WorldSpace Inc, which provides satellite radio services, along with its US subsidiaries WorldSpace Systems Corporation and AfriSpace Inc, has filed for Chapter 11 (Bankruptcy). The owners of the company have secured financing of up to $13 million for 90 days, in order to facilitate a sale. Readers may recall that the company had announced having received financing facility of upto $40 million earlier this year, and re-branded as 1worldspace. In India, the company operates satellite radio services, and had recently tied up with Bharti Airtel for radio on DTH. In August last year, the company had also tied up with MSN India for online radio, but we are told by reliable sources that there were issues since online and mobile rights for the music had not been sold to WorldSpace. The website doesn't appear to be active anymore. What Happened WorldSpace was launched in India in 2000, with an eye on the countrys craze for music. They launched premium subscription services in 2002. At present, they levy a monthly fee of $3.3 (Rs. 150) in India for the base package, while the premium package is charged at $9.99. WorldSpace receivers in India are manufactured by BPL, retailed at prices ranging from Rs.2,499 to Rs.3,599 (approximately, $60 to $90). A majority of the sales were of their lowest priced receiver, for which they had to provide a subsidy. Worldspace, meanwhile, was only able to gather 163,000 subscribers in India by December 31st 2007. What went wrong for them, was the launch…
