OSN to Offer Premium South Asian Entertainment with Acquisition of Pehla Content
Cricket, Movies, Series, News and More from South Asia now on OSN
- OSN Pehla features the latest and most popular TV entertainment in Hindi, Urdu, Bengali, Malayalam and Tamil through nearly 40 premium channels
– Content acquisition brings the best in Bollywood and international cricket including the ICC Cricket World Cup and Indian cricket exclusively on OSN
– OSN now offers the widest spectrum of brand new premium Arabic, Western, South Asian and Filipino entertainment through nearly 140 TV channels
Dubai, UAE; August 26, 2013: OSN, the leading pay-TV network in the Middle East and North Africa, has significantly expanded its entertainment bouquet with the strategic acquisition of Pehla Media & Entertainment, the region’s largest provider of South Asian pay television content.
The acquisition brings nearly 40 popular South Asian channels in Hindi, Urdu, Bengali, Tamil and Malayalam languages to OSN’s existing comprehensive portfolio of channels. Bringing the best in Bollywood and premium cricket, with exclusive telecast rights of the ICC Cricket World Cup, OSN Pehla will underscore the network’s position as the ultimate destination for premium content.
Showcasing nearly 140 TV channels with the widest spectrum of Arabic, Western, South Asian and Filipino television entertainment, OSN now has something for everyone.
Pehla will now be known as OSN Pehla, functioning as an integral unit of OSN that is dedicated to South Asian content delivery.
David Butorac, Chief Executive Officer of OSN, said: “We are marking an exciting new chapter in OSN’s history with the integration of Pehla into our network. This acquisition builds on OSN’s growth strategy to explore opportunities for market consolidation bringing greater economies of scale and operational efficiencies to offer great value entertainment for subscribers. Appealing to millions of South Asian expatriates, OSN Pehla now gives us the opportunity to reach out to one of the largest demographics in MENA, serving as the ultimate entertainment destination for all segments of the region’s population.
“OSN has already established its credentials in premium Arabic, Western and Filipino entertainment, providing unrivalled content through technologically advanced platforms and unmatched On-demand and on-the-go television experiences. OSN Pehla customers will now be able to enjoy the same value added services and benefit from OSN’s award-winning customer services, our values and international industry standards.”
Following the acquisition, Pehla subscribers will continue to enjoy an uninterrupted and seamless television experience. OSN Pehla customers will soon receive free access to OSN Play, the region’s first online TV viewing platform and can immediately participate in OSN’s rewards programme, OSN Privileges, offering a spectacular range of special prizes and deals from leading retailers and lifestyle partners. Viewers will also benefit from the many advantages of being part of the OSN platform, including access to more than 400 sales touch points across the region and 24×7 customer services.
The new channels that are now available under OSN Pehla include popular entertainment choices such as Sony, Star Plus, Sun TV, Zee TV, Geo TV, ARY Digital, Asianet Middle East, Colors, Gemini TV and Kairali among others.
OSN Pehla will offer the best of Bollywood through Sony Max, Star Gold, UTV Movies International and Zee Cinema, while news followers from South Asia can tune into Asianet News, Dawn News, NDTV 24×7, Times Now and Aaj Tak. Lifestyle and music choices include Channel [V] India, MTV India, UTV Bindass and UTV Stars in addition to popular children’s entertainment channels Cartoon Network, Boomerang and Baby TV.
OSN Pehla will also be the ultimate destination for cricket fans through CricOne and Ten Cricket, offering exclusive access to the widely followed ICC Cricket World Cup, ICC Champions Trophy, ICC World Twenty20 and Champions League. This complements OSN’s existing exclusive cricket rights which include The Ashes and The Champions League Twenty20.
“Bollywood and cricket are increasingly gaining popularity in the MENA region. Our acquisition of Pehla’s content will enable our existing subscribers to choose from newly tailored packages that cover the best in Arabic, Western and South Asian entertainment. A truly growth-oriented acquisition, the deal underlines our commitment to add consistent value to all our stakeholders,” added Butorac.
For more information or to subscribe to OSN Pehla, please visit www.osn.com/osnpehla
OSN is the ultimate destination for the widest choice of brand new premium Western, Arabic, South Asian (Hindi, Urdu, Bengali, Malayalam and Tamil) and Filipino entertainment in the Middle East and Africa. OSN is the home of nearly 140 channels filled with great value entertainment, offering viewers in the MENA region exclusive access to the latest blockbuster movies, top rated series, sports, documentaries, news, kid’s entertainment and live talk shows. The movie offering includes over a 100 uncut and uninterrupted movie premieres a month so viewers can watch them the way they were meant to be watched.
OSN boasts the most comprehensive portfolio of exclusive rights from all the major studios including Warner Brothers, Paramount, Fox, Disney, Sony, MGM, Universal and DreamWorks and offers access to the world’s leading television brands including Disney channel, Sky News, Discovery Network and Nat Geo.
Launched in August 2013, OSN Pehla brings the best of Bollywood movies and premium cricket, including exclusive telecast rights of international tournaments such as the ICC Cricket World Cup and Indian cricket, through leading sports channels CricOne and Ten Cricket.
As the leader in innovation, OSN has changed the TV viewing experience by bringing quality entertainment through 36 High Definition channels and is currently the only network offering a full HD bouquet of channels as well as 3D entertainment in the region. OSN was the first to launch the DVR; the regions first online TV platform, OSN Play; the regions first 3D, HD, internet enabled satellite receiver and recorder, OSN Plus HD and the region’s first VOD service, OSN on Demand offering viewers the opportunity to watch over 1000 movies and 52 latest seasons of the top series, all available in full HD quality and Dolby Digital sound.
September 2012 saw the launch of OSN’s rewards programme, OSN Privileges, offering subscribers money can’t buy experiences, special offers and premium prizes all year round.
The OSN platform is owned and operated by Panther Media Group Limited; a company registered in DIFC, and is owned by KIPCO and Mawarid Group Limited.
