Dubai, UAE – OSN, a leading pay-TV network in the Middle East and North Africa, has expanded its entertainment bouquet with the acquisition of Pehla Media & Entertainment, the region’s largest provider of South Asian pay-TV content. OSN Pehla will now offer the best in Bollywood and premium cricket, with exclusive telecast rights of the ICC Cricket World Cup. OSN now showcases nearly 140 TV channels covering Arabic, Western, South Asian and Filipino content.
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.”
Pehla subscribers will not be affected by the acquisition, and OSN Pehla customers will soon receive free access to OSN Play, the region’s first online TV viewing platform. 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 also offer Sony Max, Star Gold, UTV Movies International and Zee Cinema, as well as news channels 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 provide 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.
