MUMBAI: In the mist of recession and almost no show for satellite rights trade, Sony Entertainment Television India has snapped up the satellite rights of Slumdog Millionaire and Slumdog Crorepati from Fox Star Studios, India.

The deal is said to have been struck in the price range of Rs 40 – 50 million (Rs 4 -5 crores). Both, Fox Star Studios and Sony officials refused to confirm the development to Businessofcinema.com.

Incidentally, Fox Star Studios’ sister company Star India also has Hindi and English movie channels namely Star Gold and Star Movies. However, the company thought it viable to sell the rights to Sony. At the time of filing this story, the time period of the deal could not be ascertained.

Sources inform that Sony has bought Slumdog Millionaire’s rights for its English movie channel Sony Pix and the Hindi version’s rights for MAX. The movie will be aired on the channels only after six months. Slumdog Millionaire and Slumdog Crorepati released in India on 23 January.

The source further says, "If content is available at the right price, movie channels will not mind buying the satellite rights. The satellite right prices, which existed in 2007 and 2008 are no longer happening, as it offers very little returns to movie channels. Hence most movie channels are now opting for content syndication model."