Dubai: Dubai-based Eurostar has tied up with Asianet Satellite Communications and Xperio Labs to launch the Asianet Mobile TV app in the Gulf states in its bid to attract Malayalee expats.
A bouquet of 22 popular live Malayalam television channels and 20 radio channels (Malayalam, Hindi and English) can be streamed on tablets and smartphones.
“People are not keen to watch their favourite shows and programmes on TVs, especially the younger generation. The integration of [the] smart home concept is gaining traction in the region,” Yousuf Saidi, chief operating officer of Eurostar, told Gulf News.
Eurostar is giving a two-month free subscription with their ePad seven-inch tablet, which is retailing for Dh279 at Lulu outlets in the Gulf.
The app can also be downloaded from the Android or Apple stores but the subscription can only be purchased from Eurostar website.
Malayalee expats need to pay Dh90 for a six-month subscription package.
The Malayalam live TV stations are Asianet News, Kairali, People, Jeevan, Mathrubhumi TV, Reporter, Kappa, Rosebowl, JaiHind, Flowers, Sakhi, Janam, Shalom, MediaOne, Amrita, WE, Kaumadi, Safari, ACV and PowerVision.
G. Sankaranarayana, president and COO of Asianet Satellite Communications, said that subscribers can use the same account anywhere in the world.
“This is just the beginning. The technology is changing very fast and everything is going mobile. This gave us an opportunity to reach to expat Malayalee community through our app. Our intention is to reach 100 channels, offer video-on-demand and gaming services very shorty and in other languages also,” he said.
Even though many of the channels have their own apps, Roshan D’Souza, president of Xperio Labs, said it is the convenience that counts through a single and intuitive app rather than downloading all the multiple apps.
