t was in 2005 that Sony had tied up with Red FM for a delayed broadcast of Indian Idol and last year for its second season with Radio City for a simulcast. Now, the trend has been extended to STAR India's Indya.com which has made some programmes from the STAR network available on the site for sale immediately after they have been telecast. Users can access the service through broadband.indya.com.

Currently the portal offers programmes such as Koffee with Karan, The Great Indian Laughter Challenge, Sarabhai Vs Sarabhai, Star Screen Awards and Kahani Ghar Ghar Kii. The first episodes for each of these shows are free for trial and thereafter each episode will cost 99 cents and discounts are available for bundle purchases. The objective according to STAR, is to provide Hindi content such as documentaries, movies and music to South Asian viewers in the US, UK, Canada and South East Asia. ... more