Mediaone signs JV with Avon Global for advance digital tech

Mumbai, Jan 19 (PTI) Channai-based Mediaone GlobalEntertainment (Mediaone) today said it has inked a 50:50 jointventure with Avon Global Solutions Pvt Ltd for a technologyproduct, SecureDuct, that will help in reducing the cost ofacquiring a film print and also curb piracy.

"Both the JV partners will invest Rs 110 crore in thisstate-of-the-art technology product and hope to earn revenueover Rs 900 crore in the first three-year period," MediaoneManaging Director Suryaraj Kumar told reporters here.

SecureDuct will help reduce the cost of acquiring afilm print. The cost of acquiring a movie will be reduced toalmost nothing from the current cost of about Rs 80,000. Thisis a direct saving for the cinema owners. Not only they saveon the print cost, they can earn from other programmesinbuilt, he said.

SecureDuct will provide protection to all methods ofmovie piracy, including filming the movie from the screen. Avideo scrambling technology based on frame rates will bedeployed to achieve this. Even if it is filmed, SecureDuct caneasily deduct from which theatre, at what time the movie wasfilmed, Avon Global Head Vasanthakrishnan said.

Through this technology, cinema owners will not onlysave on the print cost, but have a chance to earn money byusing it through our ad-revenue sharing programme, he said.

Mediaone is a BSE-listed company in the entertainmentand media space and has a wholly-owned subsidiary in London.

It currently operates in the business of producing regional aswell as international feature films, production of televisionserials, distribution of feature films and exhibition. (MORE)PTI AP RSY

Medianone owns 75 theaters in Tamil Nadu and 25 more will be added in 2012, Kumar said.

The JV partner, Avon Global, is primarily intosoftware development, IT consulting and back office work. PTIAP RSY