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Tag: IMCL

  • Hinduja group’s Amas Mauritius gets 5.1% stake in IMCL

    Hinduja group’s Amas Mauritius gets 5.1% stake in IMCL

    MUMBAI: Amas Mauritius, a Hinduja group company, now owns 5.1 per cent equity stake in the country’s leading multi-system operator (MSO) IndusInd Media and Communications Ltd (IMCL).

    The Hindujas, thus, up their controlling stake in IMCL.

    Amas acquired the stake on conversion of 74.15 million 12 per cent cumulative redeemable preference shares of IMCL it held. The conversion was done at a price of Rs 145 per share (Rs 10 face value plus Rs 135 premium per share), following approval by the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) and its shareholders.

    The conversion of the preference shares into equity shares resulted in Hinduja Ventures Ltd’s (HVL) stake in IMCL falling to 61.17 per cent from 65.78 per cent. HVL’s businesses include the MSO business, investments and treasury and real estate, but more than 80 per cent of the revenues come from the MSO business.

    The shares of HVL closed at Rs 483 per share, down 1.56 per cent in a flat market, on Monday on the Bombay Stock Exchange.
    The MSO’s profit before tax in the second quarter ended 30 September narrowed to Rs 199.9 million from Rs 313.1 million in the first quarter on rise in expenditure on account of digitisation. Its income in the second quarter rose to Rs 1.36 billion from Rs 1.51 billion a quarter earlier.

    The amount of capital deployed by HVL in the MSO business increased to Rs 3.96 billion from Rs 3.76 billion in the previous quarter.

    Commenting on the performance of IMCL in the second quarter, HVL whole-time director Ashok Mansukhani said the advent of compulsory digitisation will help bring transparency in subscription numbers almost fivefold and help improve the top line and bottom line of the company.

    The government has mandated digitisation in 38 more cities by 31 March 2013, after switching to digital delivery of cable TV in Mumbai, Delhi and Kolkata from 1 November. The revised deadline for switchover to digital delivery in Chennai is likely to be decided by the Madras High Court on Tuesday (tomorrow) after taking into consideration inputs from all the stakeholders.

  • Dainikbhaskar.com announces Four Quarters as its creative agency

    MUMBAI: Dainikbhaskar.com, the online news portal owned by I Media Corp (IMCL), has appointed Delhi-based creative agency Four Quarters to handle its creative duties.

    The Dainik Bhaskar Group‘s digital arm will be spending Rs 5 million on creative duties and had invited pitch from multiple agencies.

    IMCL marketing head Kaustuv Chatterji said, “There is a sheer need of vernacular in India. Facebook, Google give an opportunity to change languages according to preferences. We are No. 1 in Hindi and Gujarati. I wanted my creative agency to be in a position where it is trendy, global. We have a brand and celebrity page on my website. I want the agency to align creative thought with our ethos and philosophy.”

  • ‘Buyout valuations will now be decided in terms of ARPU rather than carriage growth’ : IMCL MD and CEO Ravi Mansukhani

    ‘Buyout valuations will now be decided in terms of ARPU rather than carriage growth’ : IMCL MD and CEO Ravi Mansukhani

    IndusInd Media and Communications Ltd (IMCL), the media subsidiary company of Hinduja Ventures Ltd, plans to raise $100 million, a major chunk of which will be used to fund acquisitions.

     

    Operating its cable TV business under the InCablenet brand, IMCL had earlier planned an initial public offering (IPO) but changed its stance as the newly listed cable TV entities, Den Networks and Hathway Cable & Datacom, dropped in market value.

     

    Even on the acquisition front, IMCL has changed gears. Earlier, the focus was to buy small-sized cable TV networks and expand geographies. Now it targets big-ticket acquisitions, expecting the sector to consolidate as the government chalks out a schedule for digitisation across the country.

     

    Slow on the broadband path, IMCL is experimenting on new technologies where it will not have to entirely overhaul its network to load on broadband capability.

