MissAshley Posted January 23, 2006 Report Share Posted January 23, 2006 Will Smith and a channel war Gurbir Singh Mumbai, January 24, 2006 Man-in-black Will Smith is coming to India. Not to promote his new movie title but to launch the third big Hollywood movie channel for India and South Asia. Promoted by Sony Entertainment Television (SET), the channel, to be christened SET Pix, is expected to hit the airwaves by mid-February. "Our launch will kick off with a Will Smith festival -- all his best movies like Hitch, Shark Tale, I, Robot, Independence Day and Wild, Wild West," Kunal Dasgupta, CEO, SET, told HT. In the new configuration for the South Asian market, SET Pix will source movies from the Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) library which includes Columbia releases too. Pix will also have access to the MGM library. Sony Corp had acquired the studio in September 2004 for $5 billion. Conversely, HBO South Asia - which was launched with licensing agreements with Paramount, Universal Studios, Sony Pictures and Warner Brothers in September 2000 - will lose the Sony/Columbia library. The result: quite a channel war among the main protagonists. A Sony source said HBO wanted to leave the Zee-Turner distribution network and join the Sony alliance. "This is an attempt to nix the launch of SET Pix by some HBO partners, like Warner Brothers, who have an alliance with Zee," said the source. "But this time round, we're not taking HBO on board." HBO has been doing quite a flip-flop ever since it launched in India in September 2000. After initially being distributed by Turner International, HBO joined the Sony platform in January 2003. The marriage lasted just two years. In January 2005, HBO defected to the Zee-Turner alliance. The MGM library of 4,100 films was earlier with Zee too. Following the takeover by Sony, Zee launched it own movie channel, Zee Studio. source via google: http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/181_1606607,0008.htm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luigie Posted January 24, 2006 Report Share Posted January 24, 2006 Thanks for that info!...in India cool! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fan 4ever Posted January 24, 2006 Report Share Posted January 24, 2006 Thanx 4 the news!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigwill Posted January 24, 2006 Report Share Posted January 24, 2006 Thanx for the nes man! :2thumbs: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trey Posted January 24, 2006 Report Share Posted January 24, 2006 Thanks for the info! :interesting: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sonic1988 Posted January 26, 2006 Report Share Posted January 26, 2006 (edited) *currently packing to go to the will smith festival* :lolsign: that is cool news though. Edited January 26, 2006 by sonic1988 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mista Money Posted January 29, 2006 Members Report Share Posted January 29, 2006 cool :rockon: :mikelowery: shoot em up Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeaceAngel Posted January 30, 2006 Report Share Posted January 30, 2006 Cool news! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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