Arab Digital Distribution launches two South Indian Bouquets as part of its Pehla Platform.
Arab Digital Distribution Targets the large South Indian diaspora across Middle East; Announces Launch to two Vernacular Bouquets as part of its Pehla Platform
• Pehla associates with SUN TV network, South India’s most popular media network
• Company expects an immediate increase of 50, 000 subscriptions
• Launch of Vernacular Bouquets Envisaged to Reduce Piracy
Dubai 12 April, 2011: Arab Digital Distribution (ADD), the largest pay TV platform management company in the Middle East and North Africa, today announced the launch of two new vernacular bouquets- Pehla Spice and Pehla Extra Spice. Targeted at the large South Indian diaspora across the region, the two new bouquets will be distributed on DTH exclusively on premium Asian entertainment platform-Pehla through Arab Digital Distribution Company (ADD), the leading DTH player in the MENA region. Mr. Majed Sahelli, Managing Director, Pehla Media & Entertainment FZ LLC, a group company of ADD said; “With the addition of new vernacular bouquets, we are diversifying our content and also increasing options for our subscribers while simultaneously making content more affordable. We are targeting the South Indian diaspora which makes the largest chunk of expat South Asian community across the Middle East. The nominally priced vernacular bouquets provide customers with an option of choosing exclusive packages that better suits their content requirements.”
“For the new vernacular packages, we have partnered with the SUN TV network, which is South India’s most popular media network. While the tie-up with ADD offers enormous strategic advantage to Sun TV Network, as Pehla is the fastest growing pay television platform in MENA, the new content line-up empowers us to leverage a large audience exclusively interested in vernacular content. The new additions further strengthen our position as the regional market leader catering to varied and ever evolving media needs of our South Asian customers,” he added.
The Pehla Spice channels offer a mix of entertainment, infotainment and sports in Tamil, Malayalam, Telegu & Kannada on the four vernacular channels Gemini TV, Sun TV, Udaiya and Star Vijay. The Pehla Spice bouquet offering 18 channels is priced at AED 45, while Pehla Extra Spice offering 28 channels is priced at AED 110. While no Hindi channels are included, a number of English channels are common to both the bouquets. The bouquets-Pehla Spice & Extra Spice will also be available on cable in the UAE through e-Pehla packages on E-Vision and on du.
Commenting on the Middle East debut of Sun Network channels on the ADD Pehla platform Mr XXXX, XXXX, Sun Network said: “ADD is a leader in pay television industry in the Middle East and we will hugely benefit from their existing audience franchise and established network. The Sun TV channels offer a very strong content line-up that enjoys extensive popularity at home and abroad. There is a huge demand for the vernacular content in the Middle East which we hope to tap with our mix of programming and language options”.
Vernacular Content Envisaged to Substantially Curtail Content Piracy
ADD, having initiated a sustained anti-piracy campaign in the recent months with initiatives like shifting to a new more secure encryption and providing and installing free MPEG4 decoders for all its subscribers, expects a substantial decrease in content infringement with the addition of vernacular media .
“We are expecting at least 50,000 new subscriptions in the first month. Since these channels were not available in the Middle East, a large number of South Indian expats were resorting to unauthorized services like Sun Direct, Dish TV etc. However, now that these channels are available through Pehla, backed by excellent after sales service and round the clock customer support, it will make it easier for the audience to subscriber to legitimate services at affordable costs,” said Mr. Majed.
ADD is packaging the bouquets with a luring launch offer that gives subscribers four months of free viewing time for an annual subscription along with a free decoder. ADD packages reach out to more than 1.2 million subscribers across the region on three different bouquets and offer more than 60 channels covering different genres of entertainment and information. With the highest audience reach across the GCC, Pehla which caters to the Asian diaspora, is the fastest growing pay television bouquet in the Middle East.