Cellcast Partners Essel Group to Launch India’s First Live 24-hour Interactive Gaming Channel

May 27, 2005�The Cellcast Group, a global provider of participation TV applications and programming, has partnered with the Essel Group in the launch of India’s first live 24-hour interactive gaming channel, PlayTV. Reaching over 47 million households, PlayTV is one of the largest interactive channels in the world

PlayTV provides India’s television audiences an entirely new format, offering active viewer involvement to over 47 million cable and DTH households. In addition to regular entertainment programming, the channel provides gaming, news, contests, bidding and shopping, with viewers participating on a real time basis through SMS,
e-mails and chat.

Cellcast is one of the world’s leading producers of live interactive programming and
drew on its considerable experience of revenue-generating formats and applications to develop the new channel. It also supplied the technology platform, back-end application logic and database, and dynamic on-air display systems necessary to integrate viewer-generated messaging, speech and multimedia, into pre-recorded and live programming. The result is a compelling new entertainment experience for India’s demanding TV audiences.

"The convergence of television, mobile telephony and the Internet is turning passive TV viewing into an active adventure and driving new revenue opportunities for
broadcasters. Cellcast continues to be at the forefront of realising these incremental revenues,� said Andrew Wilson, Joint-CEO of The Cellcast Group. “Zee Network andlayTV share our vision, and we look forward to working together to provide India with more innovative television programming.�

Speaking at the launch, Amit Goenka, the managing director of PlayTV said, "The gaming industry in India is at the threshold of significant growth. Globally, gaming as an industry stands at US$ 30 billion. Despite its relative infancy, the market in India is already generating significant revenues and profits. PlayTV is the beginning of an entirely new genre of entertainment, where interactivity redefines television viewing."

Cellcast recently established a presence in India to develop new opportunities in the country’s high-growth multi-channel media sector. CEO of Cellcast India, Pankaj Thakar, said “Cellcast’s global experience in interactive media - forged in one of the most competitive digital TV environments, the UK - is helping realise the potential of one of the largest broadcasting and mobile entertainment markets in the world.�

Cellcast's applications and programming are widely distributed on major channels and platforms worldwide, including Sky TV in the UK; Canal +, France 2 and 3 in France; Future TV in the Middle East; Star TV in India; and across China and South-East Asia on AsiaSat 3S.

For more information please visit http://www.cellcast.tv