     

    In an interview with Indiantelevision.com’s Sibabrata Das, IMCL managing director and chief executive officer Ravi Mansukhani talks about how the acquisition game is going to move from carriage calculations to valuations based on ARPU (average revenue per user) growth as the cable TV sector transitions into the digital era.

     

    Excerpts:

    Why is IMCL taking so much time in readying its IPO?
    We are in the market to raise $100 million ahead of the IPO and have mandated Deutsche Bank for this. We want to first build a solid valuation base. We believe the value of the top-rung MSOs will get a significant boost once the government fixes up a schedule for digitisation. We want to also expand on our size before we go for a public float.

     

    We have separately raised Rs 1 billion of debt from General Electric. So funding is being taken care of. We are getting ready to move into top gear.

    Have you finalised on how you are going to raise this amount?
    We are weighing various options. We are looking at mezzanine structures. The final structuring will depend on what fund-raising instrument we select.

    Are we going to expect acquisitions or a drive to greater digitisation?
    We plan to use three-fourth of the amount raised for acquiring cable TV networks. We are looking at small and big-ticket acquisitions. We believe there is going to be consolidation in the industry. For digitisation, we have a separate funding plan to meet the capex requirements.

    Why has there been a change in stance as the earlier focus was to buy small-sized cable TV networks and expand geographies?
    We see an opportunity out there as the other leading MSOs like Hathway Cable & Datacom and Den Networks are not on a buying spree. The valuations have dropped and we are ready to make big-ticket acquisitions ahead of the government‘s digitisation schedule. The acquisition focus now will be not on expanding into new geographies but on consolidating and growing in existing operational cities.

    Will the acquisition game change even as the government lays out a roadmap for digitisation across the country?
    The game will definitely change. A few years back, when the pace was set by new entrants such as Den and Digicable, acquisitions were based on carriage calculations and TRP cities were favoured. Now, as digitisation creeps in, buyout valuations will be decided in terms of ARPU growth. So we have decided to consolidate and expand in areas where we already exist like Maharashtra. There is no point in spreading lean.
    “We are in the market to raise $100 mn ahead of the IPO. We want to first build a solid valuation base. We believe the value of the top-rung MSOs will get a significant boost once the govt fixes up a schedule for digitisation. We want to also expand on our size before we go for a public float”

    Do you see MSOs fighting amongst each other once the digitisation programme is announced?
    MSOs would rather consolidate and expand where they are strong; their focus would be on digitising their existing network. MSOs can‘t create a fight today without being attacked; too much is at stake.

    How will MSOs counter the DTH invasion?
    India will remain primarily a cable country. Yes, in a diversified and fragmented market, DTH will have space. But being the incumbent player, cable TV has a distinct advantage. Besides, it is cheaper priced, bandwidth is no issue and it can be interactive. MSOs will also start launching server-based local channels as in the digital era, space will open up for more channels. There will be need for local news and events. DTH can‘t offer these channels.

    How much of IMCL‘s network is digitised?
    We have over half a million digital set-top boxes (STBs) installed. Out of the 28 cities that we operate in, we provide digital services in 17 cities via 10 digital head-ends.

     

    If the government‘s digitisation plan is on stream, we will deploy close to two million additional boxes in Phase 1. We are going to fund our digitisation through lease and vendor financing.

    Why is IMCL‘s broadband story yet to emerge?
    Our focus has not been on broadband in the past because the franchisee operators have been providing it. Though we provide broadband in nine cities, our revenues from this segment stood at just Rs 50-60 million in FY‘11.

     

    We plan to have a strong broadband story once the digital path is properly spelt out. We are currently experimenting on new technologies where we will not have to entirely overhaul our network to load on broadband capability.

     

    We won‘t have a problem building up broadband revenues once we have pushed the digital STBs in. The script will change after the government announces the sunset date for the digitally notified areas. It is companies like You Telecom who will need to grow their cable TV presence in order to provide broadband.

