Tag: Star Group

ISRO to replace INSAT-4A with GSAT-30

Mumbai: The location: Kourou, French Guiana. The date: 17 January 2020. The time: 02:35 am IST. Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) scientists will be at their consoles, their brows creased in concentration as the countdown for the liftoff off its new generation communication satellite GSAT 30 off Arianespace’s Ariane 5 rocket begins. Weighing 3,375 kg, GSAT-30 is set to replace one of the early birds in the ISRO fleet, the ageing Insat 4A.

Insat-4A was launched in 2005 with a lifespan of at least 12 years and has been operational way beyond that. Even though it is functioning fine, ISRO has decided to put in a replacement with advanced features and network strength. Amongst the two major occupants and users of transponder capacity on Insat 4A are Tata Sky and Star India group.

Along with GSAT 30, Arianespace will also be putting into orbit global operator Eutelsat’s Konnect satellite on the same launch vehicle. GSAT-30 is the lower passenger in the Ariane-5 spacecraft, with Konnect its copassenger being released first. This will be Arianespace’s 107th Ariane 5 mission.

To be positioned at a longitude of 83° East, GSAT-30 will provide high-quality television, telecommunications and broadcasting services over Indian mainland and islands. GSAT-30 is configured on ISRO’s enhanced I-3K platform to provide communications services from geostationary orbit in C- and Ku-band for a lifetime greater than 15 years. Last year, Arianespace had delivered the GSAT-31 into orbit.

GSAT-30 will provide extended coverage in C-band to Gulf countries, a large part of Asia and Australia. The move will help Indian broadcasters beam their content to Gulf countries, large parts of Asia and Australia, as well as the Indian mainland.

The GSAT-30 was speculated to launch in June last year, but was postponed to 2020 as India’s pioneer space agency got busy in launching military satellites in space in order to boost strategic assets in space as well as its moon mission.

In its GSAT-30 launch kit, ISRO said: “GSAT will be extensively used for supporting VSAT networks, Television uplinking and teleport Services, Digital Satellite News Gathering (DSNG), DTH-television services cellular backhaul connectivity and many such applications”.

Eutelesat Konnect on the other hand will offer total capacity of 75 Gbps and by next autumn will allow Eutelsat to provide Internet access services for companies and individuals alike at up to 100 Mbps. The satellite will help to fight against the digital divide by bringing broadband Internet across 40 countries in Africa and 15 countries across Europe.

Produced by Thales Alenia Space, it is the first to use the company’s Spacebus NEO platform developed under the Neosat Partnership Project conducted by the European and French space agencies (ESA and CNES). Eutelsat Konnect will weight approximately 3,620 kg. at liftoff and is to operate from an orbital slot at 13 degrees East.

The proceedings will of course be telecsast live online as well on DD. To watch a live, high-speed online transmission of the launch (including commentary in French and English from the launch site), go to arianespace.com or to youtube.com/arianespace on 16 January 2020, beginning 20 minutes before liftoff.

January 16, 2020
India’s second radio operator MBL seeks to list

MUMBAI: Music Broadcast Ltd (MBL), the FM radio unit of the media house Jagran Prakashan backed by the private equity giant Blackstone, on Monday, filed draft documents with the capital markets regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India for an initial public offering.

ICICI Securities is the sole financial adviser for the issue. The IPO will comprise of a fresh issue aggregating upto Rs. 4,000 million (Rs 400 crore) and an offer for sale of up to 2,658,518 equity shares by certain existing shareholders of MBL. JPL is not selling any of its shareholding in MBL under the offer for sale portion.

MBL will be the second radio operator to list on BSE after Times Group’s Entertainment Network India Ltd, which runs Radio Mirchi, India’s top FM radio business label.

Jagran entered the radio segment with the acquisition of Music Broadcast Pvt Ltd in December 2014 from Rupert Murdoch-controlled 21st Century Fox’s Star Group and the private equity company India Value Fund Advisors.

The company plans to use the proceeds to redeem non-convertible debentures, repay inter-corporate deposits as well as for general corporate purposes.

MBL has a presence in 29 cities. Its radio stations include eight Radio Mantra stations. The company says its radio stations reached out to 49.60 million listeners in 23 cities covered by AZ Research as on 31 March 2016.

