For avid listeners of WorldSpace that went off the air in India two years ago, good news is round the corner. It will be back “very soon” with the same content and style. This was confirmed by M. Sebastian, chief executive officer of Timbre Media who will rebroadcast it, and Adarsh Gupta, Business Head of Sa Re Ga Ma India who will be responsible for its distribution and funding. Sa Re Ga Ma has acquired a 10 per cent equity stake in Timbre Media in this regard.

Furthermore, this time around, the subscribers will not have to buy a new instrument and pay a hefty amount to subscribe to WorldSpace. They will be able to access it through any platform of their choice — broadband, Internet, DTH, digital services, and mobile phones, for a nominal price of Rs. 200 per month. Music composer A.R. Rahman may not be its brand ambassador for now though.

After WorldSpace decided to shut off its operations and sold off its rights to a U.S.-based company Yazmi in December 2009, Mr. Sebastian, its former Managing Director, along with other employees, decided to restart the services.

He recalls: “Despite WorldSpace doing exceedingly well here with over 200,000 subscribers, we were told that its parent company in the United Kingdom was going through difficult times and a U.S.-based company wanted to manage its affairs. We were literally on the street. But we kept on getting emotional calls from loyal subscribers about the vacuum they felt. So, 80 former employees who used to manage the entertainment/content joined hands and developed a good infrastructure. Then we requested the current owner of WorldSpace to lend us its brand name as people associate with that brand only. He agreed and now we will serve the same old classic wine in a new bottle.”

Earlier there were the constraints of only a dozen channels, but now the choice will be more as Timbre Media will use the rich library and contents of Sa Re Ga Ma. A few channels will also be developed by the market.

Mr. Gupta says the company will be completely subscription-driven as earlier with no compromise on quality and content. “Viewers’ favourite stations like Farishta, Jhankaar, Gandharv and Shruti will also be back on various platforms,” he adds.

Source: The Hindu

MUMBAI: On December 31, 2009, the WorldSpace satellite radio broadcast service will be terminated for all customers serviced from India, according to an announcement posted on the company website.

This action is an outgrowth of the financial difficulties facing WorldSpace India’s parent company, WorldSpace, Inc., which has been under bankruptcy protection since October 2008, the announcement says.

WorldSpace is present in over 130 countries globally, and has already been in the process of closing down its operations in most other countries.

With over 4,50,000 subscribers (more than 50 per cent of this is through AirTel DTH), India accounts for over 95 per cent of the broadcaster’s world-wide subscriber base.

‘The potential buyer of much of WorldSpace’s global assets has decided not to buy the WorldSpace assets relating to and supporting WorldSpace’s subscription business in India. As a consequence, WorldSpace, Inc. must discontinue its subscriber business in India. Your subscription contract is with WorldSpace, Inc., a US company that is in a bankruptcy proceeding in the United States. The company recognizes that you may have paid for services to be rendered beyond the termination date, but is not in a position to offer a refund for any unused portion of your subscription,’ says the announcement posted on the site.

The company has asked India subscribers to mail their subscription information to the company to enable a claim servicing company to procure data that will ensure speedy redressal.

While Worldspace India officials were unavailable for comment, India general manager M Sebastian had told Radioandmusic.com some months ago that while the company battled bankruptcy elsewhere, its India operations would not be affected.

Source: Radioandmusic.com

Chennai, Dec. 17: Signals indicate that the troubled digital satellite radio broadcasting company WorldSpace Inc may fold up its India operations too.

Though the company’s Asia operations head, Mr M. Sebastian, is not available for comment, sources close to the development say he has already put in his papers, and employees are believed to be in rounds of internal discussions to figure the way out of the quagmire.

“We are clue-less, but keeping our fingers crossed,” said a highly placed official, who did not want to be named.

WorldSpace is present in over 130 countries globally, and has already been in the process of closing down its operations in most other countries. The company filed for bankruptcy protection in a US court in December last year. The $2.1-billion debt laden company sought bankruptcy protection so as to be able to raise fresh funds to repay its debts.

Early this year, Mr Sebastian told Business Line that the company was exploring various possibilities to continue its services worldwide, and as its India operation was though not cash-positive could manage on its own, “we will continue its services in India”. Hiving off its AsiaStar operations into a separate business unit and finding a suitable buyer for that is an option the company was pursuing seriously, he had said then.

However, according to India sources, the US-based multi-billion-dollar media company Liberty Media has already bought out WorldSpace’s liabilities from its creditors. The two companies are now in the process of finalising an asset purchasing agreement, and some judicial formalities are still pending. According to the sources, it all now depends on whether the new owner wants to continue the company’s India business.

With over 4.5 lakh subscribers (more than 50 per cent of this is through AirTel DTH), India accounts for over 95 per cent of the broadcaster’s world-wide subscriber base.

Recently, a leading private sector bank signed a pact with WorldSpace to provide its services in all its ATM kiosks.

Source: The Hindu Business Line