The Sri Adhikari Brothers-promoted entertainment channel SABe TV has acquired a 50 per cent stake in the UK-based channel MATV Channel 6 for $1 million.
MATV is a Leicestershire-based free-to-air terrestrial channel launched in 1999 and is the United Kingdom's only restricted service license operator for Asian channels. The channel started its broadcast through cable networks from April 2000.
Markand Adhikari, vice-chairperson and managing director, Sri Adhikari Brothers Television Network Ltd ( SABTNL), said, "This is the first step towards SABe TV going global and we will be looking at different markets elsewhere which offer strategic value. The huge content library which we have created thus far will be to leverage on opportunities presented in different markets."
More From This Section
With the acquisition of the strategic stake, SABe TV will now be the sole supplier of content to MATV - Channel 6. MATV already has an alliance with SKY Television for the broadcast of SKY News and broadcasts about 63 hours of new content a week in Hindi and Gujarati, a large portion of which is produced in-house.
According to Adhikari , MATV was an ideal choice for entry into the European markets since the channel has already achieved cash break even though it is of fairly recent origin.
The joint venture also plans to expand its reach through the cable network to neighbouring counties during the current year. The expanded reach will provide for connectivity to around 3 lakh households with a viewership of around 1.25 million viewers. The channel would target the ethnic Indian community in the UK.
"We will also try and maintain a minimum of 1 hour of local content in each of the different counties that the channel reaches out to so as to give it a local feel and to be in a position to attract local advertisers, which is a currently contributing to a large share of the revenue." Adhikari added.