Press



Eros International concludes a series of major television syndication deals with Sony Entertainment Television and Sahara Television

31/03/2008

London 31st March 2008 - Eros International plc, the AIM-listed leading company in Indian filmed entertainment and media, today announces that its Indian arm has signed a series of major television syndication deals for a slate of recently released as well as library films with two of the leading Indian global television networks - Sony Entertainment Television and Sahara Television Network.

The deal with Sahara gives the channel access to 35 blockbuster library films such as Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam, Devdas, Hey Ram to name a few. The deal with Sony Entertainment Television allows them to premiere on the channels a slate of 16 new films including current blockbusters from 2007-08 such as Om Shanti Om, Heyy Babyy and several other films.

The terms and structure of these new syndication deals demonstrate the incremental opportunities to exploit both new releases and catalogue of Indian entertainment content in the face of growing consumer demand. Eros, with its extensive film library of over 1300 titles and consistent 25-30 new releases every year, is uniquely positioned to benefit from this trend. Apart from licensing to the leading Indian television networks, Eros has also concluded several deals during the year with television platforms around the world like Dubai Television, Abu Dhabi Television, RTM Malaysia, Mauritius Broadcasting Corporation and National TV Romania to name a few.

The rapidly growing $6 billion Indian television sector has been experiencing growth at 21% CAGR. The Indian television sector has seen the leading players like Zee, Sony, Star, Sahara be joined by Inx, NDTV Imagine, ViacomTV18and several other such players. This has allowed content owners like Eros to syndicate limited telecast rights to be shared between 3-4 channels for a limited period rather than licensing exclusive rights to any one channel for a longer period.

Sunil Lulla, Director and President India of Eros International Plc comments: "We have enjoyed a great relationship with Sony over the years who like Eros have been trendsetters in their space. I am delighted we were able to conclude another innovative deal with them this year. We have had business dealing with Sahara for many years now but this is the first time we have licensed them a slate of films for television exploitation and hope to continue to do more deals with them in the future."

Kunal Das Gupta, Global CEO of Sony Entertainment Television commented, "Eros is a major player within the Indian film sector and Bollywood films are a critical part of our programming mix. We are delighted to have secured this deal with Eros with whom we have enjoyed a great working relationship for several years."

Seemanto Roy, Global CEO of the Sahara Network said “Our channel Filmy has been doing extremely well at the ratings. We are confident that this slate of films from Eros will allow us to maximise our revenues from the channel.”

About Eros International plc

Eros International plc, an integrated media and entertainment Company, is a global player in the Bollywood arena. Eros operates on a vertically integrated Studio model - producing films as well as distributing films across formats globally via cinemas, home entertainment, television formats and new media.

Established in 1977, Eros International has three decades of market leadership as an international owner-distributor of Indian films. The company operates in over 50 countries with worldwide offices in India, UK, USA, Dubai, Australia, Fiji and Isle of Man. It has built a business model around the release of new films and the exploitation of a film library containing more than 1,300 titles, making it one of the largest content owners in the business.

Other business streams include high-definition DVDs, mobile downloads and on-demand digital online services.

Eros will give a trading update on 15th April.

About Sony Entertainment Television

Sony Entertainment Television is dedicated to provide the best in Hindi family entertainment to the largest percentage of the Indian population-the young adult.

Sony Entertainment Television in India is the first venture of Sony Pictures Entertainment, the biggest entertainment powerhouse of America. As part of the Sony family, the channel has access to a wide variety of international software from film and television divisions of Sony Pictures Entertainment.

Being a truly global brand, Sony Entertainment Television is seen in over 40 million households throughout India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Middle-East.

About Sahara Network Television

One of India’s largest entertainment conglomerates, Sahara One Media and Entertainment Limited operates in the Motion Pictures and Television arena.

The television business operates two television channels – Sahara One Television which is a general entertainment channel and FILMY which is a Hindi movie channel.

The Hindi movie channel – FILMY was launched in February 2006 and has an interesting, funny and irreverent presentation format. The channel has gained immense popularity amongst viewers and advertisers alike.

For Press Enquiries please contact:

Jonathan Glass, Brunswick +44 (0) 7974 982 486
Anisha Patel, Brunswick +44 (0) 7974 982 595

Return to the company news page