    Hathway has announced it would launch its HD service in June. When are you getting into this segment?
    Our first priority is to offer digital service. We will then graduate to HD. The market is still not ready for it. HD boxes are on the anvil and we will introduce them into the market in the next few months.

    IMCL‘s total income jumped 23 per cent to Rs 4.03 billion in FY‘11. What growth do you estimate in FY‘12 and what is the outlook on carriage income?
    We expect revenue to grow between 20-25 per cent. This will be higher if we raise capital fast and make big-ticket acquisitions.

     

    We saw 18-20 per cent growth in carriage income in FY‘11. We expect strong growth from this stream as more and more channels get launched in the fiscal.
  • ‘We plan to raise Rs 5 billion’ : Ravi Mansukhani – Indusind Media & Communications CEO and MD

    ‘We plan to raise Rs 5 billion’ : Ravi Mansukhani – Indusind Media & Communications CEO and MD

    Hinduja-owned IndusInd Media & Communications Ltd (IMCL) has survived the scare from a wave of new multi-system operators (MSOs) that threatened to land grab even in the lucrative market of Mumbai.

    IMCL has expanded its footprint to 27 cities and thrived on a hefty carriage revenue that helped the MSO turn profitable. In FY‘09, carriage made up for almost 50 per cent of IMCL‘s turnover as broadcasters coughed out Rs 1.4 billion to place their channels on the network.

    The media subsidiary company of Hinduja Ventures Ltd plans to list through an initial public offering (IPO). Ahead of that, it is in talks to rope in an investor. The total fund-raising agenda: Rs 5 billion.

    Operating its cable TV distribution business under the Incablenet brand, IMCL has agreed to dilute one per cent stake to Ashley Investments at a valuation of $644 million. As part of this exercise, 0.22 per cent has been diluted.

    The MSO has aggressive plans to grow in the digital environment. IMCL is also gearing up to grow its fledgling broadband business, after upping its primary connections to 200,000 that would give it access to the last mile.

    In an interview with Indiantelevision.com‘s Sibabrata Das, Indusind Media & Communications CEO and MD Ravi Mansukhani talks about the MSO‘s growth plans.

    Excerpts:

    IMCL is planning to take the IPO route. How much are you going to raise?
    We are out in the market, looking to raise money. We may get an investor before we possibly do the IPO. We feel this is the best route to take. But if there is no match on our valuations, we will go on our own. We plan to raise Rs 5 billion to fund acquisitions and our digital cable TV expansion. But we are not in a hurry. We want to list with the right fundamentals and the future for digitisation.

    Why are cable TV companies suddenly rushing to list?
    DEN (Digital Entertainment Networks)a late entrant, is planning an IPO this year. There are media reports also about Hathway Cable & Datacom readying to tap the market. Wire & Wireless India Ltd (WWIL) is in the process of raising money through a rights issue. The fact is that cable TV companies are looking at expansion as they feel there is a huge potential left open. Unfortunately, DTH has not been able to fight analogue cable because of the pricing. And with digital cable growing slowly, DTH has not grown to everybody‘s expectations.

    But is it not true that all the DTH operators are mopping up subscribers very aggressively?
    DTH is growing either in cable dark or bad cable areas. In urban India, they have made penetration in mostly multiple TV homes and, thus, co-existed with cable. A very small percentage has come at the expense of the cable TV operators, perhaps because the ARPUs (average revenue per user) are low.

    A wave of new MSOs have entered the market. How has this affected Incablenet?
    In the urban areas, this led to ground warfare as the entrants wanted to grab territory. Subscription rates, undoubtedly, got affected as we had to retain our base. This was particularly felt in case of franchisee fees. But we held on – and are slowly getting back the old rates.

    We have actually grown in revenues as we expanded through acquisitions. We are present in 27 cities, up from 12 a couple of years back. We have laid more infrastructure and have over 6000 km of hybrid fibre network. We have posted a 45 per cent growth year-on-year over the last two years. We have also turned around and become profitable.

