In quite an interesting development, California's own Marshall Media has teamed up with a leading telecommunications company in Asia in order to deliver HD "American infotainment" to
broadband customers in India. More specifically, Marshall Media will dish out content such as its own "Road to the American Dream" alongside other programs that cover informative topics (i.e. healthcare seminars) and comedies. Notably, the high-definition media will be delivered using a "video-on-demand digital streaming system," and at least initially, it will require Windows Media Player for playback. Marshall Media is also toying with the idea of providing "live HD broadcasting for various types of events, with the help of VSNL's INMARSAT satellite communications services" in the future, but for now, we're still left without a clue as to when the service will actually launch and how much coin it'll demand.
Tata Sky may be ready for HD broadcasting, but it can't really expect to topple Dish TV and friends without its own PVR service. At long last, the Indian satcaster is finally enabling its 2.7 million subscribers to enjoy the unbelievable bliss that comes with timeshifting. As for pricing, you'll be asked to hand over Rs 8,999 ($189) for the HDD-packed set-top-box, though current users who choose to upgrade can get ahold of one for "a discounted rate." In related news, managing director and CEO Vikram Kaushik has also expressed his desire to net "at least" 8 million subs by 2012 -- get some serious high-def material rolling and we'd say you can snag 10+ million with ease.
