News
Cellcast launches operations in Sri Lanka
09 March 2007
Cellcast Interactive India, a leading provider of participation content for television, has begun operations in Sri Lanka with the launch of its award-winning interactive auction show Bid2Win on Derana TV.
Sri Lanka's rapidly expanding mobile phone base of 5.4 million users, about 28% of the country's 19 million population, along with its advanced 3G-based mobile infrastructure, makes it a prime market for Cellcast's products
Bid2Win is the first direct participation TV programme in Sri Lanka, and the first to use premium SMS to create new revenue streams for mobile operators and broadcasters. Featuring prominently in Sri Lanka's prime-time TV schedules, Bid2Win has received millions of responses since its launch in November 2006.
Bid2Win is one of a portfolio of successful participation-TV formats developed by Cellcast plc and has been sold to over 8 markets. During the half-hour show, audiences are shown a high-value aspirational product and encouraged to send premium-rate SMS containing a unique, low bid. The auction engine evaluates the bids and maintains the "current lowest bidder" at all times. It also responds to every bidder with the status of his/her bid. At the end of the auction period (24 hours), the final winner is declared. The bidders and current winner information is shown in real-time on TV during the half-hour show and can be seen on the Internet at all times.
Cellcast India, a subsidiary of London-based Cellcast plc, launched Bid2Win in India last summer and the show has become a major landmark in the Indian television industry. It has completed over 350 back-to-back episodes and has generated over 20 million responses via SMS and IVR. Bid2Win was recognised as the Best Interactive Show at the Sixth Indian Telly Awards.
Pankaj Thakar, CEO of Cellcast Interactive India said: "The Cellcast Group is a pioneer in participation content and premium rate mobile entertainment services across the world. I am delighted with the substantial audiences Bid2Win has attracted on Derana TV and I'm pleased to confirm we will shortly be introducing more of these types of shows in Sri Lanka to meet local demand."
"The launch of our programmes in Sri Lanka is the natural outcome of our successful operation in India. With proven formats and technologies and an experienced team based in Mumbai, we plan to export our mobile phone linked interactive television products to other South Asian markets. Mobile phone usage in the region continues to enjoy huge growth, and in today's multi-channel television environment, audiences are hungry for new forms of entertainment." added Thakar.
Derana TV is one of the largest terrestrial broadcasters in Sri Lanka. The network has made a name for itself as an innovator in sports, entertainment and education programming. "Bid2Win is a milestone in Sri Lankan broadcasting history, and Derana shares Cellcast's vision for the creation of multi-platform interactive content. We look forward to working with them closely in the Sri Lankan market," said Derana TV CFO Madhawa Madawala.
Andrew Wilson, CEO of Cellcast plc, said: "Sri Lanka is the twenty-ninth country in which our programmes and applications have been launched, demonstrating the effectiveness of our interactive broadcast model which is delivering both new revenue streams and the active engagement of television audiences worldwide."
The Cellcast Group's participation TV formats are scalable from small satellite channels to major terrestrial broadcasters, suitable for all countries, languages and cultures, and are generating significant revenues for its broadcast partners in Europe, the Middle East and Asia. The Group's proprietary programming content captures new telephony-based pay-to-participate revenue streams that are independent of subscription income and advertising.
For further information:
| Cellcast plc | |
| Andrew Wilson, CEO | Tel: +44 (0) 20 7190 0300 |
| andrew@cellcast.tv | www.cellcast.tv |
Media Enquiries
| Abchurch | |
| Gareth Mead / Joanne Shears | Tel: +44 (0) 20 7398 7700 |
| gareth.mead@abchurch-group.com | www.abchurch-group.com |
Notes to Editors:
About Cellcast Interactive India Pvt Limited
Based in Mumbai, Cellcast Interactive India is a pioneer in developing integrated participation content in the fast-growing Indian mobile and interactive TV market. The company uses traditional media for customer acquisition and new media to enable customers to pay-and-participate. Cellcast Interactive India is experiencing rapid revenue growth through continuing to address the entertainment demands of the country's 105 million TV households and 70 million mobile phone subscribers.
Cellcast plc
Cellcast plc (AIM:CLTV) is a leading international provider of participation television applications and interactive mobile content in the fast-growing multi-platform digital entertainment sector. Headquartered in London, with associated operations in Paris, Beirut, Mumbai, Miami, Hong Kong and Sao Paolo, Cellcast's applications and programming are distributed on the Sky Digital and Freeview platforms in the UK and broadcast partners include Canal+ in France; Future TV, Dubai Television and Rotana TV in the Middle East; Zee TV, STAR TV and Sahara TV in India; TVS-3 in China; TV3 in Malaysia; and Rede TV, TV Gazetta and TV Banderantes in Brazil.
Cellcast plc joined the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange on 21 September 2005.