    Wasn‘t this largely because of the steep growth in carriage fee which accounted for almost 50 per cent of IMCL‘s FY‘09 revenues?
    Yes, the placement charges helped to a large extent for IMCL turning profitable. But we are no more stuck as just a cable MSO. Though video is the mainstay of our business, we have laid infrastructure and will now aggressively push for broadband.
    ‘This is a good time to make acquisitions as the cost per point has come down. In prime locations, valuations have fallen by a quarter and in other areas by almost 50%‘

    The company has been talking about broadband for the last few years but very little has happened. The revenue from broadband for FY‘09, in fact, was under Rs 50 million. So what changes this time?

    The three bottlenecks that hindered our broadband growth are now behind us. Bandwidth costs have fallen. Secondly, we have merged the broadband company with the cable outfit, so that saves us from paying out any network charges. The third and the most important fact is that we have grown our primary points from 50,000 to 200,000 and, as we own the last mile here, we don‘t have to pay commissions to franchisee operators. We are targeting to double our revenues from broadband this year. We will also get into commercial clients as it will give us higher ARPUs. In the retail segment, our ARPU stands at Rs 400

    Was there a conscious decision to acquire more of primary points?

    When we went in for acquisitions, we ensured that we got into good ARPU areas. We also took care that we acquired 30 per cent of primary connections from the cable networks that we snapped up.

    Were you driven to new geographies because of the carriage market and also because of a land grab situation from new competition?

    The older MSOs like us expanded into new cities because of the promise of digitisation which would lead to transparency and ensure that we carve out a commission system for ourselves. The new MSOs came under the plank of carriage fees. Undoubtedly, placement charges helped all MSOs to survive and grow – including the digital business.

    The economic slowdown is hurting broadcasters and they are pulling down their carriage costs. How is this going to affect IMCL‘s growth this year?

    Carriage revenue will not dip but flatten for us this year. There are new channel launches but they are not of that scale as last year‘s. This will be a consolidation year for us.

    How much is IMCL investing this year?

    We had invested Rs 1 billion in FY‘09, equally split between acquisition, digitisation and laying of infrastructure. For this fiscal, we plan to invest a similar amount. We will add two digital headends to our existing eight. We will also supply digital feed to four more cities during the fiscal, in addition to the four that we have currently linked up.

    We have so far seeded 350,000 digital set-top boxes (STBs) across eight cities. We haven‘t got fresh STBs this fiscal as the government has imposed duty on the import of boxes. But we have placed orders and expect supplies to arrive in November. Our target is to add 150,000-200,000 boxes during the fiscal. The Commonwealth Games in Delhi also could act as a big boost if the government comes out with a digitisation policy to coincide with that event.

    Will you be aggressive on acquisitions this year?

    We will continue to make acquisitions where we see an opportunity being thrown on us at the right value. This is a good time to buy as the cost per point has come down. In prime locations, valuations have fallen by a quarter and in other areas by almost 50 per cent. Operators need the support of bigger MSOs because of the huge subsidy in digital boxes. We will consolidate in states where we are already present.

    And there will be more disturbance on the ground?

    Warfare for territory will reduce as the new MSOs will not be that aggressive. Money is drying up and they are back in the market trying to raise funds.

    Is there a drive to restructure the content business under associate company Planet E-Shop Holdings India Ltd?

    The movie business is moving into Planet E-Shop. This is also housing the distribution of channels for retail and commercial. We are distributing ESPN in Mumbai and are in talks with two other major broadcasters. We have also taken up marketing and distribution of foreign channels like Arirang and Miracle Channel that seek downlinking in India. We are looking at signing up three more foreign channels this year.

    Will the cable movie channel, CVO, move into this company?

