ITV

Tag: Den

  • DEN divests further 25 per cent from Delhi Dynamos

    DEN divests further 25 per cent from Delhi Dynamos

    MUMBAI: Indian cable TV major DEN Networks is increasingly getting itself out of the sports den it had gotten itself into earlier. Today, the Sameer Manchanda-promoted SN Sharma-run Goldman Sachs-backed multisystem operator (MSO) informed the BSE that it had divested another 25 per cent equity from its sports initiative DEN Sports in favour of Wall Street Investments.

    The latter represents the business interests of the UAE-based entrepreneur Dr Anil Sharma-run GMS group. GMS is a world major buyer of ships for recycling.

    The price at which the equity stake has been transferred was not disclosed to the stock exchange, but Wall Street Investments holding in DEN Sports has gone up to 80 per cent equity while DEN Network’s has fallen to 20 per cent. DEN Sports controls 100 per cent of DEN Soccer which manages the Indian Soccer League Delhi-franchise owning Delhi Dynamos F.C.

    Wall Street Investments, on its part, has received Registrar of Companies permission to change the name of the two firms to Delhi Sports and Delhi Soccer. And DEN Networks also gave the name change the go-ahead following a board meeting.

    Earlier this year, DEN Networks had lopped off 55 per cent of its stake in DEN Sports to Wall Street Investments at a price of Rs 43.32 crore.

    The cable TV firm has been under pressure from its investors to get back to business basics and monetise better the cable TV digitisation process that India has been going through over the past three years. It rehired co-founder SN Sharma from Reliance Jio as the CEO to get its house in order.

  • DEN divests further 25 per cent from Delhi Dynamos

    DEN divests further 25 per cent from Delhi Dynamos

    MUMBAI: Indian cable TV major DEN Networks is increasingly getting itself out of the sports den it had gotten itself into earlier. Today, the Sameer Manchanda-promoted SN Sharma-run Goldman Sachs-backed multisystem operator (MSO) informed the BSE that it had divested another 25 per cent equity from its sports initiative DEN Sports in favour of Wall Street Investments.

    The latter represents the business interests of the UAE-based entrepreneur Dr Anil Sharma-run GMS group. GMS is a world major buyer of ships for recycling.

    The price at which the equity stake has been transferred was not disclosed to the stock exchange, but Wall Street Investments holding in DEN Sports has gone up to 80 per cent equity while DEN Network’s has fallen to 20 per cent. DEN Sports controls 100 per cent of DEN Soccer which manages the Indian Soccer League Delhi-franchise owning Delhi Dynamos F.C.

    Wall Street Investments, on its part, has received Registrar of Companies permission to change the name of the two firms to Delhi Sports and Delhi Soccer. And DEN Networks also gave the name change the go-ahead following a board meeting.

    Earlier this year, DEN Networks had lopped off 55 per cent of its stake in DEN Sports to Wall Street Investments at a price of Rs 43.32 crore.

    The cable TV firm has been under pressure from its investors to get back to business basics and monetise better the cable TV digitisation process that India has been going through over the past three years. It rehired co-founder SN Sharma from Reliance Jio as the CEO to get its house in order.

  • What’s troubling HITS man Tony D’Silva?

    What’s troubling HITS man Tony D’Silva?

    MUMBAI: When the Hindujas announced their intentions to set up their Headend in the sky (HITS) platform to service cable dark phase III and phase IV– years ago, the project’s head – cable TV veteran Tony D’Silva – was highly excited. HITS would allow the company – Grant Investrade Ltd (GIL) – to beam out the 800 or so Indian TV channels to homes in towns and villages where setting up new or upgrading to expensive digital head ends was not viable or feasible.

    There were regulatory hurdles initially but the venture finally got off the ground last year much in advance of the DAS Phase III deadline of 31 December 2015. Tony went around marketing the project with great gusto, reaching out to cable ops in the hinterlands, got the Hindujas, the owners, to invest.