November 29, 2016
India’s second radio operator MBL seeks to list

MUMBAI: Music Broadcast Ltd (MBL), the FM radio unit of the media house Jagran Prakashan backed by the private equity giant Blackstone, on Monday, filed draft documents with the capital markets regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India for an initial public offering.

ICICI Securities is the sole financial adviser for the issue. The IPO will comprise of a fresh issue aggregating upto Rs. 4,000 million (Rs 400 crore) and an offer for sale of up to 2,658,518 equity shares by certain existing shareholders of MBL. JPL is not selling any of its shareholding in MBL under the offer for sale portion.

MBL will be the second radio operator to list on BSE after Times Group’s Entertainment Network India Ltd, which runs Radio Mirchi, India’s top FM radio business label.

Jagran entered the radio segment with the acquisition of Music Broadcast Pvt Ltd in December 2014 from Rupert Murdoch-controlled 21st Century Fox’s Star Group and the private equity company India Value Fund Advisors.

The company plans to use the proceeds to redeem non-convertible debentures, repay inter-corporate deposits as well as for general corporate purposes.

MBL has a presence in 29 cities. Its radio stations include eight Radio Mantra stations. The company says its radio stations reached out to 49.60 million listeners in 23 cities covered by AZ Research as on 31 March 2016.

November 29, 2016
Star offloads 26% stake in Balaji Telefilms for Rs 108 crore; shares up 20%

MUMBAI: The “Star” has finally moved out of the Balaji Telefilms household. Rupert Murdoch owned Star Group has offloaded its entire stake of 25.99 per cent in Balaji Telefilms through a block deal on the Metropolitan Stock Exchange of India (MSEI).

As of 30 June, 2015, Murdoch’s company Star Middle East FZ-LLC held 1,69,48,194 shares in the television and film production powerhouse helmed by Ekta Kapoor, which was equivalent to a 25.99 per cent stake. The deal was done at an average price Rs 63.60 per share, which values the transaction at approximately Rs 107.80 crore. The buyer of the shares remains hitherto unknown.

Ekta Kapoor and her family comprising Shobha, Jeetendra and Tusshar Kapoor jointly hold 42.93 per cent stake in the company with a total of 2,79,92,938 shares to their name.

Riding on the back of this news, Balaji Telefilms’ shares rallied on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) on Wednesday 5 August, 2015. The company’s shares were quoting at Rs 95.25, up by Rs 15.85, or 19.96 per cent on the BSE. The stock also hit its 52-week high and there were only buyers and no sellers after the Star Group’s exit block sale.

Star India’s Hong Kong-based parent company Star Group Ltd, had bought a 21 per cent stake in Balaji in 2004 for Rs 123 crore through its Dubai-based affiliate Asian Broadcasting FZ-LLC (now known as Star Middle East FZ-LLC). The stake acquisition was then followed by an open offer, after which Star’s shareholding increased to 25.99 per cent.

Pertinent to note here is that Star has been keen on divesting its stake in Balaji Telefilms since 2008 when relations between the once thick friends went sour over low ratings of Balaji’s shows on Star Plus in the wake of intense competition. Rumors were rife in 2008 and then subsequently every other year that Star was planning to sell its entire stake in Balaji.

Throughout 2004, Balaji Telefilms’ shares were trading in the price range of Rs 92 – Rs 105 on the BSE. While the shares touched a high of approximately Rs 188 in early 2006, it was in late 2007 when the company was at its peak with share price of Rs 350+ per piece. In December 2007, Star’s 25.99 per cent stake was worth a whopping Rs 597 crore based on Balaji’s stock price of Rs 352.40 on the BSE.

While Star has finally made the much-vied exit in 2015, it seems as if this deal brought about a negative return for the company as far as valuation is concerned in the face of the investment that was pumped into Balaji Telefilms by the media behemoth more than a decade ago. However, it must be kept in mind, that over the years Star also earned sizeable amount of dividends from the company. Additionally, Star also enjoyed the fruits of intangible benefits such as the exclusive content agreement with the production house for its TRP-raking soaps. That said, it’s simple math that the price tag of Rs 108 crore for 25.99 per cent stake in 2015, is less than Star’s buying price of Rs 123 crore for 21 per cent stake way back in 2004.