    The channel is part of IMCL and there are no plans as of now to shift this out. We may make it a pay channel down the road as the digital environment grows. We have bought 100 movies this year and are planning to add 300-400 more as prices have fallen. The revenues are getting squeezed for cable movie channels. But we have a library of 700 movies and later may create thematic channels for digital subscribers.

    What plans do you have to grow the content side of the business?

    We will create server-based local channels when the time is ripe. Cable news channels in metros may not be viable as it makes more sense to get placement fees than run your own channel in a choked analogue environment. The situation can be different in smaller towns. Our interest is to create these server-based local channels that do not depend on advertising but pay revenues.

    Will the cable movie channel, CVO, move into this company?
    The channel is part of IMCL and there are no plans as of now to shift this out. We may make it a pay channel down the road as the digital environment grows. We have bought 100 movies this year and are planning to add 300-400 more as prices have fallen. The revenues are getting squeezed for cable movie channels. But we have a library of 700 movies and later may create thematic channels for digital subscribers.

    What plans do you have to grow the content side of the business?
    We will create server-based local channels when the time is ripe. Cable news channels in metros may not be viable as it makes more sense to get placement fees than run your own channel in a choked analogue environment. The situation can be different in smaller towns. Our interest is to create these server-based local channels that do not depend on advertising but pay revenues.

  • Bharat Kapadia takes over as Bhaskar Group ED

    MUMBAI: Bharat Kapadia, executive director of Divya Bhaskar, has been appointed as the executive director of the entire Bhaskar Group. The appointment comes in the wake of the Group’s expansion through new ventures in the form of additional magazines and new initiatives coming from I Media Corporation Limited (IMCL).

    Kapadia’s role would make him responsible for not only Divya Bhaskar, but also Dainik Bhaskar and magazines like Aha! Zindagi and Bal Bhaskar in Hindi and Saurashtra Samachar in Gujarati. Two more Hindi publications are on the cards – a career magazine and a women’s magazine.

    “I joined Divya Bhaskar in 2005 and my mandate was largely to turn around the fortunes of the company, which we successfully managed to do so. I’m hopeful of carrying the same growth forward,” said Kapadia, about his appointment which is effective immediately.

    Kapadia has also been spearheading the ‘Vote For Taj’ campaign as chairman of IMCL, wherein they have won marketing rights for a campaign being created to promote Taj Mahal as one of the ‘New Seven Wonders of the World’. He elaborated, “The campaign for the Taj will only get more aggressive and we’ll be shortly unveiling the official song for the same.”

  • ‘Investors are waiting for Cas to roll out before they come up with definite valuations’ : Ravi Mansukhani – IMCL director-in-charge

    ‘Investors are waiting for Cas to roll out before they come up with definite valuations’ : Ravi Mansukhani – IMCL director-in-charge

    Cable TV is in the midst of transition. We are seeing Cas being just implemented. Consumers are wanting set-top boxes (STBs) so that they can see their favourite pay channels. Multi-system operators (MSOs) are gearing up so that demand doesn’t outstrip supply. They know this is their last chance: if they don’t do it right, direct-to-home (DTH) will take over and they will become dinosaurs.

     

    In an exclusive chat with Indiantelevision.com’s Sibabrata Das, IndusInd Media and Communications Ltd director-in-charge Ravi Mansukhani discusses the dynamic changes taking place in the area of cable TV, the exciting prospects for digitisation, and the challenges that lie ahead as way of competition from emerging technologies.

     

    Excerpts:

    HTMT had earlier decided to consolidate its media businesses under InNetwork Entertainment Ltd (INEL). What made it change track and bring IndusInd Media and Communications Ltd (IMCL) as the umbrella entity?

    Suddenly the cable distribution business, which is with IMCL, has become big and is heading towards transparency under conditional access system (Cas). It has got a definite growth path now. That was not the case earlier and we thought we would bring everything under INEL which is the content company. The track has changed and content will sit on distribution. So we are merging In2Cable ( the broadband subsidiary) and INEL into IMCL. The parent company for the consolidated media business will be HTMT (an existing listed entity). The demerged IT/ITES entity will be listed under HTMT Technologies.

