ITV

Category: Regional

  • Sun TV IPO oversubscribed 8.16 times

    Sun TV IPO oversubscribed 8.16 times

    MUMBAI: The initial public offering (IPO) of Sun TV has received a strong response from investors with the issue being oversubscribed 8.16 times. The IPO, comprising 6889000 shares, kicked off on 3 April and closes on 7 April.

    According to data available as on 5 April, QIB’s (Qualified Institutional Buyers) have oversubscribed 13.57 times, indicating a big appetite for the issue.

    Showing less enthusiasm were the non institutional and retail individual investors. Only 1.38 per cent quota of non institutional investors have subscribed to the issue while 6.98 per cent was from retail investors.

    The issue has, so far, received 56233096 bids. Total bids received at the cut-off price stood at 130264. Sun has fixed a price band of Rs 730 to Rs 875 for the IPO.

  • Malayala Manorama gears up to launch news channel Manorama News

    Malayala Manorama gears up to launch news channel Manorama News

    MUMBAI: The Malayalam print major Malayala Manorama is looking to launch its news channel Manorama News by the month of May. The channel will launch under the banner of Manorama’s newly formed television division MM TV.

    The company has almost completed the recruitment drive and presently, fine-tuning of the technology features is being carried out.

    “We haven’t zeroed in on the launch date yet, but it may happen by the month of May. We want to enter the market well prepared, complete to the final details,” says Johny Lukose, who will lead the news team in the capacity of news director.

    Lukose said Manorama News would have a team of about 100 journalists, and 80 per cent of the appointments have already been completed. The channel will also leverage strength from the wide network of journalists working for the print establishment Malayala Manorama. Former Asianet news editor K Jaideep will report to Lukose as coordinating editor of the channel.

    Manorama News will be headquartered in Aroor, near Kochi, where the company has set up its news studio. Two smaller studios have been set up in Thiruvananthapuram and Kozhikode.

    MM TV has also finalised the logo for the news channel. The logo, which shows three geometrical designs coming together to form the letter M, is created by Red Bee Media (formerly BBC Broadcast).

    Lukose added that the channel would be backed by news broadcasting’s latest technology. Some of the latest technology features the channel has signed up include the IconMasterT system for master control with embedded multi-layer branding. The software is developed by the US-headquartered Harris Broadcast Communications.

  • Sun TV to consolidate radio assets in Kal Radio, South Asia FM

    Sun TV to consolidate radio assets in Kal Radio, South Asia FM

    MUMBAI: Sun TV is transferring the existing licenses of its operational radio stations to the subsidiary companies – Kal Radio Ltd and South Asia FM Ltd.

    The company has applied to the ministry of information and broadcasting (MIB) for approval. The plan is to consolidate Sun’s FM radio assets in Kal Radio and South Asia FM, the two subsidiaries who have bid for licenses under Phase II of FM radio expansion.

    Sun’s existing FM radio operations are in four cities. Suryan FM has licenses and operates in Chennai, Coimbatore and Tirunelveli. Udaya TV Pvt Ltd. operates Vishaka FM in Visakhapatnam and has also applied to the MIB for the transfer of the license to Kal Radio.

    Some analysts expect radio operations to contribute to 20 per cent of Sun’s total revenues by FY 2008. Suryan FM generated 9.3 per cent and 8.8 per cent of the total advertising income of Sun TV for fiscal 2005 and nine months ended 31 December 2005. Suryan FM was launched in Coimbatore and Tirunelveli in March and in Chennai in May 2003.

    Sun TV is using the radio vehicle to expand to language markets other than Tamil and Malayalam. It plans to set up and operationalise FM radio stations in 41 cities across the country. Kal Radio has bid for stations like Bangalore and Hyderabad in the southern region while South Asia will operate in the other markets including cities like Pune, Ahmedabad and Allahabad.

    Sun TV will use a major chunk of the proceeds from the initial public offering (IPO) to capitalise the radio business. The company aims to raise Rs 6.03 billion at the top end of the price band at Rs 875 per share.

    Kal and South Asia FM would require an approximate of Rs 1.83 billion towards acquisition of broadcasting equipement (FM transmitters, FM antennas, payment of common infrastructure), setting up of local offices and radio studios. Besides, the inter-corporate deposits provided to the subsidiaries for bidding in Phase II amounted to around Rs 1.55 billion.

    The public issue opens on 3 April and will close on 7 April.

    Sun TV owns 89 per cent in Kal Radio and 94.91 per cent in South Asia FM. Promoter Kalanithi Maran holds 10.5 per cent in Kal Radio and 5.1 per cent in South Asia FM.

  • Revenue for Canada’s private TV stations up four per cent

    Revenue for Canada’s private TV stations up four per cent

    MUMBAI: The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) has released its annual report with statistical and financial data on conventional Canadian private television stations for 2001-2005.Overall, these stations remain profitable, and posted increased revenues and profits over this period.

    From 2004 to 2005, total revenue and profit before interest and taxes for private television stations rose by close to four per cent coming in at $2.2 billion and $242.2 million respectively in 2005. The ad revenues for these stations grew by nearly five per cent, totalling $1.5 billion, while local time sales decreased by 1.1 per cent to $362.9 million.