August 5, 2015
Discovery appoints Nilesh Zaveri as SVP &CFO, finance and corporate operations

MUMBAI: Discovery Networks Asia-Pacific (DNAP) has appointed Nilesh Zaveri as senior vice president and chief financial officer, finance & corporate operations, effective 28 April. In his new role, Zaveri will provide strategic financial and corporate operations leadership, oversee all aspects of financial management for DNAP, and lead the interface and execution of key business decisions.

Zaveri joins Discovery from Fox Sports Asia (a 21st Century Fox Company, formerly known as News Corporation), where he held the role of regional CFO since 2012, based in Singapore. Zaveri has worked with 21st Century Fox for 11 years across multiple business units in Asia where he was previously the head of finance for News Corporation Asia, based in Hong Kong and has held various finance positions with the Star Group in Mumbai and Hong Kong. He began his career with PricewaterhouseCoopers and Deloitte. He is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India, and holds a Bachelor of Commerce from Mumbai University.

DNAP president & managing director Arjan Hoekstra said, “Nilesh is a strong strategic and commercially-focused finance leader with extensive experience across the pan-regional media landscape. We look forward to welcoming him into the Discovery family and benefiting from his expertise as DNAP continues its expansion and growth across the region.”

April 22, 2014
STARCJ appoints Digital Strings as its Digital marketing agency

MUMBAI: STARCJNetwork India Pvt. Ltd. (“STAR CJ”) appoints Digital Strings, a Mumbai based startup, to manage their online marketing activities. The account will be handled by a team of young and aspiring digital professionals. All online marketing activities of STAR CJ across various social media platforms will be handled by the startup agency.

Digital Strings will be responsible for managing the online reputation of STARCJ. The mandate will also include managing STAR CJ’s social media presence, driving online visitors through search engine marketing and managing online advertising for creating a strong presence of the brand digitally.

Confirming the appointment, Mr. Kenny Shin, Chief Executive OfficerofSTARCJ,said, “After a rigorous evaluation of various agencies, our team at STARCJ made a decision of appointing these young bunch of professionals to manage our online marketing activities.”

Adding to this, Mr. Shin said, “We have been quite successful in the business of home-shopping on our channel STARCJ alive. But looking at the change in the consumer behavior in India due to the penetration of online shopping, we intend to strengthen our presence online and reach out to a wider consumer base. We believe that Digital Strings would stand up to our expectations and help us create a niche in the online shopping business.”

The estimated online media spend for STARCJ is 5.5 Crorefor the year 2014. STAR CJ intends to expand its online business drastically by the end of this year and take a strong position in the e-commerce space through the online sale of premium category products such as mobile phones, kitchen appliances, electronics, household goods, etc.

Mr. RohitKerkar, Managing Director, Digital Strings, added, “It is a big win for us as a start up. I am grateful to the team of STARCJ for seeing us capable enough to manage their online reputation as against various well established agencies currently present in the country. We are privileged to be associated with STARCJ. Our team at Digital Strings will strive hard to manage and build STAR CJ’s online image.”

About STARCJ Network India Pvt. Ltd.: STAR CJ Network India Pvt. Ltd. is one of India’s largest home shopping company, selling premium yet affordable products via television and the internet.

STAR CJ is a joint venture between STAR Group and the South Korean home shopping major, CJ O Shopping Co. Ltd. This venture was started in the year 2009, with the launch of STAR CJ program slots on STAR Utsav. In 2010, STAR CJ alive was introduced as a 24X7 home shopping TV. The channel at present reaches out to 25 million households across 3200 cities in India. After the success of the television arm of the company, STARCJ.com was launched in the year 2011to reach out to more consumers.

About Digital Strings: Digital Strings is an emerging digital marketing agency located in Mumbai. The agency aims at providing affordable yet thorough digital marketing solutions to entrepreneurs and SMEs. Their expertise spans a wide range of services like social media marketing, online PR, search engine optimization (SEO), online reputation management, pay per click (PPC), online advertising, web design & development.