    While Zee Telefilms has demerged its media entity, your restructuring process is actually consolidating the media business. Is this because the different lines of media business are still having nascent revenues?

    We couldn’t have separated the different media activities as we don’t have size at this stage. We are only demerging the IT/ITES business from the media activities as we believe these have separate identities, will need independent focus, and can unlock value for the shareholders.

    Will HTMT (residual) also house the real estate business?

    The company will have the media businesses, Shop 24 Seven (shopping channel) and the real estate business. The demerger process is underway and a listing is expected by February-end after the restructuring process gets the necessary regulatory approvals.

    Isn’t this a strange mix for an investor in the company?

    There is some real estate property which was sitting there earlier in the company. Since we aren’t expanding on that at this stage, we are leaving it as it is. Real estate may become a play later.

    How much cash will be allocated towards expanding the media business?

    We will have Rs 5 billion for this. This will be used for new business initiatives, acquisitions and funding the expansion of the media and entertainment business.

    Like Zee’s Wire & Wireless India Ltd (WWIL), are you planning to make last mile acquisitions to expand your network?

    We are adopting a different business plan where we want to partner rather than buy out operators. WWIL, on the other hand, wants to acquire 51 per cent in cable networks. Our expansion plan includes offering to operators shares in HTMT (after demerger) as they form an integral part of our distribution chain. This will be based on the subscribers they declare. No decision has been taken as to the exact ratio that would be on offer.

    Will one share be issued to operators for every declared subscriber?

    We are working towards that.

    Do you think your strategy will be more acceptable?

    We have decided that is the best way to go forward, even in the non Cas (conditional access system) areas. By becoming shareholders, operators won’t perceive us as a threat. They can own their network while we make the investments on technology and digital cable. This way they can retain their customers, particularly as they face threat from DTH and other digital cable service providers. We are not exercising the buying option yet. If they want to sell, we may step in later. And by having ownership over the network, it would be in their interest to drive up ARPUs (average revenue per user) and launch value-added services.

    Will ARPUs fall?

    Initially, it will fall or stay flat. The subscriber ARPU in the Cas areas where we are operating is Rs 250. We see this going up to $10 (Rs 450) in two years and, perhaps, to $15 (Rs 675) in five years because of value-added services. Our topline is going to be rammed in the first year, but the bottomline is going to improve immediately as we will have an assured distribution margin.

    Would you prefer inducting a strategic rather than a private equity investor?

    We would favour a strategic than a pure financial investor. We feel inputs from a strategic partner would give us a competitive edge.
    But the possibility of roping in an investor would likely be after the listing of the two entities.
    ‘We are not looking at customer acquisition via bouquet packages. For the ground to open up territorially for the MSOs, it will take time.‘

    Are investors keen to know about the content side of your story?

    Investors at this stage basically want to know our distribution plan. Our focus right now is on the distribution side of the business. Perhaps, by April we will have an investment plan for content and the other lines of media business.

    Have you initiated talks with global major Liberty which has shown interest in entering into India?

    There are a bunch of them who are interested in India’s cable story. But all the investors are waiting for Cas to roll out before they come up with definite valuations.

    Multi-system operators (MSOs) have announced bouquet packages. Do you see this as a price war to win consumers or local operators from rival networks?

    Our schemes are directed to make our existing consumers happy. We are not looking at customer acquisition via packages.

    Isn’t there a conscious effort to protect your turf from WWIL, which wants to poach operators to increase its thin presence in Mumbai, and DTH service providers like Tata Sky?

