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  • Executive Suite – Television’s Top 20’04

    Executive Suite – Television’s Top 20’04

    13. LAXMI N GOEL, ZEE TELEFILMS’ DIRECTOR NEWS GROUP

    For goading Zee News, a laggard in the news genre, into becoming a competitive force.

    If Zee News has started showing signs of recapturing lost glory of late — some heavily criticised stunts here and there notwithstanding — credit should go to Laxmi N Goel, head of Zee News and one of the four younger brothers of media czar Subhash Chandra. After professionals like Rajat Sharma and Deepak Shourie opted out of Zee News, Chandra picked Goel to steer the fortunes of the news channel, a strategy that critics (with some justification) said had more to do with nepotism than a clear business thought process.

    But hey? Goel has justified his elder brother’s faith in him. With no prior experience in television or B school credentials, Goel’s mantra is simple: “Keep your ears close to the ground and listen carefully to what the viewer is trying to tell you. Heed that advice.”

     

    Though Aaj Tak is the market leader amongst Hindi news channels and NDTV India has emerged as a strong No. 2, Zee News goes on unfazed with a belief that the numbers game is best left to the ad sales team and the editorial should work to the best of its ability. And Laxmiji, as he is popularly known, uses streetwise sense to guide a business that has floundered over the years.

    14. YOGESH RADHAKRISHNAN, ZEE TELEFILMS DIRECTOR, SPECIAL PROJECTS

    For rejuvenating Zee Cinema and making events a key proposition for Subhash Chandra’s network.

    A mighty warrior in the cable TV industry, Yogesh Radhakrishnan was able to make his impact felt on the other front of the business. He rejuvenated Zee Cinema by changing the packaging and graphics of the channel to give it a more contemporary and modern look. “What we have done is to polish an already existing diamond,” he says.

    He took Zee Music up the scales, giving the channel a facelift. But having lost credibility with several re-launches in the past, the revamp under Radhakrishnan did not quite change the status of the channel; it continues to compete feebly against MTV, Channel [V] and its sister channel ETC.

     

    Radhakrishnan, however, energised the Zee Cine Awards by shifting the award ceremony to Dubai, ferrying planeloads of Bollywood’s best to the desert city, and injecting interesting creatives into the event. The net outcome: the Zee Cine Awards, which were languishing behind properties like the Filmfare Awards, are today considered awards worth their weight in gold.

     

    He is now based in Dubai to handle Zee’s expansion in the Middle East. An entrepreneur to the core, he also runs, along with his old mates Jagjit Kohli and Yogesh Shah, Pacenet, a company in broadband play.

     

    15. ANURRADHA PRASAD, BAG FILMS CMD

    For not only bagging lucrative programming contracts for her company BAG Films, but also launching a media institute situated on a swanky campus in Noida on the outskirts of Delhi to impart much needed training in television and media.

    For a person who began as a trainee in the now defunct TV wing of the Press Trust of India slightly over a decade back, Ms Prasad hasn’t done too badly.

    Notwithstanding the fact that she is former I&B minister Ravi Shankar Prasad’s younger sister and wife of Congress Member of Parliament Rajiv Shukla, Prasad’s success story has got a lot to do with a can-do attitude. Just before the general elections when Star News gave her a big show on rural India, few thought she would be able to jazz up rural programming, while carpers claimed her contacts got her the deal.

     

    Awards for BAG-produced Haqeeqat on Sahara One proves it’s not a flash in the pan and the good ratings that Kumkum has got on Star Plus in the afternoon highlights serious work is being put in by BAG Films across a range of programming genres.

    Year 2004 has actually seen BAG Films emerge as a serious supplier of TV content, breaking the stranglehold Mumbai-based houses working on an assembly line production mode have long enjoyed.

     

    16. RAGHAV BAHL, TELEVISION EIGHTEEN PROMOTER AND MD

    For expanding TV-18’s activities into other markets, apart from South Asia, with the launch of South Asia World (SAW) in the US. SAW’s next stop – the UK.

    The unnamed investors who have bankrolled the venture is proof positive that critics who had said that TV-18 does not have the adequate strength to expand beyond what it was already doing were way off the mark. But that could also be because Bahl loves work and shuns unnecessary publicity, almost to a point that can make the media think he’s reclusive.

    Bahl does not mince any words when he says that the company was earlier in a consolidation phase after having managed to lay a strong foundation. So to hell with the critics (there are many) and stock market analysts who think there is not enough action happening in and outside the company for the TV-18 scrip to become the darling of the markets. A time for that will also come. As India’s first business news broadcaster and a leading media content provider, Television Eighteen does seem to have put bad patches and experiences behind it.

