Quote from it<br /><br />(d) TARBS/UBI<br />Before it went into receivership in July 2004, Television & Radio Broadcasting Services or TARBS provided<br />subscription TV and radio services to multicultural audiences and households in Australia. The company<br />was founded in 1995 by Mike and Regina Boulos and delivered its services via the PanAmSat 8 satellite<br />and was estimated in 2004, to have approximately 57,000 subscribers.<br />Prior its demise in 2004, the company incurred an unpaid debt of US$30 million to PanAmSat, which<br />effectively placed TARBS under receivership. The Asian subsidiary of PanAmSat has bought the assets,<br />which include the subscriber list, intellectual property and equipment. PanAmSat is still owed US$30 million.<br />We understand that TARBS’ failure was largely due to its decision to invest heavily in infrastructure,<br />technology and content, including significant costs relating to the build-out of teleports in Greece and<br />Australia; an oversized and overstaffed call centre; and non-core foreign-language channels that did not<br />appeal to its major ethnic target groups. It also lacked English-language programming in its channel line-up<br />and only added an English language channel package in 2003, a year before its demise.<br />In August 2005, the parties behind TARBS moved to launch a new multicultural-focused subscription TV<br />platform called United Broadcasting International (UBI). The parties secured transponder space on the<br />Optus B3 satellite with a monthly term contract, as opposed to long term annual agreements which typically<br />run to 9-10 years for established pay TV providers.<br />UBI’s service – UBI World TV – claims to be the largest provider of non-English language digital TV<br />channels to Australia’s diverse population. The company retails 2 packages to customers at A$49.95/month<br />and A$59.95/month, offering more than 45 TV channels.