    We took care to offer a better quality package than WWIL or Tata Sky. We are offering six months of free subscription for consumers who have to pay just Rs 1500 (plus taxes) in the Cas areas. We are offering three bouquet packages – Star loaded (Sitara with 18 pay channels), Sony-led (Sona with 20 channels) and Zee-Turner (Zabardast with 35 channels). Under the STB rental scheme, we are offering the Optimiser package (Star and Sony bouquets) at Rs 120 (second TV set Rs 55) and the Super Saver scheme (Star, Sony and Zee bouquets) at Rs 190 (second TV set Rs 100). DTH has a high entry barrier as installation of the boxes are costlier than cable. And for the ground to open up territorially for the MSOs, it will take time.

    With WWIL intending to poach operators, do you have a truce on the ground with Hathway Cable & Datacom?

    We would like to keep the peace on the ground.

    With Cas already on, do you see a situation where demand for STBs will outstrip supply?

    We are confident of tackling it. We have in stock 168,000 STBs and have seeded over 40,000 boxes. We are installing more than 5,000 boxes a day. People are waking up as the pay channels are blacked out. We are ready to meet the surge in demand. We have also ordered for over 100,000 STBs from a Korean vendor.

    How keen are you to beef up the content side?

    We will put all our energies into distribution now. Once we have a solid distribution platform, then we are actually de-risking on the content front. We want to get into movie production and are looking at the distribution chain as well. We have earlier done movie financing and have funded around 14 movies from the current crop.

    Are you going to line up special channels for Cas subscribers?

    We are launching thematic channels without advertisement breaks. We have already started In Digital Premium which was made available first in Mumbai. It will also be seen in Delhi and we have movies in different themes – action-oriented, comedy and drama. We are planning to charge Rs 5-10 per movie. We will add more channels.

    What are your plans for CVO?

    The cable movie channel is highly popular and is licensed across 55 cities. But it has been stagnating over the last few years. With our distribution growing, it will bounce back into the growth path. We continue to acquire movies. Last year, we bought 150 movies.

    Revenues from cable internet and content have been depressed. How are you planning to promote your broadband business?

    We are revamping our broadband business. We will be aggressive on pricing. Our focus so far was on quality, not price. We never believed in LAN-based (local area network) internet. Now we will be doing that model. For the last two years, we concentrated on consolidating and upgrading our networks. Even we will start VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol). We have this system connecting all our Hinduja offices across the globe. We will have to see how we can expand on that and launch commercially.

    What are your revenue projections this fiscal?

    We did Rs 1.6 billion last fiscal, with cable distribution accounting for Rs 1.38 billion, INEL Rs 170 million and In2Cable Rs 50 million. We are not sure how we would finally end up this fiscal as we expect the last quarter to be chaotic. But the topline should leapfrog by FY08.
  • IndusInd Media appoints Samson Jesudas as chief marketing & distribution officer

    IndusInd Media appoints Samson Jesudas as chief marketing & distribution officer

    MUMBAI : IndusInd Media and Communications Ltd (IMCL), which runs the media business of Hinduja TMT including Incablenet, has appointed Samson Jesudas as its chief marketing and distribution officer, ahead of CAS (conditional access system). Jesudas moves in from Zee Turner where he was serving as assistant vice-president, looking after the western region.

    In IMCL, Jesudas will be in charge of marketing and distribution of all products and service offerings of IMCL. This will include digital set-top boxes (STBs) in CAS areas and expansion of internet business to new cities. He will also evolve and execute different marketing schemes for all products and services.

    IMCL is planning to add new channels through its STBs. Jesudas will look after media content and also liasion with ground distribution, broadcasters and content providers. He will also provide market intelligence support to identify and exploit growth opportunities while coordinating with finance, technical and customer care divisions.

    Before joining Zee Turner, Jesudas was working in Pehla in the Middle East and in Star India’s distribution team.

  • CAS rollout: MSOs look to channel package tiers

    CAS rollout: MSOs look to channel package tiers

    MUMBAI: Multi-system operators (MSOs) have initiated talks with some broadcasters for providing their bouquet of pay channels at special rates in the conditional access system (CAS) regime. This would enable cable networks to tier various channel packages for consumers.

