UTV in predatory play for broadband scene

Media entertainment company UTV Entertainment has taken its pan-regional presence once step further, launching mega-streaming portal Sharkstream.com. Sparked by a four-month Lion City test run via the SingaporeONE broadband network and aided by the Economic Development Board (EDB) and the National Computer Board of Singapore (NCB), Sharkstream is targeting users in broadband-equipped Singapore, Taiwan and Hong Kong. Fortunately for UTV, content has been its mantra for the past 10 years, with broadcasting operations in the ASEAN region that include a hub base of up to 1,000 animators producing programming for clients which include Disney, Discovery Channel and Nikelodeon. Offering users 15 channels worth of "VCD quality" portal content, feeds range from Channel V, Star TV Asian programming, US and international news by Voice of America, Live-E for live music, Tamil programming with Vijay TV and 50 audio channels of streaming music all set for initial showcasing. "We'll be ramping up to 20 (channels) when the broadcasters consolidate their offerings and we can get in front of the consumer in an on-demand fashion," said UTV group chairman Ronnie Screwala. Brandishing an advertising budget of US$2 million spanning Singapore, Taiwan and Hong Kong during '99, Mr Screwvala said the first six months of viewing was being offered as free-to-air in a bid to entice users. "Our basic revenue model will be pay-per-month or pay-per-view, but we need to get people to log on and have recall before we get that loyalty going." Targeting Sharkstream.com at the 70 per cent of Asian 'Net users below the age of 30, Sharkstream director Sudhanshu Sarronwala said the site was hedging its bets on a 250,000 subscriber base within the coming year. Mr Sarronwala said the portal would be leveraging off its ties with News Corporation for the purpose of an advertising platform - since News Corporation holds a 15 per cent stake in the UTV Group. "They've got a strategy that could help us a lot and we'll be leaning on them for promotions targeting viewers on the Star network," he said. Despite the overriding slant on broadcast content, Mr Sarronwala noted that advertisers would only have to invest a tenth of the equivalent advertising costs on a cable channel. "We have the localised content on offer and we understand the relevance of budgets here better than anyone - we're not following a US or European revenue model". Keeping China "in the pipeline", Mr Sarronwala also predicted a broadcast U-turn in the 'Net space. "Right now what exists is TV programming on the Internet - but soon we'll be seeing a paradigm shift, where a whole new form of shorter, interactive Internet-style programming is the norm," said Mr Sarronwala.

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