     

    2004 was also a time for preparing the way for the Hindi business channel, Awaaz, which has just launched. So Bahl has lots to look forward to in 2005.

  • E-City to invest Rs 3 billion, lines up Rs 1.5 billion debt

    E-City to invest Rs 3 billion, lines up Rs 1.5 billion debt

    MUMBAI: E-City Entertainment (India), promoted by Subhash Chandra’s Essel Group, has lined up a debt of Rs 1.5 billion as it has earmarked an investment of Rs 3 billion for a chain of 13 multiplexes across the country.

    The debt from HDFC is close to Rs 900 million while Rs 600 is from other financial institutions. “The balance investment is being made through equity,” says E-City Entertainment chief executive officer Atul Goel.

    The 10 new multiplexes under the Fun Republic brand will be up by 2005-end, he adds. Five multiplexes are being planned in Delhi while one each will be in Hyderabad, Bangalore, Lucknow, Agra and Mumbai.

    Each multiplex will have a capacity of 1,000-1,500 seats. “We will have a total of 45 screens,” says Goel. Fun Republic is already operational in Ahmedabad, Mumbai and Chandigarh.

    E-City Entertainment is integrating its film exhibition with distribution business. The company has acquired Mask II and Alexander for $250,000 each, says Goel “We have invested $700,000 in acquiring 9 movies. The plan is to roll out 10-12 international movies a year for distribution in India.”

    The company, which will start distribution of international movies, eventually plans to move to distribution of Hindi movies as well. “Once we have more control over the multiplexes and are comfortable, we will slowly graduate to the distribution of Hindi movies as well. We have to go beyond the international films, if we have to make it big,” says Goel.

  • Zee News signs content sharing deal with Mid Day

    NEW DELHI: Now Zee News is going in for barter advertising deals with print publications and has extended a similar relationship to Mumbai’s tabloid Mid Day Publication for content sharing too.
    Confirming the move, Zee Telefilms news group director Laxmi Goel told indiantelevision.com, “We are going in for various marketing alliances with print publications, including Mid Day which will do some news and current affairs programming for Zee News.”
    According to Goel, the deal with Mid Day, to be announced tomorrow in Mumbai, entails both Zee News and the tabloid giving each other space and airtime on their product for a specified number of time per week. He didn’t divulge into details.
    However, Goel admitted that Mid Day would be putting together an eight-and-a-half minutes news programme for Zee News, which would be credited to the Mumbai newspaper. Zee would be marketing this programme amongst probable advertisers and would be paying 
    Mid Day for the news product.
    Apart from Mid Day, Zee News has also struck up a barter deal for advertising space with Outlook magazine, owned by a Rajan Raheja company. Another Raheja company Hathway Datacom is a multi-system cable operator (MSO), a venture in which Star owns 26 per cent stake.
    Though Goel was not forthcoming, he said that the news channel was “open to the idea” of such barter deals with other media companies too, including online entities.
    Another broadcaster that has similar barter deals with print publications for ad space is India’s pubcaster Prasar Bharati, which oversees the functioning of Doordarshan and All India Radio.
    Prasar Bharati has a string of deals already in its bag with heavyweights like Malayala Manorama, Indian Express group and Dainik Bhaskar and would be leveraging these relationships to publicise the re-launch of DD News 
    channel.

  • FTA channels demand separate regulatory authority for broadcasters

    NEW DELHI: India’s information and broadcasting (I&B) minister Ravi Shankar Prasad doesn’t tire from saying there is life beyond and apart from conditional access system (CAS), but he continues to meet the industry over the issue.
    The free to air (FTA) Indian channels have now demanded a regulatory mechanism for the broadcasting sector to be put in place now that CAS rollout is just about 20 days away.
    According to government sources, representatives from broadcasting companies, including those from Zee, Aaj Tak, NDTV and Sahara, were of the view that a regulatory authority for broadcasting could be separated from the Convergence Bill, since it was not known how long its passage would take.
    However, Zee Telefilms vice-chairman Jawahar Goel played down the meeting with Prasad saying it was a routine one to take stock of the situation before CAS rollout. Among those in the delegation were TV Today Network CEO G Krishnan, Sahara TV president Mahesh Prasad, NDTV’s director Narayan Rao and Goel.
    A PTI report states that some broadcasters also met Shiv Sena leader Bal Thackeray, who had been opposing CAS, in Mumbai on Monday. A delegation of roadcasters is also likely to meet Delhi chief minister Shiela Dikshit, an opponent of the measure, urging her not to make CAS a political debate.
    The PTI report, quoting unnamed sources, said, at today’s meeting in Delhi the broadcasters impressed upon the minister that Star wanted CAS to be delayed as their television ratings would drop since its direct-to-home (DTH) proposal was still in the pipeline.
    The broadcasters also welcomed the setting up of a CAS Implementation Committee, which had representatives from all broadcasters. Sources said Prasad told the broadcasters that the government, having learnt a lot from the CAS experience, was for a regulator, however, the issue was clubbed with the Convergence Bill pending in Parliament.