    There was interest from cable operators in almost all the areas that the product was demonstrated. The project looked very much viable as it gave cable operators a steady source of income without having to invest much in hardware and just servicing their existing subscribers.

    Then came the spate of cases in the courts of various states, and Phase III came to a grinding halt (it is now pending the decision from the Delhi high court which is expected in the next week). Analogue signals were not switched off in many parts of the country and Tony was in a bit of a fix. As are many other chieftains in MSOs like DEN and Hathway, which have reported very bloodied and battered results in Q1 2017.

    And Tony is a troubled man. Not just for that reason. He says he expects the court to rule justly in favour of digitization of the cable TV sector. However, he is not clear how many more court cases will be filed to stymie Phase III and Phase IV.

    Tony’s woes are mainly because he has been unable to strike viable content deals with some broadcasters.

    “It’s very unfair,” he states. “Some of the major broadcasters are asking the digital package price from me, but they continue to be okay with analogue pricing from cable operators in the very same phase III areas. How will I be able to offer them a digital package price to them when they are getting the same channels at analogue rates? Why will cable operators accept my superior quality digital offering? Why will an MSO and LCO agree to pay for digital services when they are also paying for analogue- that is double the price. These are questions broadcasters need to understand.”

    Another point that Tony would like to make is that broadcasters had refrained from charging any special digital rates in phase I and II areas until the cutoff dates. “We are a pure digital platform; but we are looking at serving in the now-analogue areas more,” he says.

    Tony would like to make an appeal to broadcasters and the regulator to stop charging digital package rates from him and analogue package rates from cable ops. “We are the new kid on the block and we are really aiding the spread of cable TV digitization in very difficult to reach areas of the country. I would beseech the community to give us a fair content deal at analogue rates until the analogue switch off commences. We are very open to pay digital rates once digital is switched on.”

    He goes on to point out that HITS is definitely going to help the pay TV broadcast sector get revenues in their coffers which are hitherto difficult-to-access as digitization gains in strength. “But allow us to run a feasible business first,” he says.

    Hopefully, broadcasters and the regulators will see reason in his plea.

    Meanwhile, the HITs platform is continuing with its game plan of merging GIL with IMCL – the hitherto cable TV MSO arm of the group. The company has informed the ministry of information & broadcasting about its merger intentions and has also approached the High court about the same.

    Then, over the past year or so, IMCL or Incable, has shut down or exited or bought joint ventures MSO headends where they had very little control over the operations. “We are down to about two and a half million paying cable TV customers and most of them are on a wholesale pre-paid model, so we are doing fine there,” says Tony. “The next few months are going to be very crucial. I am hopeful of things getting better,” he adds with a note of optimism.

  • What’s troubling HITS man Tony D’Silva?

    What’s troubling HITS man Tony D’Silva?

    MUMBAI: When the Hindujas announced their intentions to set up their Headend in the sky (HITS) platform to service cable dark phase III and phase IV– years ago, the project’s head – cable TV veteran Tony D’Silva – was highly excited. HITS would allow the company – Grant Investrade Ltd (GIL) – to beam out the 800 or so Indian TV channels to homes in towns and villages where setting up new or upgrading to expensive digital head ends was not viable or feasible.

    There were regulatory hurdles initially but the venture finally got off the ground last year much in advance of the DAS Phase III deadline of 31 December 2015. Tony went around marketing the project with great gusto, reaching out to cable ops in the hinterlands, got the Hindujas, the owners, to invest.

    There was interest from cable operators in almost all the areas that the product was demonstrated. The project looked very much viable as it gave cable operators a steady source of income without having to invest much in hardware and just servicing their existing subscribers.

    Then came the spate of cases in the courts of various states, and Phase III came to a grinding halt (it is now pending the decision from the Delhi high court which is expected in the next week). Analogue signals were not switched off in many parts of the country and Tony was in a bit of a fix. As are many other chieftains in MSOs like DEN and Hathway, which have reported very bloodied and battered results in Q1 2017.

    And Tony is a troubled man. Not just for that reason. He says he expects the court to rule justly in favour of digitization of the cable TV sector. However, he is not clear how many more court cases will be filed to stymie Phase III and Phase IV.