    Overall, broadcasters’ operating expenses increased by 4.3 per cent from 2004 to 2005, reaching $1.9 billion in 2005. Of that amount, $1.3 billion was invested in acquiring and producing programming, including $587 million for Canadian programmes. This figure includes the $138.5 million that broadcasters paid to independent producers in order to acquire programming.

    Private broadcasters’ spending on Canadian programmes included $86.6 million for drama, $310.2 million for news programs, $59.4 million for other information programs, $83.1 million for general interest programming, and $29.2 million for musical and variety shows.

    The report was produced using the financial summaries of private Canadian television undertakings. It also provides data from the CBC’s financial summaries. It is the first in a series of reports on broadcasting that the CRTC publishes every year in order to inform interested parties of the current financial situation of this industry in Canada.

  • Prabhat gets a new lease of life: to launch Kannada channel

    Prabhat gets a new lease of life: to launch Kannada channel

    Prabhat, the Marathi channel, will be launching another regional channel on 4 April 2000. The channel called Suprabhat will have 4 hours of original programming which will be repeated throughout the day. It is being beamed off a Thaicom-3 transponder, the same one off which Prabhat is being beamed off.

    The channel was on the brink of a shut down and had not been able to make payments to producers who were providing them with software. But since then an angel has stepped in and is said to be willing to back the group that has set up the channel to the hilt. A film director and producer has additionally been brought in on the company’s board following the angel’s entry.

    With cash in hand, Deepak Agarwala, Anand Rangaswamy, Anil Shetty, Ajinkya Deo – the promoters of the channel – have been pouring it all into the Kannada service. A programming head has been hired in Banglaore and the gameplan is to launch Suprabhat by 4 April. The only thing that is to be seen is that if the channel is geared up to compete with the well established Kannada channel, Udaya, from the Sun stable.

  • Telugu stars, Matrix Labs promoter to take 60% stake in Maa TV

    Telugu stars, Matrix Labs promoter to take 60% stake in Maa TV

    MUMBAI: The Telugu television market is poised to become the new hot spot with superstars Nagarjuna and Chiranjeevi acquiring stake in Maa TV Network Ltd, the company which owns and operates a Telugu general entertainment channel.

    Along with Matrix Laboratories Ltd (a listed company), promoter N Prasad, Nagarjuna and Chiranjeevi will hold 60 per cent of Maa TV in a purchase deal worth Rs 400 million, a source close to the deal tells Indiantelevision.com. A formal announcement will be made soon.

    “In the revised capital structure of Maa TV, the three of them will have equal stake. The company will have a fresh infusion of Rs 500 million with the original promoter putting in Rs 100 million,” the source says.

    Maa TV founder-promoter Murali Krishna Raju’s holding will come down to 20 per cent after the restructuring. Raju, along with his associates, held around 80 per cent stake in the company. His individual holding was 50 per cent, the source adds.

    The fresh capital will be used to revamp the channel and fund other expansion programmes. “The whole business plan is being reworked. The company is finalising its strategies,” the source says.

    The restructuring will involve hiring of professionals including a chief executive. While Nagajuna and Chiranjeevi will also provide their creative inputs, Prasad has come in as a financial investor. “This will mark Prasad’s first investment into media,” the source says.

    Maa TV has been in search of funds for a long time and was earlier in talks with Star India and Sun TV. The entertainment channel was banking on movies, events and interactive mobile-based shows to drive in numbers but late last year introduced soaps in its programming lineup.

    Star India is planning to launch a Telugu channel in January, a market which is dominated by Sun Group’s Gemini TV and ETV Telugu. Zee made its entry in the South market with its Telugu entertainment channel in May 2005.

  • Alpha Gujarati launched

    Alpha Gujarati launched

    The Zee Network launched the fourth of its regional language channels – Alpha Gujarati on 21 March. The launch took place at a bash attended by the who’s who of Gujarati language theatre, film and folk art industry. The launch was done at the hands of the Hindi and Gujarati theatre and film star Paresh Raval.

    “It was the complaint of a woman when I was travelling in the UK a few years ago that Zee TV does not air programmes in Gujarati which got me interested in regional language programming,” says Zee Network chairman Subhash Chandra.

    The channel is targeted at the rich Gujarati community which has been served by state-owned Doordarshan and the RITV owned Gurjari TV, now and then. A programming formula similar to that used on Zee TV is being used with Alpha Gujarati: women’s oriented series, family dramas, sitcoms, music shows and participatory game shows.

    The Zee Network looks likely to have a potential leader of its Alpha series of channels in Alpha Gujarati. Reason: it has the inhouse distribution advantage thanks to its ownership of its MSO Siticable. Second Gujarat is a very strong cable and satellite market. And extremely rich. Consumers today are willing to spend on flashy goodies with little restraint.Also Gujarat has a gaggle of entreprenuers who will use the channel to reach consumers if they are made to believe and understand that they are getting a good deal.And with a targeted audience for the channel they will undoubtedly be interested in even taking up commercial air time.

    Meanwhile, Zee is looking ahead at launching channels in the four southern regional languages. Among these: a Telegu channel, a Tamil service, a Kannada service and a Malaylam channel.