The rate structure and other pricing details for the STAR Plus programmes are being worked out. STAR TV will take a share of the advertising and subscription revenue generated from these shows, a company source said. He, however, refused to divulge the name of the channels.

The STAR Plus programming will be available in these two overseas markets by the last quarter of this year. While in Canada it will be available on cable and the direct-to-home platform, in West Indies it will be only through cable.

STAR TV is also negotiating with cable and satellite channel operators from African and European countries. The network aims to spread out this year to the overseas markets as part of its strategy to generate additional revenue through its India-sourced programming. For this purpose, STAR TV has created an international business development division.Arrow Sinha Roy, who was vice-president of corporate affairs, is being given additional charge of the new operations.

"It is a serious growth area for us. Besides taking the STAR TV brand global, we can generate additional revenue," said Roy.

STAR TV made a quiet and limited entry in the UK market on May 30 by signing a deal with Midland Broadcasting Corporation for a daily six-hour of STAR Plus and Channel V programming. The corporation is a free-to-air, terrestrial channel operating in Leicester which has a large concentration of Asian population. Incidentally, the Independent Television Council of UK licenses certain city-based, community TV channels.

Earlier this year, STAR TV launched a four-hour band in the American market through a channel called Network Asia. The channel is on the direct-to-home DirecTV platform. The contract with Network Asia is for two years but is extendible up to five years.

While in the US, STAR TV will share advertising and subscription revenue with Network Asia, in theUK it will be paid a license fee and an hourly rate on the shows carried by the channel.

Why did STAR TV enter the international market after Zee TV and Sony Entertainment Television? "We took time as for the last two years we were concentrating on standardising our programmes. Now we have a high quality mix of soap operas and comedies," said Roy.

Unlike Zee TV and Sony who have taken their channels abroad, STAR TV has decided to sell time-band programming to overseas channel operators. The network wanted to save on investments and test the global market before launching its channels.

What advantage does STAR TV have over Zee and Sony in these markets? "We are bilingual and we have an innovative, premier quality programming," said Roy. STAR TV's popular fares are talk shows and weekly magazine-based programming like `Amul India Show'. Said Roy, "we are not like Sony and Zee who have a high movie-based programming content. Though this genre is strong in India, it does not appeal to the Indians abroad.`Saans' and Simi Grewal's `Rendezvous' are very popular."

STAR TV's overseas operations began in a small way in early 1997 when the network participated in the MIP TV at Cannes in France. In October 1997, the network won appreciative reviews from foreign buyers at MIPCom for some of its shows. Though STAR TV could sell its India-sourced programming at higher rates, the network decided this year to sell time bands to channels.

"Selling to individual buyers is a tedious process. It required a huge number of contact points," said Roy.