    Tony’s woes are mainly because he has been unable to strike viable content deals with some broadcasters.

    “It’s very unfair,” he states. “Some of the major broadcasters are asking the digital package price from me, but they continue to be okay with analogue pricing from cable operators in the very same phase III areas. How will I be able to offer them a digital package price to them when they are getting the same channels at analogue rates? Why will cable operators accept my superior quality digital offering? Why will an MSO and LCO agree to pay for digital services when they are also paying for analogue- that is double the price. These are questions broadcasters need to understand.”

    Another point that Tony would like to make is that broadcasters had refrained from charging any special digital rates in phase I and II areas until the cutoff dates. “We are a pure digital platform; but we are looking at serving in the now-analogue areas more,” he says.

    Tony would like to make an appeal to broadcasters and the regulator to stop charging digital package rates from him and analogue package rates from cable ops. “We are the new kid on the block and we are really aiding the spread of cable TV digitization in very difficult to reach areas of the country. I would beseech the community to give us a fair content deal at analogue rates until the analogue switch off commences. We are very open to pay digital rates once digital is switched on.”

    He goes on to point out that HITS is definitely going to help the pay TV broadcast sector get revenues in their coffers which are hitherto difficult-to-access as digitization gains in strength. “But allow us to run a feasible business first,” he says.

    Hopefully, broadcasters and the regulators will see reason in his plea.

    Meanwhile, the HITs platform is continuing with its game plan of merging GIL with IMCL – the hitherto cable TV MSO arm of the group. The company has informed the ministry of information & broadcasting about its merger intentions and has also approached the High court about the same.

    Then, over the past year or so, IMCL or Incable, has shut down or exited or bought joint ventures MSO headends where they had very little control over the operations. “We are down to about two and a half million paying cable TV customers and most of them are on a wholesale pre-paid model, so we are doing fine there,” says Tony. “The next few months are going to be very crucial. I am hopeful of things getting better,” he adds with a note of optimism.

  • TDSAT appoints committee to recover dues from Mahua

    TDSAT appoints committee to recover dues from Mahua

    NEW DELHI: The Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal has directed for the setting up of a committee comprising representative of five decree holders and a representative of Mahua Media Private Ltd to improve and strengthen the affairs of the broadcaster and to promote its finances so as to enable it to gradually and in a time-bound manner fully satisfy the five decrees amounting to Rs 33,44,50,344.

    A 16-point order of 14 June 2016 by Chairman Justice Aftab Alam and member B B Srivastava noted that the decree holders are DEN, Digi Cable, Wire& Wireless India Ltd, Indian Cable Net Co, and Tata Sky. Mahua as the judgment debtor will be represented by P K Tiwari.

    The execution proceedings against Mahua commenced with the filing of the Execution Application on behalf of DEN on 15 January 2014. Later on, the other four decree holders joined in the proceedings with their respective execution applications filed on different dates, leading to a consolidated proceeding against Mahua on behalf of all the five decreeholders. P K  Tiwari, the Managing Director of  Mahua,  after his release from custody on the basis of an order passed by the Bombay  High Court first appeared in person before the Tribunal in connection with the present proceedings on 19 March 2015. Since then, he has filed several affidavits undertaking to pay the decretal amounts to the five decree holders following highly deferred schemes of payment. No payment, however, has been made to any decree holder in terms of the undertakings given by him.

    The Tribunal observed that: “In hindsight it appears that the affidavits were filed with a view to delude the Tribunal and to somehow delay the discharge of the decrees: there was no intention to make any payments to the decree holders.” The Tribunal also said that Tiwari had “persistently” breached the undertaking on oath taken following the order of the Tribunal in February last year.  

    The Tribunal also noted that Tiwari made deliberate misrepresentation of facts and tried to suppress some relevant facts from the Tribunal regarding the bank accounts of Mahua and the money received on its behalf from advertisements and other sources even during the current proceedings.

