KOLKATA: Mahuaa Media Private Limited (MMPL), which closed two regional channels namely Mahuaa Bangla, (a Bengali general entertainment channel) and Mahua Khabor, (a 24-hour Bengali news channel) last year in Kolkata, is in talks with investors to sell off its assets.
Industry insiders on the condition of anonymity told indiantelevision on Thursday: “A party has negotiated a deal with Mahuaa Media which is around Rs 35 crore-Rs 40 crore. The assets mainly include big studio and equipments and camera.”
“People those who were appointed for Kolkata bureau and operations are no more associated with the company. The discussions are on with the top honchos of the company only,” he said hinting that the chairman and managing director of MMPL PK Tewari might be negotiating the deal with the prospective buyers.
Tewari and Mahuaa Bangla chief executive officer, Yuvaraj Bhattacharya and other senior journalists who were roped in for Kolkata operations could not be contacted.
In the beginning of the year 2012, Mahuaa Bangla shut its operations in Kolkata. Insiders added that the company has not yet paid the public relations agency the retainership fee which amounted to Rs one lakh a month.
Unlike other general entertainment channels, Mahua Bangla offered a wide variety of programmes, including popular shows like Kaun Banega Crorepati, a Kolkata based media manager said.
A regional media employee remembers that Mahuaa Bangla started with a bang and the slogan of the channel was Jomiye Din Saradin. It created history by starting as a sports reality show. “It started a reality show titled The Match. The main attraction was the inclusion of Brazilian football players Branco and Romario in the show,” he recounts.
