is likely to shift to the digital mode in a phased manner.
Copyright © 1999 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
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This story was printed from Net Express located at http://www.expressindia.com. Net Express provides a portal to India, with news from The Indian Express and The Financial Express along with sites on travel and tourism, the entertainment industry, the power sector, the environment and much more.
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