    The Tribunal on 30 May 2016 proposed to proceed in terms of 51(d) CPC and expressed the intent to appoint a receiver in the form of a committee comprising one representative from each the decree   holders. The decree holders accepted the suggestion “without demur”.

    The committee has been appointed Receiver in terms of section 51(d) of the Civil Procedure Code. It will hold its first meeting within 15 days from the date of the order.   

    The convenor for the first meeting will be the representative of Tata Sky, the decretal amount in whose favour far exceeds the decrees in favour of the other creditors. The convenor shall fix the date, time and the venue of the meeting taking into account the convenience of all concerned.

    In the first  meeting of the committee,  Tiwari will make a full and complete disclosure of all the immovable, movable, tangible and intangible assets of Mahua, all its bank accounts [other than account nos. O109102000036810 (lOBI Bank), 11921900000231 (DCB Bank), and 200999454000 (Induslnd Bank)], all the details relating to its business, all the sources of its revenue, its liabilities and the expenses being incurred by it. In case Mahua has or gets any receipts in cash (as evidenced from its three bank accounts), Tiwari will make full disclosure of the same to the committee which will take control of the cash receipts which shall be appropriated for no purpose other than the legitimate business interests of Mahua.

    The committee will then take full and effective and physical control of the offices and records of Mahua, all its immovable, movable, tangible and intangible assets including its business as a broadcaster of television channels subject to any orders passed by a court or any lawful authority in respect of the Mahua assets or its running business.

    All the decisions by the committee will be taken by majority vote with every member, including Tiwari entitled to one vote. The committee will maintain a minute book of its   meetings. The committee in its first  meeting will also frame the rules of procedure for exercise of authority of management over the affairs of Mahua as directed, keeping in mind its object and purpose·.

    In furtherance of its object and purpose, the committee shall take decisions and do all acts aimed at improving the business of Mahua a nd enhancing its finances. The committee will take all administrative as well as business decisions concerning the affairs of Mahua. For removal of any doubt, it was made clear by the Tribunal that the committee is fullyauthorized to negotiate with third parties, enter into business arrangements with third parties and execute agreements on behalf of Mahua with any third parties. It will also beopen to the committee to act through smaller sub-committees with appropriate delegation of its powers as per the rules of procedure framed by it.

    The committee may, if it so decides, appoint a chartered accountant/auditor to audit  the financial affairs of Mahua including all its transactions with ‘related/sister companies’, for example Pragya Vision Pvt Ltd.,  for the past three years with a specific mandate  and view to take note of and report on monies that might have been defalcated/misappropriated/siphoned off by the Directors of Mahua either by themselves or in concert or collusion with Directors/Stakeholders in related companies not excluding Pragya Vision.

    The committee will not act, directly or indirectly, in derogation of or contrary to any order concerning Mahua made by a court or any lawful authority and will not alienate or encumber any immovable or movable properties of Mahua without the prior permission of the Tribunal.

    Any cheques on behalf of Mahua shall continue to be issued under the signature of   Tiwari but from this date no cheque will be signed by Tiwari unless it has the sanction in any special or general decision by the committee. Any cheque signed by Tiwari from this date without the sanction of the committee’s decision would be invalid and make Tiwari liable for the consequences, including the breach of the Tribunal order.

    The committee will submit a financial report before the Tribunal by the fifteenth day of the expiry of each financial quarter.

    It will be open to the committee to approach the Tribunal for any clarification or permission or instructions or directions on any specific issue.

    Any challenge to the decision of the committee by any third party or any dispute a rising from an agreement executed by the committee on behalf of Mahua with any third party shall be an action against Mahua or a dispute between Mahua and the concerned third party and shall be defended/prosecuted on behalf of Mahua by the committee and allexpenses in that connection shall be debited from Mahua’s accounts.

    The formation of the Committee and its appointment as Receiver does not in any way discharge the five decrees in question and the rights of the decree holders against Mahua under their respective decrees shall remain subsisting until the decrees are fully satisfied in accordance with law.

