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Tag: Sahara One Media

  • Bikash Kundu transitions to JioStar as head of agency partnerships

    Bikash Kundu transitions to JioStar as head of agency partnerships

    MUMBAI: Bikash Kundu has moved on to JioStar as the  head of agency partnership, effective January 2025, from Viacom18 Media, following its merger with Star India. 

    Kundu held senior leadership positions at Viacom18 Media, where he spent 17 years. Most recently, he served as the senior vice president & head of revenue (regional entertainment), overseeing revenue operations for 14 regional channels across six languages. He also previously led sales and syndication for Viacom18’s kids cluster.

    With over 23 years of diverse experience in the media and entertainment industry, Kundu has  a wealth of expertise across broadcasting, digital, print, and advertising domains.

    Kundu’s extensive career spans reputed organisations such as Sahara One Media, UTV-Disney, Satyam Infoway, India.com, and Bennett Coleman & Co Ltd. His professional journey has covered various stages of business growth, including startups, steady-state enterprises, hyper-growth phases, and mergers and acquisitions.

    Known for his strategic thinking, problem-solving abilities, and adaptability, Kundu is highly regarded as a leader who builds and mentors high-performance teams. His innovative approach and unwavering commitment to integrity have defined his career trajectory.

    Kundu is a postgraduate in marketing management from the Times School of Marketing and holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from Delhi University.

  • Sahara’s Filmy to be managed by the Entertainment Hub?

    Sahara’s Filmy to be managed by the Entertainment Hub?

    MUMBAI: It began with a bang around eight years ago but for some time now, the movie channel Filmy from the Sahara One Media and Entertainment bouquet, has been whimpering and struggling to even be seen.  The management of the Sahara group has been preoccupied with larger problems related to the Securities Exchange Board of India (Sebi). 

     

    And it is looking at strategically exiting from directly managing its media business. The first indication of this is the deal, which sources say, it has struck with Mumbai-based TV production company The Entertainment Hub. Under the arrangement, the latter reportedly will be managing Filmy on a contractual basis. The Entertainment Hub, which is part of the Snip Entertainment Group, will reportedly be responsible for Filmy’s content scheduling, distribution and also for revenue generation. The deal also envisages the spoils being shared with the Sahara group.  

     

    Titles such as No Entry, Guru, Khosla Ka Ghosla, Umrao Jaan, Dor, Gangster, Khamoshh, Fareb, Jo Bole So Nihaal and few other feature films have had their TV premieres on Filmy. The movie channel has also showcased films such as Ghajini, Singh Is King, Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na.., Golmaal Returns, Bhoothnath, Sarkar Raj etc.

     

    Despite Big films, the channel has not managed to get much traction in TV homes, as the Sahara Group has cut off all supplies of distribution and marketing money, thus ensuring that its reach and branch recall has hit rock bottom. “Amongst movie channels, it probably ranks even below the last channel,” says a media observer. 

     

    Hence, the Entertainment Hub which is a supplier of TV shows such as Haunted Nights and Piya Ka Ghar Pyaara Lage on Sahara One has its work cut out for it, thanks to the competitive TV distribution environment that is prevalent today. Sister company Snip Entertainment has interests in content syndication, TV production and music licensing. 

     

    Apparently, the Sahara group is in conversation with a large media group to manage even Sahara One. An announcement is likely to be made in March sometime, if sources are to be believed. 

  • Inventory increase jacks Sahara One profit for Q2-2014 despite 31.1 per cent revenue drop

    Inventory increase jacks Sahara One profit for Q2-2014 despite 31.1 per cent revenue drop

    BENGALURU: Sahara One Media and Entertainment Limited (Sahara One) reported increase in inventory of Rs 3.64 crore for Q2-2014 (90.8 per cent of the total PAT) as compared to reduction in inventory of Rs 1.39 crore for Q2-2013 and a reduction in inventory of Rs 1.73 crore for Q1-2014.

     

    Sahara One reported a PAT of Rs 4.1 crore, 8.1 per cent higher than the PAT of Rs 3.79 crore for the corresponding period of last year and more than triple (3.38 times more) the Rs 1.21 crore for the immediate trailing quarter.