  • Siticable ties up with bank for STB consumer financing, says it is geared up for CAS

    NEW DELHI: Pushing ahead aggressively with its headend in the sky (HITS) and direct-to-home (DTH) television projects, Siti Cable has tied up with the United Bank of India (UBI) for attractive financing schemes for set-top boxes (STBs) for consumers.
    “We have tied up with the bank so as to make it easy for the consumers to acquire a set-top box that would be required when conditional access system is rolled out in the four metros in the country,” Zee Telefilms vice chairman Jawahar Goel said during a demonstration of the various facilities of a digital STB organized Siti Cable here.
    Siti Cable, which is headed by Goel and is implementing its HITS and DTH projects, is the cable subsidiary of the Subhash Chandra-promoted Zee Telefilms.
    There are three categories of the financing scheme that entails paying a monthly premium of Rs 34.50 for every Rs. 1,000, Rs 34 for every Rs. 1,000 and Rs 33 for every Rs. 1,000 to the bank after an upfront payment, equivalent to 20 per cent of the cost of an STB, has been made by the consumer.
    According to details available with indiantelevision.com, the first category is for a single borrower, the second one is when the spouse is also made a party to the borrowing and the third category,with the cheapest monthly outgo, is when the consumer has pledged some collaterals, including National Saving Certificates to the bank as part of the long-term deposits.
    Since the Conax STB being peddled by Siti Cable would cost up to Rs 2,990, after the early bird scheme is over, the bank’s financing period would be over a period of three years.
    Meanwhile, out of the 35 listed key features of a digital STB demonstrated by Siti Cable in Delhi, some of the main ones are an electronic programming guide, parental lock, FM and satellite radio, favourite channel selection, teletext, sub-titling facility, gaming, bill payment facility, ending SMS even without a mobile handset and automatic programme installation.
    “Though the facilities like SMS and gaming (subject to various state government’s okay) would not be there when we start our HITS project, as time goes by we’d introduce these features as also teletext for news on all channels on the platform,” Goel said.
    Siti Cable is initiating conditional access system through its HITS project from 1 September as per the government’s schedule.
    Asked whether non-Zee Turner channels would also be on the HITS platform, Goel, without naming other broadcasters like Star and Sony, said that lawyers from both sides are in talks to fianlise details, including the pricing and marketing mechanism.
    “We are negotiating with other pay broadcasters for both our HITS and DTH platform (slated to be commissioned along with CAS). Since the marketing mechanism of a DTH would be different from that of HITS, the pricing structure also would be different and have to be negotiated separately,” Goel said.
    Though Sony has not made any public statement on Zee’s HITS platform, Star India’s management has in the past said that they’d have to see whether Star channels can be “given for any Zee-promoted platform.”
    According to Goel, the company is rolling out an education programme targeted at both cable operators in the three metros along with experts from NIS, a firm specializing in imparting education about marketing. Goel also pointed out that according to his estimates about a million STBs would be needed in the first phase of area-wise rollout of CAS in the four metros.
    Incidentally, Siti Cable has placed orders for 500,000 STBs, out of which 50,000 have already arrived in India and 80,000 boxes have been dispatched by the Korean manufacturers.
    A younger brother of Chandra, Goel said within a short period of time boxes would start getting manufactured in India and , in this regard, the company is negotiating for a technical tie-up for local manufacturing.
    Finally, he announced that the group is ready for CAS with most of the backend job being completed.

  • Zee restructuring STB scheme

    NEW DELHI: The Subhash Chandra-promoted Zee Telefilms is restructuring its rent-a-set-top box scheme with a view to pass on the benefits that is likely to accrue to importers of STBs after the government today announced a massive reduction in customs duty.
    “We are studying the duty reductions announced and would come out with a reworked schemes,” Zee Telefilms additional vice-chairman Jawahar Goel told indiantelevision.com today.
    As per an Indian government mandate, all pay channels would have to go through a set top box after 14 July when conditional access system is implemented in four metros, while the consumer will have the choice to pay for the channel he wishes to watch. Additionally, in the basic tier of free to air channels, priced at Rs 72 (exclusive of local taxes), a minimum of 30 channels will have to be shown and available to the consumer, while the cable operator, if he wishes and has the technical competence, can also show up to 70 channels.
    According to Goel, the revised schemes would include reducing the refundable security money from Rs 3,990 to about Rs 2,600 with the daily rent of the box being brought down to about paise 60 from the announced Re 1.
    The second scheme is likely to be modified with the refundable security of Rs 2,990 being brought down to about Rs 2,000 with the daily rent for the box being priced at about Re 1.
    “If the government is extending the industry some relaxation in way of customs duty cut, then the benefits should be passed on to the customer too,” Goel said, sounding confident that this move is likely to silence the critics of CAS.