    (Justice Alam’s term as Chairman has since ended and no successor has so far been announced. TDSAT is at present closed for summer but can hear urgent or important matters that come up for preliminary hearing).

  • TDSAT appoints committee to recover dues from Mahua

    TDSAT appoints committee to recover dues from Mahua

    NEW DELHI: The Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal has directed for the setting up of a committee comprising representative of five decree holders and a representative of Mahua Media Private Ltd to improve and strengthen the affairs of the broadcaster and to promote its finances so as to enable it to gradually and in a time-bound manner fully satisfy the five decrees amounting to Rs 33,44,50,344.

    A 16-point order of 14 June 2016 by Chairman Justice Aftab Alam and member B B Srivastava noted that the decree holders are DEN, Digi Cable, Wire& Wireless India Ltd, Indian Cable Net Co, and Tata Sky. Mahua as the judgment debtor will be represented by P K Tiwari.

    The execution proceedings against Mahua commenced with the filing of the Execution Application on behalf of DEN on 15 January 2014. Later on, the other four decree holders joined in the proceedings with their respective execution applications filed on different dates, leading to a consolidated proceeding against Mahua on behalf of all the five decreeholders. P K  Tiwari, the Managing Director of  Mahua,  after his release from custody on the basis of an order passed by the Bombay  High Court first appeared in person before the Tribunal in connection with the present proceedings on 19 March 2015. Since then, he has filed several affidavits undertaking to pay the decretal amounts to the five decree holders following highly deferred schemes of payment. No payment, however, has been made to any decree holder in terms of the undertakings given by him.

    The Tribunal observed that: “In hindsight it appears that the affidavits were filed with a view to delude the Tribunal and to somehow delay the discharge of the decrees: there was no intention to make any payments to the decree holders.” The Tribunal also said that Tiwari had “persistently” breached the undertaking on oath taken following the order of the Tribunal in February last year.  

    The Tribunal also noted that Tiwari made deliberate misrepresentation of facts and tried to suppress some relevant facts from the Tribunal regarding the bank accounts of Mahua and the money received on its behalf from advertisements and other sources even during the current proceedings.

    The Tribunal on 30 May 2016 proposed to proceed in terms of 51(d) CPC and expressed the intent to appoint a receiver in the form of a committee comprising one representative from each the decree   holders. The decree holders accepted the suggestion “without demur”.

    The committee has been appointed Receiver in terms of section 51(d) of the Civil Procedure Code. It will hold its first meeting within 15 days from the date of the order.   

    The convenor for the first meeting will be the representative of Tata Sky, the decretal amount in whose favour far exceeds the decrees in favour of the other creditors. The convenor shall fix the date, time and the venue of the meeting taking into account the convenience of all concerned.

    In the first  meeting of the committee,  Tiwari will make a full and complete disclosure of all the immovable, movable, tangible and intangible assets of Mahua, all its bank accounts [other than account nos. O109102000036810 (lOBI Bank), 11921900000231 (DCB Bank), and 200999454000 (Induslnd Bank)], all the details relating to its business, all the sources of its revenue, its liabilities and the expenses being incurred by it. In case Mahua has or gets any receipts in cash (as evidenced from its three bank accounts), Tiwari will make full disclosure of the same to the committee which will take control of the cash receipts which shall be appropriated for no purpose other than the legitimate business interests of Mahua.

    The committee will then take full and effective and physical control of the offices and records of Mahua, all its immovable, movable, tangible and intangible assets including its business as a broadcaster of television channels subject to any orders passed by a court or any lawful authority in respect of the Mahua assets or its running business.

    All the decisions by the committee will be taken by majority vote with every member, including Tiwari entitled to one vote. The committee will maintain a minute book of its   meetings. The committee in its first  meeting will also frame the rules of procedure for exercise of authority of management over the affairs of Mahua as directed, keeping in mind its object and purpose·.