     

    Despite a 31.1 per cent drop in Income from operations for the current quarter to Rs 22.61 crore as compared to the Rs 32.80 crore for y-o-y and a reduction of 17.5 as compared to the Rs 27.42 crore q-o-q, the company reported an increase in PAT. The company reported a PBT of Rs 6.15 crore which was 8.8 per cent higher than the Rs 5.65 crore for Q2-2013 and more than triple (3.47 times) the Rs 1.77 crore for the immediate preceding quarter.

     

    Let us look at the other results for Q2-2014 recorded by Sahara One

     

    Other income for Q2-2014 at Rs 2.54 crore was less than half (43.8 per cent) of the Rs 5.79 crore for Q2-2013 and 12.5 per cent lower than the Rs 2.9 crore for Q1-2014.

     

    Total Expenditure reported for Q2-2014 at Rs 18.99 crore was 57.7 per cent of the expenditure of Rs 32.94 crore for Q2-2013 and 33.6 per cent lower than the Rs 28.54 crore for Q1-2014. However, if one were to neglect the effect of the above mentioned increase in inventory of Rs 3.64 crore for Q2-2014 total expense was Rs 22.63 crore.

     

    For Q2-2014, the company reported lower expenditure towards purchase of content at Rs 17.51 crore, as compared to the Rs 27.41 crore (36.1 per cent lower y-o-y ) and 19.4 per cent lower than the Rs 21.73 crore for Q1-2014.

     

    The company has reported revenues from three sources – Television and Movies segments and unallocated revenue.

     

    Television segment reported a 30 per cent drop in revenue to Rs 23.46 crore for Q2-2014 as compared to the Rs 33.53 crore for Q2-2013 and 17 per cent lower than the Rs 28.26 crore for Q1-2014. This segment reported operating profit at Rs 7.29 crore that was more than double (2.52 times) the Rs 2.90 crore for Q2-2013 and almost triple (2.93 times) as compared to the Rs  2.49 crore for Q1-2014.

     

    Income from the movies segment was nil for the current and the corresponding quarter of the last quarter, and just Rs 0.0134 crore for Q1-2014. This segment reported a loss of Rs (-0.1969) crore for Q2-2014 as compared to a loss of Rs (-31.07) crore for Q1-2013 and Rs (-0.1573) crore for Q1-2014.

     

    Sahara One reported unallocated income of Rs 1.68 crore for Q2-2014, a little less than one third (33.13 per cent) of the Rs 5.07 crore for Q2-2013 and 17.7 per cent lower than the Rs 2.04 crore for Q1-2014. For Q2-2014, this revenue source reported a 68.6 per cent higher loss at Rs (-0.94) crore as compared to the loss of Rs (-0.55) crore for the corresponding quarter of last year. Unallocated source of income reported a positive Rs 3.08 crore for Q1-2014.

     

    Capital employed (Segment assets minus segment liabilities) by the television segment rose 80.6 per cent to Rs 78.09 crore for Q2-2014 as compared to the Rs 43.25 crore for Q2-2013 and 34.8 per cent higher than the Rs 57.95 crore for Q1-2014.

     

    Capital employed by the movies segment at Rs 86.27 crore for Q2-2014 was 3.1 per cent more than the Rs 83.71 crore for Q2-2013 and almost flat as compared to the Rs 82.17 crore for Q1-2014.

     

    Unallocated capital employed for Q2-2014 at Rs 133.62 crore was 19.5 per cent lower than the Rs 165.99 crore for Q2-2013 and 10.8 per cent lower than the Rs 149.77 crore for Q1-2014.

  • ‘Cable companies should start thinking like DTH operators’ : Seemanto Roy – Sahara One Media and Entertainment CEO

    ‘Cable companies should start thinking like DTH operators’ : Seemanto Roy – Sahara One Media and Entertainment CEO

    After taking charge, Subroto Roy’s younger son Seemanto Roy has drawn up an aggressive plan to grow Sahara’s media and entertainment business. His target: launch of five channels over 6-8 months, revival of the motion pictures business and setting up of a film institute.

     

    In this his first interview to the media after becoming Sahara One Media & Entertainment CEO, Roy spells out his plans to Indiantelevision.com’s Sibabrata Das.

     

    Excerpts:

    Media companies have seen opportunities and been on aggressive mode in the recent past. Why haven’t we seen that sort of game being played out by Sahara?
    We have just launched Firangi, a world TV channel dubbed in Hindi. We are also going to launch five more channels over the next 6-8 months. This will include a Bengali language channel, details of which I can’t specify now.

