The DTH provider, DirecTV, switched off the signal immediately after theEthnic American Broadcasting Corporation (EABC) was declared a "bankruptcompany." Sony Entertainment Television had a franchisee agreement with EABCto put the Hindi entertainment channel on the DTH platform in the US. Sonyhas decided to migrate to another platform following the development. "Weare switching our distribution network in the US. We will decide on theplatform provider by next week," Sony Entertainment Television chiefoperating officer Rajesh Pant told The Financial Express. Though Pantdid not confirm, sources in the company said Sony is planning to move to theEchostar platform. B4U, a premium Bollywood movie channel which has astrategic alliance with Sony in the UK, is on the same platform.

"In the UK, we package our channel with B4U. We could have a similararrangement in the US," a senior company official said. Sony, which wasswitched off for the DTH subscribers in the US, could not move to a newplatform till the bankruptcy court had passed a judgement. With DirecTVdeciding not to beam the Hindi entertainment channel, Sony was left in thelurch.

"We are now legally allowed to beam the signals to a new platform provider,"Pant said.

Sony had, under the franchisee agreement, given the signal to EABC. WhileSony would provide marketing expertise, EABC would uplink the channel andprovide a subscriber management system to collect subscription revenue. Sonywould be given a percentage of the spoils.

EABC had contracted with DirecTV and Sony was available to 12,000 DTHsubscribers. But Ethnic American Broadcasting Corporation, which wasoffering a bouquet of language channels including Arabic, Chinese andRussian, went into chapter seven bankruptcy proceedings. The Sony channelwas priced at $14.99 per subscriber. Sony is yet to recover the subscriptionrevenue dues from EABC.

Sony's cable subscribers, however, are not affected. The channel reaches outto 9,000 subscribers on the cable networks in the US. Though Sony is keen tobe on the Echostar platform, it is not clear whether it can enter into astrategic alliance with B4U. "As Echostar is the platform provider, it willbe up to them to decide on packaging our channel with Sony. We can't have anexclusive arrangement with Sony as we are tied up in an agreement withEchostar for three years," B4U chief executive officer Ravi Gupta said.

Sony, which has grown slowly in the US, would like to tie up with B4U.Though an exclusive arrangement may be ruled out, Sony could do the nextbest thing: neutralise rival channel Zee TV's advantage. By being on theEchostar platform, Zee is being offered alongwith B4U on a packaged pricingto selected subscribers.

B4U has become a popular channel in the US within a short time since itslaunch on March 15, 2000, and already reaches out to 30,000 DTH subscribers. u "Sony and B4U would stand to gain if they are offered as a package,"media analysts said.