    In furtherance of its object and purpose, the committee shall take decisions and do all acts aimed at improving the business of Mahua a nd enhancing its finances. The committee will take all administrative as well as business decisions concerning the affairs of Mahua. For removal of any doubt, it was made clear by the Tribunal that the committee is fullyauthorized to negotiate with third parties, enter into business arrangements with third parties and execute agreements on behalf of Mahua with any third parties. It will also beopen to the committee to act through smaller sub-committees with appropriate delegation of its powers as per the rules of procedure framed by it.

    The committee may, if it so decides, appoint a chartered accountant/auditor to audit  the financial affairs of Mahua including all its transactions with ‘related/sister companies’, for example Pragya Vision Pvt Ltd.,  for the past three years with a specific mandate  and view to take note of and report on monies that might have been defalcated/misappropriated/siphoned off by the Directors of Mahua either by themselves or in concert or collusion with Directors/Stakeholders in related companies not excluding Pragya Vision.

    The committee will not act, directly or indirectly, in derogation of or contrary to any order concerning Mahua made by a court or any lawful authority and will not alienate or encumber any immovable or movable properties of Mahua without the prior permission of the Tribunal.

    Any cheques on behalf of Mahua shall continue to be issued under the signature of   Tiwari but from this date no cheque will be signed by Tiwari unless it has the sanction in any special or general decision by the committee. Any cheque signed by Tiwari from this date without the sanction of the committee’s decision would be invalid and make Tiwari liable for the consequences, including the breach of the Tribunal order.

    The committee will submit a financial report before the Tribunal by the fifteenth day of the expiry of each financial quarter.

    It will be open to the committee to approach the Tribunal for any clarification or permission or instructions or directions on any specific issue.

    Any challenge to the decision of the committee by any third party or any dispute a rising from an agreement executed by the committee on behalf of Mahua with any third party shall be an action against Mahua or a dispute between Mahua and the concerned third party and shall be defended/prosecuted on behalf of Mahua by the committee and allexpenses in that connection shall be debited from Mahua’s accounts.

    The formation of the Committee and its appointment as Receiver does not in any way discharge the five decrees in question and the rights of the decree holders against Mahua under their respective decrees shall remain subsisting until the decrees are fully satisfied in accordance with law.

    (Justice Alam’s term as Chairman has since ended and no successor has so far been announced. TDSAT is at present closed for summer but can hear urgent or important matters that come up for preliminary hearing).

  • Unravelling Housefull Action’s strategy

    Unravelling Housefull Action’s strategy

    MUMBAI: One of the most loved film genres across geographies was action was the thought that prompted the launch of a new movie channel – Housefull Action. Launched on 21 February this year, the channel specifically caters to the action hungry audience that is constantly looking for more. The channel says that it will be showcasing the best of content from Hollywood, Bollywood and Tollywood.

    Housefull Action is marketed by White Pixel in association with Swami Films and is broadcast by Triumph Media Vision Pvt Ltd (Triumph MVPL).

    Speaking with Indiantelevision.com, Swami Films founder and director Ajit Joshi said, “With the launch of Housefull Action, our aim is to cater and entertain the action movies lover. Primarily, our focus will be on South Indian movies but we will also be airing Bollywood and Hollywood action films.”

    To ensure that even the interiors of the country could view its offerings, the channel first launched on DD Freedish. Currently, Housefull Action is available on Dish TV’s DTH platform, as also on Den, Hathway and major MSOs’. Further, the channel is in talks with other MSOs’ as well, hence in the coming couple of months the distribution of the channel will become more robust.

    Marketing strategy

    Being just two months old, the channel is yet to have advertisers on board. In the meanwhile the channel has sold time slots to several brands for teleshopping. On an average, sources within Housefull Action said that the channel earns revenues of between Rs 60,000 to Rs 70,000 for half an hour from teleshopping. On a given day, the channel airs teleshopping for four to five hours.

    Unravelling Housefull Action’s strategy, Joshi said, “There are two ways for the business – teleshopping or commercial advertisements. We will go with the both the ways in future.”

    With digitization happening across metros the channel will be generating revenue through ad sales, Joshi said, “White Pixel clearly feels that it has been getting good response from the market and that people are keen to add more channels in the plans to build frequency”.