    Won’t this be in the entertainment space as the channel will be under the Sahara One Media & Entertainment umbrella?
    In that sense, yes. It will be in the non-news space. But we can’t spell out the positioning of the channel at this stage. We are finalising the details.

    There were plans of launching a music channel and Sahara had also initiated talks to buy out Music India. What is the status?
    Launching a music channel is on our agenda. Though people say it is a cluttered and thin-revenue market, we believe the space is growing. There is an opportunity, if the positioning is done well. We are figuring out the positioning of the channel.

    Sahara had announced in late 2004 an investment plan of Rs 15 billion for its media and entertainment business and Percept was put in an operational role. Are you happy with the speed of the progress since then?
    We relaunched our flagship Hindi general entertainment channel and ramped up our movie production business. We also launched a Hindi movie channel called Filmy. Our focus now is to widen our channel offerings.

    How much money Sahara is going to pump in for this?
    We can’t give you the financial details. We’ll announce them early next fiscal.
    ‘In the news channel business, alliances are taking place. But in any case, we are not interested in diluting majority‘

    Is there a move to transfer the broadcast operations of the entertainment channels into Sahara One Media & Entertainment?
    The process is on. We want the entertainment business to be in a single entity.

    Obviously this will enhance the turnover of Sahara One Media & Entertainment. Now the listed entity does not capture the advertising revenues which is with the broadcasting entity. But is it that the past liabilities of Sahara India TV Network, the broadcasting arm, will not be transferred to Sahara One?
    No, we are not transferring the liabilities.

    How do you separate the broadcasting arm of the news channel business?
    The news channel operations, because of the regulations on holdings and other issues, will need to be separate.

    Sahara One was planning to raise up to $50 million through foreign currency convertible bonds (FCCBs). Are you going ahead with it?
    We have no plans of raising money at this stage.

    Sahara One had diluted 14.98 per cent to Sivasankaran’s Aircel Televentures (later renamed Siva Ventures) for Rs 1.2 billion. BCCL (Times Group holding company Bennett Coleman & Co Ltd) also acquired close to 6 per cent stake in the company. Are there plans to further dilute equity?
    No.

    Sahara had mandated Ernst & Young (E&Y) for offering suggestions to restructure the news channel business. What were the recommendations?
    They were appointed to look into the growth prospects. We appoint consulting firms to get their perspectives.

    Are you looking at diluting equity in the news business?
    There is nothing.

    Are you in talks with investors?
    It is difficult to comment on this. In today’s market, alliances are taking place. But in any case, we are not interested in diluting majority.

    Why did you drop the Sahara name from Samay, your national news network?
    We gave the channel a new look. Besides, we are developing the sub-brands. Having lots of brands with the Sahara tag can be confusing. We did it in Filmy as well. We are maintaining Sahara as a network brand.

     

    Isn’t the Hindi news space getting too cluttered and hurting channels like yours?
    There is a lot of sampling happening at the moment. Our region-centric channels continue to perform well.

    One area where Sahara had a big opportunity but let it slip was the motion pictures business which had several hits at one point of time. What went wrong?
    The movie business doesn’t always give you hits.

    But the movie production business stayed dormant for a long time as there was an exodus in the team?
    There was a gap in between. Film production is futuristic – actors are not always available, nor even directors. But it is not that we lost momentum. We went back to get our plans in place. We will be getting back into it big time in the next fiscal. We will be producing 10 movies in 2008-09, out of which 4-5 will be big budgets and the remaining in the medium range.

    Don’t you think Percept hijacked the motion pictures platform?
    Not really, we are still working with them. We are acquiring movies – so we could be buying from them as well.

    Earlier you did a long-term deal with K Sera Sera where you even took an equity in the company. Are you looking at such deals again?
    We will follow all kinds of business models – producing films ourselves, acquiring, locking directors, co-producing (including international). We will have the studio model. We have a strong team and will also be in film distribution. Besides our own movies, we will also be acquiring for distribution. We are, however, not looking at overseas distribution now. We feel the home turf is an important market.

    What about home video?
    We are not getting into it. Nor will we be launching our music label.

    Sahara has not been going slow on movie acquisitions for satellite TV rights. Why is it so when the other movie channels have been more aggressive?
    Acquisition prices have gone up, but we have brought some big titles like Guru. We have also been buying syndicated content.

