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WorldSpace India to shut shop on December 31
Dilip Maitra, Bangalore, Dec 24, DH News Service
WorldSpace satellite radio broadcast service will be terminated for all customers serviced from India from December 31, 2009. This was announced on the website of WorldSpace Inc USA, the parent company of WorldSpace India.
This means that from January 1, 2010 all 4.50 lakh subscribers of WorldSpace satellite radio in India will stop getting their favourite music and news radio channels, nearly 40 of them all together. India was the largest operation for WorldSpace, accounting for 95 per cent of its global subscriber base.
Though WorldSpace Inc had filed for bankruptcy in the US in October 2008, its Indian operation continued till now. Speaking to Deccan Herald a spokesperson of WorldSpace India, whose India headquarter is in Bangalore, expressed surprise to the news of closure of Indian operation. He said “till Wednesday we had no clue of the closure and even now we have no official communication except for the announcement on the website.” About 300 families in India depend on WorldSpace for their livelihood, nearly 100 of them are permanent employees. Though employees got their salaries till November, they are uncertain if December salary and all other annual benefits will come through.
“This action is an outgrowth of the financial difficulties facing WorldSpace India’s parent company, WorldSpace, Inc., which has been under bankruptcy protection since October 2008” said the announcement on the US website of the company. WorldSpace is present in over 130 countries globally, and has already been in the process of closing down its operations in most other countries. It was trying to sell its global business to Liberty Media, another US based company, but the deal fell through.
Indian subscribers, many of them have subscribed for one and two years are unlikely to get any refund for the remaining months. As the announcement says “Your subscription contract is with WorldSpace, Inc., a US company that is in a bankruptcy proceeding in the United States. The company recognises that you may have paid for services to be rendered beyond the termination date, but is not in a position to offer a refund for any unused portion of your subscription.”
The company, however, said that a subscriber may have a potential remedy under the US bankruptcy law under the claims procedure. For details one can check the website www.worldspace.com
What is the Worldspace Company going to do about all we poor suckers who have lost so much money in this scam, we have purchased the intrument which cost quite a bit then we have paid our yearly subscription and people like myself have barely paid up and not even used the facility for one month, when we were furnished with this disasterous news. We are middle class people and not as rich as the people in America who can cast a bling eye to this scam. We should really all get together and do something about this so that we dont get taken for a ride again by these thugs.
termination of service was indeed a shocking news to me,but what was more shocking was their denial to refund unused subscription.Life has fallen into ruts without my favorite channel orbit.
Life is just not the same without WORLDSPACE. wish the service is resumed soon..let us build
a public campaign for it in india, after all the
biggest business was in India for worldspace. rahman sahab pls resume worldspace service.help us !
As 95% of the customers belongs to india some big business group, should come forward to run its operation in India,I think it will be a great success.
This is something very serious. And now when Worldspace India has closed their operations, we are helpless. But this is what i feel that we all Indians are being robbed / cheated. What Govt of India is doing and is Ministry of Broadcasting / Communications, India doing something on it ?? OR they will again as usual come under pressure from their Big Bosses and International Police Chief ?? What about Crores of Rupees Worldspace has collected in India ? Who is going to answer our questions ? May be No One, As usual.
Multi National Companies operates in India under Govt. of India approval. Govt. should therefore safeguard the interests of citizens and file claim for ensuring refund of unused subscription.
hi what a shock . wokeup in tne morning and could not tune in to farishta .-my fav . they simply cannot shut shop like this suddenly . pls restore the broadcast immedietly. like dish tv we can have dish radio - world space viz airtel ,sun ,reliance
I too like most just renewed a 2 year subscription. What happens?
As a content creator, I know that Worldspace was not really the best paymaster for content. They did not produce any content themselves, either. Their subscription too was by far the highest, rather they were the only subscription based radio station. So what happened to all the money?
How come they spent tons on Rehman? Since Rehman has endorsed every single set of Worldspace, is it not his responsibility too?
hi,, this news is a very bad. i am music lover. and dispointed to hear your closeing down the network. i dnot known what all fans of worldspace going to do. we are addicted to worldspace. im not bother of my money but the service shut down pls do something about it. becoz u have lots of people who hear to worldspace in india.
ITS COMPLETE CHEAT BY AN MNC BEING A MUSIC LOVER I BOUGHT A SET FROM A DEALER AS AN OFFER WITH 1 YEAR SUBSCRIBTION FREE. SEEING THE QUALITY ONE OF MY FRIEND ALSO BOUGHT THE SAME NOW I AM AFRAID OF SEEING HIM FACE TO FACE HOW A MNC COMPANY AND THE LOCAL DEALER SAY THE CLOSURE WITH A SINGLE E MAIL. INDIAN GOVT SHOULD INDIAN CONSUMERS OF THE WORLD SPACE. WHICH ALLOWED THEM TO FLOAT THEM IN INDIA
Today Christmas I receive an e-mail notification from the US office about the closure and the person informing is a desi named Raghavan, I think that chap should be careful about visiting India, can be arrested for fraud,They took silver subscription from me for 2 years in November and did not inform about the Bankruptcy protection. I would have never paid out the Rs.3000. If I had known this. I have been a subscriber for the past 2 years.
I purchased a new set and one year subscription in Sep 2009. This announcement means the set is now useless and my three fourths of subscription goes for a six.
Indian Govt should intervene and make AIR (Doordarshan) to take over Indian Operations of Worldspace.
V Govindan
Since they(Worldspace) were doing business in India, they cannot close India operations, under US laws. Givt. of India has to do something about this. They should run it till the last of teh subscription is valid. Ofcource the Competition is happy, who bothers about customers.
A very disappointing news particularly at the festive season. Thousands of music lovers who are unaware of this development will be dismayed.We, the regular users of worldspace radio, should muster public opinion for recommencement of the services
This means that from January 1, 2010 all 4.50 lakh subscribers of WorldSpace satellite radio in India will stop getting their favourite music and news radio channels, nearly 40 of them all together. India was the largest operation for WorldSpace, accounting for 95 per cent of its global subscriber base. 