    The Telecom regulatory Authority of India (Trai) has fixed the a la carte pricing of pay chanels at a maximum of Rs 5 under CAS. The MSOs want broadcasters to price their bouquets below the average of Rs 5 per channel.

    “We are in a very nascent stage of discussions. Some of the broadcasters have moved the courts and are, in fact, waiting for the verdict. We expect to have more definite proposals within a fortnight,” says Hathway Cable & Datacom managing director and CEO K Jayaraman.

    The MSOs will tier different packages to make it price friendly for consumers. “We will be working out packages based on a combination of genres. This will be in addition to the a la carte pricing which, with a cap at Rs 5, is expected to be quite popular,” says Jayaraman.

    Adds IndusInd Media and Communications Ltd (IMCL) director-in charge Ravi Mansukhani: “Once the broadcasters give us their bouquet pricing, we can work out our own bundling which will offer choice to consumers and make it more attractive than the a la carte pricing.”

    The stumbling block to such negotiations at this stage, however, is a number of court cases filed by broadcasters questioning the Rs 5 cap fixed by the sector regulator. Broadcasters feel the regulated pricing is unfair and will hurt their subscription incomes.

    Hathway and IMCL, meanwhile, will soon kick-off CAS awareness campaigns jointly. The estimated spend: Rs 10 million. Hathway plans to spend an additional Rs 5 million in the first phase, says Jayaraman. Hathway has already started marketing its digital drive in bus shelters, radio and other mass media platforms.

    “We are also planning to invest independently through various marketing initiatives. This will be in addition to the joint campaigns where the spend could be Rs 10 million,” says Mansukhani.

    The MSOs have started offering digital set-top boxes (STBs) and cable at an advance deposit of Rs 250 in the CAS notified regions of south Mumbai, Delhi and Kolkata. Consumers will have to pay a rent of Rs 45 per month only after 1 January, the scheduled date for implementation of CAS. If they are not happy, they can discontinue the service.

    “We have started seeding 1,000 STBs a day since 1 November. We expect this to further pick up,” says Jayaraman. Hathway is aggressively pushing for digital cable in both Mumbai and Delhi.

    IMCL has been slow to push the STBs to its consumers. “Once the marketing campaign gathers momentum next week, we hope to seed 1,000 STBs a day. The offtake should further speed up as we go forward,” says Mansukhani.

  • Hinduja TMT to de-merge media, IT/BPO biz

    Hinduja TMT to de-merge media, IT/BPO biz

    MUMBAI: Hinduja TMT Ltd. will de-merge the company’s IT/BPO and media businesses into separate entities. The board of directors of the company are meeting tomorrow to provide in principle approval for this.

    The media business is likely to be brought under a holding company, a source said. HTMT has been weighing several options while deciding on separating its IT from media business. One option is to have the cable TV and broadband business under one entity while keeping the content business separate. Another possiblity could be to have a common entity for the media businesses.

    “I have nothing to comment at this stage. The board is meeting tomorrow,” HTMT MD K Thiagarajan said.

    Last month, speaking to Indiantelevision.com, Thiagarajan had admitted that de-merger was very much in the plans. “It couldn’t be done in 2005-06 fiscal because of certain taxation issues. The programme is still alive and we hope to de-merge early this fiscal. A committee of directors are looking into the issue.”

    HTMT has subsidiary companies which are into cable TV distribution, a cable movie channel, and movie financing and production. IndusInd Media & Communications Ltd (IMCL) runs cable TV through the Incablenet brand while CVIL operates CVO, a Hindi cable movie channel. IN Network Entertainment Ltd. (INEL), a wholly owned subsidiary of HTMT, is in film and content finance, production and distribution.

    Recently, Zee Telefilms had announced its plans to de-merge Siticable, a wholly owned subsidiary, into a separate company called Wire and Wireless (India) Limited (WWIL). This would bring specific focus into the cable business and be attractive to investors.