    Is it that you believe in syndication of titles rather than acquisition?
    We do both. Though we have introduced programming as well, we realise that movie channels will have to revolve around films.

    Is Filmy in course for its revenue target of Rs 500 million in the year?
    I don’t want to comment on the financials. But we are doing well and reaching our targets.

    What are the plans of beefing up content on Sahara One which seems to be hovering around 60-70 GRPs?
    The market is evolving and we have plans for the channel. In future, the fight in the Hindi GEC (general entertainment channel) space will be for slots. We are targeting slots.

    Do you have a strategy for regional channels in the entertainment space?
    We may launch two channels in the regional space. We want to test the regional market. But we don’t plan to grow in every direction.

    What made you launch Firangi and how do you see its growth potential?
    We are looking at the birth of a new genre. In the general offering, it is like a GEC. And it also can be looked at like Star World. Firangi is somewhere in the middle. We can attract audiences from both sides. The content is picked up from across the world, is fresh, contemporary and bold. And its strength is that the stories end in 6-8 months.

    Have you shelved plans to start a film institute?
    We will be in it. We are talking to strategic partners. For location, we are weighing various options including Mumbai.
  • Sahara to transfer broadcasting operations to listed firm

    Sahara to transfer broadcasting operations to listed firm

    MUMBAI: Sahara Group will be transferring the broadcast operations of its entertainment channels to the listed company, Sahara One Media & Entertainment.

    This is part of the commitment made to C Sivasankaran and BCCL (Times Group holding company Bennet Coleman & Co Ltd) when they acquired stakes in Sahara One Media & Entertainment last year, a source familiar with the deal says. While Sivasankaran’s Aircel Televentures (later renamed Siva Ventures) picked up 14.98 per cent for Rs 1.2 billion, BCCL acquired close to 6 per cent stake in the company.
    The broadcast operations are currently under Sahara India TV Network, a division of Sahara India Commercial Corporation Ltd. “The plan is for the listed company to also have the broadcast operations under it,” says the source.

    The transfer will mean that Sahara One Media & Entertainment will be able to capture the advertising revenues from the two existing channels, Sahara One and Filmy. The company currently earns from the programming it licenses to Sahara India TV Network and from its motion pictures business.

    “Sahara One will be able to capture the full part of the value chain. The entire infrastructure will be under one company,” says the source.

    The cost of running the channels including transponders and carriage fee will, thus, come under Sahara One Media & Entertainment. But there would be no transfer of the assets and liabilities of Sahara India TV Network. “The idea is to start with a clean slate and then build the broadcasting value,” says the source. “Under the current system, Sahara One does not run any commercial risk in the TV business as it produces content and passes it on to the channel on a cost-plus-commission basis,” he adds.

    Sahara’s news channel business also has a separate broadcasting arm and is under Sahara India TV Network (2). Sahara runs six news channels – in the national, regional and city-centric space.

    Meanwhile, the Sahara One Media & Entertainment board has approved raising of resources up to $ 20 million through foreign currency convertible bonds (FCCBs).

    “This will be used to meet the company’s working capital and content acquisition requirements,” says the source. Earlier, Sahara One had planned to come up with a provision to raise up to $50 million as it was at that stage in talks to acquire an equity in Ten Sports. Later Zee Group bought a 50 per cent stake in the sports channel for $57 million.

  • Sahara Filmy to present ‘Live and Filmy’

    MUMBAI: Sahara Filmy, the Bollywood film channel arm of Sahara One Media and Entertainment Limited, has announced the launch of its new series ‘Live and Filmy.’

    The channel has roped in music stalwarts Sukhvinder Singh and Daler Mehendi to perform live on 27 January at the Somaiya Hospital ground in Sion. The musical extravaganza will also have Tanushree Dutta performing to her hit numbers.

    Speaking on the launch Sahara Filmy business head Ashutosh said, “Every film channel shows back to back Hindi films. While we also showcase the best of Bollywood cinema, we have always taken an initiative to introduce various types of Bollywood- based content.

    We launch this series called ‘Live and Filmy’ with a musical extravaganza by Daler Mehendi and Sukhvinder with Tanushree performing some sizzling numbers.”

