Eros Multimedia strikes deal with Hungama mobile

Mumbai, Jul 18 (UNI) Eros Multimedia, the Indian arm of Eros International today announced a two-year minimum guarantee output deal with Hungama mobile, a local digital entertainment media company, for the development distribution and marketing of Eros's music content for download on mobile phones.

Hungama Mobile will repurpose Eros content into desktop wallpapers, ringtones, games, song videos and other content that has appeal on the mobile format and monetise this content by distributing it to mobile manufacturers like Nokia and Motorola and mobile service providers-Vodafone, Idea, BSNL, Airtel, Reliance, du, SingTel, Verizon, Rogers, T-Mobile and MTN.

The deal covered content from some major forthcoming releases from the Eros roster, including ''Aladin,'' starring Amitabh Bachchan, Sanjay Dutt and Riteish Deshmukh, ''Toonpur ka Super Hero'', starring real-life husband and wife duo Ajay Devgan and Kajol, the much anticipated ''Kambakth Ishq'' starring Akshay Kumar and Kareena Kapoor, the company said in a release here.

Salman Khan's ''Veer and Freeze'' starring Neil Nitin Mukesh and Bipasha Basu and a venture which is currently under production, featuring Deepika Padukone and Saif Ali Khan, will also fall under the auspices of the deal.

According to a report by PwC, digital music in India grew by 33 per cent in 2007 and it predicts that it will grow by 26 per cent.

CAGR over the next five years would exceed rupees 2.5 billion by 2012. Mobile music currently accounts for over 88 per cent of the entire digital music market. This growth is being propelled by the increasing cell phone ownership in India, which has already exceeded 230 million handsets. Moreover, mobile operators are continually seeking the type of content intended by the Eros-Hungama deal, in order to drive up their ARPU (average revenue per user).

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