    Joshi revealed, “We are waiting for our BARC ratings to stabilize so that we can pitch to our advertisers. Keeping our competitors in mind, we will freeze the 10 sec ad rates. We have good financiers working with us, therefore we hope for the best.”

    Triumph MVPL director Sudhir Singh said, “There is a huge market available for the action genre and we want to capitalize on it. We have done our primary research work and the results show us that this market still wants more action movie channels”. While sources within the channel revealed that it is looking to garner around 15 to 20 GRPs’ in the first year of launch Singh explained, “We are not in the numbers game here. We clearly want to sustain ourselves and be there.”

    White Pixel director Abdul Aziz Khan said, “Within the Hindi movie genre, ours is a niche genre. For the action movie genre, the core audience is male (age group 15 +). Since there are not many players who cater to this niche genre, we will be targeting those brands that are looking to cater to the male TG as their primary audience.” Reiterating, Aziz said, “We have a very clear definition of catering to the hard core action lover who is primarily male and taking to that audience to the advertisers who want to target the male TG.”  

    To garner eyeballs, Housefull Action currently spends around Rs 20 to Rs 25 lakh towards marketing with plans to up that figure to about Rs one crore. There are also plans for on-ground activations and other marketing activities lined up for the coming months.

    Joshi further revealed that apart from the movie channel, his group is planning to launch a website Housefultv.com very soon. “For the first time a movie channel will go live. Audiences can watch movies of their own choice. They can easily log in. Initially it will be free of cost. 

    Sources within the channel say that it has movies like Border, Sarfarosh, Shehenshah, Deewar, Tridev, Deva, Rakshak and Kalavaram in its library.  According to industry sources, the acquisition prices of the movies that the channel has in its kitty so far have ranged between of Rs 5- 50 lakhs.

    The management says that it will be pumping in money to strengthen its distribution as it wants visibility across all platforms. It also wants to build its visibility by targeting the trade fraternity and customers directly by giving them regular updates on the developments at its end. It has plans to acquire other interesting properties on a regular basis.

    The group managing Housefull Action has firm plans to make its venture a profitable one. It is left for time to determine how successful its efforts will be.

  • Unravelling Housefull Action’s strategy

    Unravelling Housefull Action’s strategy

    MUMBAI: One of the most loved film genres across geographies was action was the thought that prompted the launch of a new movie channel – Housefull Action. Launched on 21 February this year, the channel specifically caters to the action hungry audience that is constantly looking for more. The channel says that it will be showcasing the best of content from Hollywood, Bollywood and Tollywood.

    Housefull Action is marketed by White Pixel in association with Swami Films and is broadcast by Triumph Media Vision Pvt Ltd (Triumph MVPL).

    Speaking with Indiantelevision.com, Swami Films founder and director Ajit Joshi said, “With the launch of Housefull Action, our aim is to cater and entertain the action movies lover. Primarily, our focus will be on South Indian movies but we will also be airing Bollywood and Hollywood action films.”

    To ensure that even the interiors of the country could view its offerings, the channel first launched on DD Freedish. Currently, Housefull Action is available on Dish TV’s DTH platform, as also on Den, Hathway and major MSOs’. Further, the channel is in talks with other MSOs’ as well, hence in the coming couple of months the distribution of the channel will become more robust.

    Marketing strategy

    Being just two months old, the channel is yet to have advertisers on board. In the meanwhile the channel has sold time slots to several brands for teleshopping. On an average, sources within Housefull Action said that the channel earns revenues of between Rs 60,000 to Rs 70,000 for half an hour from teleshopping. On a given day, the channel airs teleshopping for four to five hours.

    Unravelling Housefull Action’s strategy, Joshi said, “There are two ways for the business – teleshopping or commercial advertisements. We will go with the both the ways in future.”

    With digitization happening across metros the channel will be generating revenue through ad sales, Joshi said, “White Pixel clearly feels that it has been getting good response from the market and that people are keen to add more channels in the plans to build frequency”.