    Also Read:
    Zee ups CAS ante with STB schemes

    ZTL floats STB schemes for consumers

  • Essel group’s HITS model to have additional 3rd party TV, radio channels

    NEW DELHI: The Subhash Chandra-promoted Essel group is looking at having over 20 third party television channels and 12 satellite radio channels as part of the headend in the sky (HITS) project and KU-band direct-to-home television service.
    The HITS and DTH project is being implemented by Zee Telefilms’ cable arm Siti Cable, while the licence holder for uplinking and turning around TV channels (in case of HITS) is another Chandra company, ASC Enterprises, which is also separately implementing India’s first private sector satellite project called Agrani. Zee Telefilms is an Essel Group enterprise.
    Zee Telefilms additional VC and head of Siticable Jawahar Goel


    “We are looking at giving about 12 satellite radio channels as an add-on service for the HITS and DTH projects,” Zee Telefilms additional vice-chairman and head of Siti Cable Jawahar Goel told indiantelevision.com.
    HITS is the project through which Siti Cable is introducing conditional access system with the help of imported set top boxes that are claimed to be costing about $ 48, apparently cheaper than the cost of box being bandied around by some other broadcasters.
    Though at the moment, the Zee Turner bouquet has 19 channels, including the newly launched Trendz, additional third party channels would be brought in as part of the HITS and DTH offering to the subscriber.
    “We have to bring in more channels to increase the depth of the offerings in the DTH package and, for that, we are looking at more niche channels that are available globally,” Goel, a younger brother of Chandra, said, adding that he has not been able to find some time because of the fast developments taking place on the conditional access front in India at the moment, otherwise he would have closed more third-party channel deals.
    For the DTH package, the Essel-Zee combine is looking at introducing 48 television channels in the first phase that would be increased to 60 in the second phase and after a year the number of channels would be further enhanced.


    Dwelling on the satellite radio channels that are to be offered by Zee, Goel said that the company has already received a letter from India’s pubcaster Prasar Bharati to include some All India Radio channels as part of the sat radio offering.
    Goel is also hopeful that some of the private FM radio players would like to hop on to the sat radio bandwagon being offered as part of HITS and DTH and where the service would be as good and cheaper than that of World Space, which offers over 100 radio channels delivered through satellite, including the likes of CNN, BBC, DD and music channels.
    ASC chief executive Puneet Goenka
    “How many people have World Space receivers in the country that are fairly costly ?,” Puneet Goenka, chief executive of ASC Enterprise asked, pointing out that their service comes at no extra cost to the consumer and the radio channels can be played through the television sets only without having to buy a separate radio set. Goenka is the eldest son of Chandra.
    And, if to give the icing on the cake, Goel added that Zee’s DTH service, slated to be launched later this year (15 August looks like a good date, it seems), would only be about $ 12 costlier than the HITS offering for the customer.
    The battle to get the boxes into the homes of Indian cable consumers, it seems, has begun in all earnest.

  • Work on for Zee Biz news channel; mid-year launch targeted

    NEW DELHI: The business news channel that the Zee Group has been talking about is taking shape. Zee Biz is expected to be launched around June or July.
    Speaking to indiantelevision.com, Zee Network director news group Laxmi Goel says: “After giving a new look to Zee News, we have started work on the business channel. The proposed business channel which we have named Zee Biz would be having programmes both in Hindi and English. Goel clarified that, “The channel would not focus so much on stocks and the capital market as done by some other business channels (like CNBC India). But would strive to cover other aspects of business like home loans, personal finance, the business of tourism and other such related subjects.”
    Goel explained that the business channel would be more mass viewer friendly. He, however, refused to give any details about the investments being made in the business channel. However, Goel in earlier interactions with the media has said that all it required to launch a business channel was an extra investment of around Rs 150 million.
    He also did not specify whether Zee Biz would be free-to-air or a pay channel. Says Goel, “We haven’t decided what mode of delivery would be taken for the would be taken for the delivery of the channel (whether free or pay).

    Also Read:
    Zee News completes revamp; sports new look