Three of Homeland Networks' streaming sites on the net - RadioOfIndia, TVOfIndia and PressOfIndia are aimed at the Asian Indian expatriate community. The company also caters to the Latino and Chinese expat communities.

"We have already signed up with a leading distributor for Indian films and music videos" says Ron Victor, Founder of Homeland Networks who is curently in India to finalise the deals.

Unwilling to disclose names, Victor also indicated that he was in the final stages of concluding deals with four Indian TV channels. Elaborating on the nature of the deals Victor said, "I am in talks with all sorts of content providers, who for the moment will supply the content they have and then eventually create interactive content which is suited to the Internet." Victor said that while some were revenue sharing alliances, others are coming in as partners for marginal equity stakes.

Homeland Networks is also in the process of concluding its second round of venture funding. Victor indicated that the company's valuations were up by about five times from the first round which was concluded late last year. Though the details of Homeland's valuations remain undisclosed, the generic valuation for similar Internet ventures at that time was about $5 million.Homeland Networks is in the midst of an evolving paradigm on the net where content exclusivity is a thing of the past, "It is the interactivity in the content that will make all the difference and that is the direction in which we are headed" explains Victor.

Homeland's first set of interactive shows is being created at this point by UTVi, a subsidiary of UTV. UTV also holds a 10 per cent stake in Homeland Networks. These English language entertainment shows will be on the Homeland platform in another three months according to Victor.

The revenue models for Homelands' streaming sites is similar to those of a TV channel or radio station - advertising.

"However the difference here is that the advertising pitch can be so focused that the advertiser will be able to directly quantify a rise in sales after the advertisement is out" says Victor, "say we put up a banner on an interactive show for a specific target audience and announce that a discount on a relevant product is on for about an hour, people would book orders there and then, that's how focussed advertising on the Net can get" he adds.