    Joshi revealed, “We are waiting for our BARC ratings to stabilize so that we can pitch to our advertisers. Keeping our competitors in mind, we will freeze the 10 sec ad rates. We have good financiers working with us, therefore we hope for the best.”

    Triumph MVPL director Sudhir Singh said, “There is a huge market available for the action genre and we want to capitalize on it. We have done our primary research work and the results show us that this market still wants more action movie channels”. While sources within the channel revealed that it is looking to garner around 15 to 20 GRPs’ in the first year of launch Singh explained, “We are not in the numbers game here. We clearly want to sustain ourselves and be there.”

    White Pixel director Abdul Aziz Khan said, “Within the Hindi movie genre, ours is a niche genre. For the action movie genre, the core audience is male (age group 15 +). Since there are not many players who cater to this niche genre, we will be targeting those brands that are looking to cater to the male TG as their primary audience.” Reiterating, Aziz said, “We have a very clear definition of catering to the hard core action lover who is primarily male and taking to that audience to the advertisers who want to target the male TG.”  

    To garner eyeballs, Housefull Action currently spends around Rs 20 to Rs 25 lakh towards marketing with plans to up that figure to about Rs one crore. There are also plans for on-ground activations and other marketing activities lined up for the coming months.

    Joshi further revealed that apart from the movie channel, his group is planning to launch a website Housefultv.com very soon. “For the first time a movie channel will go live. Audiences can watch movies of their own choice. They can easily log in. Initially it will be free of cost. 

    Sources within the channel say that it has movies like Border, Sarfarosh, Shehenshah, Deewar, Tridev, Deva, Rakshak and Kalavaram in its library.  According to industry sources, the acquisition prices of the movies that the channel has in its kitty so far have ranged between of Rs 5- 50 lakhs.

    The management says that it will be pumping in money to strengthen its distribution as it wants visibility across all platforms. It also wants to build its visibility by targeting the trade fraternity and customers directly by giving them regular updates on the developments at its end. It has plans to acquire other interesting properties on a regular basis.

    The group managing Housefull Action has firm plans to make its venture a profitable one. It is left for time to determine how successful its efforts will be.

  • Den to sell entire stake in Star Den JV to Star

    Den to sell entire stake in Star Den JV to Star

    BENGALURU: Den Networks Limited (Den) has informed the bourses that it has entered into an agreement to sell its entire fifty per cent stake in its joint venture Star Den Media Services Private Limited (Star Den) to its partner Star India Private Limited (Star India). The agreement price for Den’s stake is Rs 40.35 crore. Star owns an equal share in the JV.

    At the time of filing of this report, buoyed the news of the stake sale, Den shares were up 15.20 per cent from the previous close on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), with each equity share having face value of Rs 10 being traded at Rs 95.50 as compared to yesterday’s close rate of Rs 82.90 and a total traded quantity of 2.1 lakh. The intraday high price of the share was Rs 99.20. The share had opened at Rs 83.75 today at the start of the trading day. The 52 week high price of the share was Rs 169 and the 52 week low was Rs 60.50.

  • Den to sell entire stake in Star Den JV to Star

    Den to sell entire stake in Star Den JV to Star

    BENGALURU: Den Networks Limited (Den) has informed the bourses that it has entered into an agreement to sell its entire fifty per cent stake in its joint venture Star Den Media Services Private Limited (Star Den) to its partner Star India Private Limited (Star India). The agreement price for Den’s stake is Rs 40.35 crore. Star owns an equal share in the JV.

    At the time of filing of this report, buoyed the news of the stake sale, Den shares were up 15.20 per cent from the previous close on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), with each equity share having face value of Rs 10 being traded at Rs 95.50 as compared to yesterday’s close rate of Rs 82.90 and a total traded quantity of 2.1 lakh. The intraday high price of the share was Rs 99.20. The share had opened at Rs 83.75 today at the start of the trading day. The 52 week high price of the share was Rs 169 and the 52 week low was Rs 60.50.