Star Sports will air the EPL, Bundesliga, F1 and the tennis grand slams on its "two new premium HD sports channels" Select HD1 and Select HD2 exclusively this August, according to Gaurav Laghate of the ECONOMIC TIMES. Star India "decided to remove these properties from its existing standard and high-definition channels." Star India Sports CEO Nitin Kukreja said, "We will have a transition period up to October, and then these properties will only be available on the new channels." He added that "it will be exclusive content, which has been available on HD thus far, but now it will get to a stage when it will be available only in HD." The two channels "will not just be exclusively covering international sports; they will also have more hours of coverage, analysis, and behind the scene contents." Currently, the broadcaster "has four standard definition and 4 HD channels with mirror programming." Industry observers "see this move as a drive from the broadcaster to increase distribution revenues." A senior media agency exec said, "Internationally, subscription (or distribution) constitutes to over 70 percent of a sports broadcaster's revenue, while his dependence on advertising is very less. In India it has been opposite. The broadcasters are heavily dependent on advertising" (ECONOMIC TIMES, 7/12).