    The channel aims to take the event across the country with a host of other Bollywood stars depending on the response. The channel will also have other properties like contests and interactive shows in a run up to its telecast. “Since it is not easy to do such a large scale event on a regular basis, we do not promise that it will be a monthly event. But 2007 would certainly have more such Bollywood and filmy content programming,” says Ashutosh.

    “I have seen these two perform and you won’t get this type of energy anywhere.The idea was to bring together this amazing energy of to our viewers and audience- Live. We are expecting a huge audience turn out for the same.”An increasing number of television channels are now incorporating on ground activity in its programming to increase the viewer connect.

  • Filmy inks 3-year movie deal with Buena Vista

    Filmy inks 3-year movie deal with Buena Vista

    MUMBAI: Sahara One Media and Entertainment’s movie channel Filmy has signed a three year agreement with Buena Vista International Television-Asia Pacific (BVITV-AP), the international television distribution arm of The Walt Disney Company, to showcase 20 titles on the channel’s Hollywood movie block Firangi Filmy.

    As reported earlier by Indiantelevision.com, Sahara was in talks with several international studios for acquiring titles. The channel continues to be scouting for other international studios including Sony Pictures, as well as other independent producers in the US to build a bank of offerings.

    The acquired titles will be dubbed in Hindi and aired during the Friday 8 pm slot on Firangi Filmy. The movies acquired by the channel as part of this deal include Signs, Shanghai Knights, Star Ship Troopers, The Three Musketeers and Metro. Besides action and thrillers, Filmy has also added children’s movies to its kitty.

    Speaking to Indiantelevision.com, Filmy business head Ashutosh said, “Besides the big movies, we have also selected movies that have not had a theatrical release or been viewed on television in India. The newness of the channel will thrust us towards buying more titles and therefore we will continue to acquire.

    “It is Filmy’s privilege to work with Buena Vista International Television. We plan to showcase the best of Hollywood for our masses in their own language. We have received unparalleled support from BVITV, and look forward to building our relationship with them even further.”

    The deal also coincides with The Walt Disney Company’s focus to expand its presence in India, a key strategic market for the company.

    “We are delighted to be the first US studio to be licensing Hollywood movies to Filmy,” commented BVITV-AP’s senior vice president and managing director Steve Macallister. “India is a key strategic market for our company and we are looking forward to working closely with Filmy to provide top quality content that will enthral their viewers.”

  • Sahara in Rs 1.5 billion expansion plan; to bid for Abu Dhabi series

    Sahara in Rs 1.5 billion expansion plan; to bid for Abu Dhabi series

    MUMBAI: Sahara One Media and Entertainment Ltd is planning to raise Rs 1.5 billion to meet its expansion plans. The company is also likely to bid for the cricket telecast rights for the two-match India-Pakistan Friendship Series to be held in Abu Dhabi.

    The board of directors will meet tomorrow (5 April) to decide on these issues. “Sahara One is looking at getting an enabling clause to raise Rs 1.5 billion. Among other things on the agenda is the approval to bid for the cricket rights,” said a source close to the company.

    Sahara’s media and entertainment business has been valued by Ernst & Young at Rs 7 billion, sources said. The company had appointed the consulting firm to conduct the valuation exercise.

    Sahara One Media and Entertainment is in talks to rope in investors. Recently, Bennett, Coleman & Company Ltd (publishers of Times of India and the Group is 74 per cent stakeholder in Times Now news channel) picked up six per cent stake for Rs 378 million in the company (Indiantelevision.com was the first to report that Bennett, Coleman would buy stake in Sahara One).

    NRI businessman C Sivasankaran is in talks to put in around Rs 1.2 billion for a minority stake into Sahara One. “He is sitting on the fence,” said the source. Having sold Aircel for $1.08 billion to Malaysia’s Maxis Communications, he is flush with funds. His first media investment was in ETC Networks where he held 40 per cent stake. He went on diluting equity and exited from the company which was later acquired by Zee Telefilms.

    Sahara is launching a music channel, adding up to a bouquet of general entertainment and movie channels. Sahara Group also owns a string of news channels.

    Sahara has already experimented with cricket telecast of the India-England series on its Hindi general entertainment channel. Using the event, Sahara One has encrypted and expanded the reach of the channel.

    For the Indo-Pak Friendship Series, the contract for ground rights has been bagged by PDM International, a Percept Holdings company, from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) with a bid of $ 3.61 million. Incidentally, Percept has a management contract to handle Sahara’s entertainment business.