Media Contact: Shital Pawar shital@digitalstrings.com +91 9702635209

February 17, 2014
Star Utsav gets a new business head in Pratik Seal

MUMBAI: There’s some change at the top in the Star group of channels. Star Utsav, a sister channel of Star Plus, has got a new business head. Pratik Seal, who was working as Star Network’s second general entertainment channel (GEC), Life OK’s marketing head, will now take up the role of Star Utsav’s business head.

Seal, who has already started working in the new role since last week, is reporting to Star Plus general manager Gaurav Banerjee. An official announcement about this would be made soon.

Prior to joining Star Network, Seal was heading the marketing functions at Micromax. He has a total experience of 15 years.

Seal, who started his career in 1998, has experience in brand management, strategic planning, advertising and communication, key account management, product development insights, media planning, event management and public relations.

Seal started as an account executive with Basic4 Advertising. After spending two years with the company, he moved to Ties2Family.com as an assistant manager, marketing and then worked as senior account executive with FCB Ulka.

After spending about two years with FCB Ulka, Seal joined Lowe Lintas as a senior brand services manager. Within three years, he was promoted to the position of senior brand services director. He later joined Vodafone as senior manager, marketing in April 2006. In December 2007, he joined as the senior manager – marketing in Samsung and then in Micromax as marketing head in April, 2010.

December 2, 2013
Star Group pays Rs 72 million for 20 % stake in Radio City

NEW DELHI: Star Group has received FIPB (foreign investment promotion board) approval for investing Rs 72.02 million to pick up a 20 per cent stake in Music Broadcast Pvt. Ltd. (MBPL), the company that operates FM radio business under the Radio City brand.

The acquisition is being made through Mauritius-based Acetic Investments. Star had earlier exited from Radio City, having sold its stake for Rs 300 million. India Value Fund had acquired a controlling stake in MBPL.
Indiantelevision.com was the first to report that Star was making a re-entry into the FM radio business by buying 20 per cent equity from India Value Fund (earlier GW Capital). With this, India Value Fund’s holding would drop from 75 per cent to 55 per cent.

“It may be a buy back arrangement Star had with India Value Fund. Being the second largest player, the valuation of Radio City will be pretty high,” says a source who is tracking the industry.

The government regulations permit only 20 per cent foreign direct investment (FDI) in the FM radio business.

February 28, 2007
Star India appoints Vijay Singh as president, strategy & corporate development

MUMBAI: Following the exit of its corporate CEO Peter Mukerjea as of 1 February, and the pending departure of its operational CEO Sameer Nair next month, Star has made the first executive announcement regarding the leadership team that will lead it in the next phase of the network’s evolution.

Star India announced today the appointment of Vijay Singh, former CEO of Sony Music and currently Tata group company Tetley Tea’s managing director – developing markets, as president, strategy and corporate development. Singh will report to Star Group CEO Paul Aiello, who is currently holding additional charge as Star India chief executive.

In what the broadcast major terms a newly created role, Singh will be responsible for developing business directions for Star India while taking an active role in the company’s venture businesses in India. He will oversee corporate functions including strategic planning, business development, human resources, legal, government affairs, MIS, administration and corporate communications. A point of note here is that there has been a position of president corporate affairs lying vacant since Nitin Atroley resigned a year ago.

Singh will join Star in April, soon after the departure of Nair, whose last working day as head of India’s lead broadcaster is 26 March.

With the public announcement of Singh’s appointment, Star now officially has two presidents. Paritosh Joshi is president, advertising sales and distribution.

Commenting on Singh’s appointment, Aiello said, “Vijay is a veteran executive with a huge breadth of experience and we feel very fortunate to have attracted him to join Star India. His business acumen and unique insights into India and other developing markets will be invaluable as Star India readies itself for its next phase of growth and expansion.”

February 22, 2007
Star unveils downloadable video content on indya.com

MUMBAI: The Star Group’s internet portal, indya.com has announced the launch of a digital entertainment store, by which users can download content. Among top shows on the network, Kahaani Ghar Ghar Kii, The Great Indian Laughter Challenge and Koffee With Karan will be made available for download. indya.com is also working with other content providers to bring Indian documentaries, current affairs updates, films and music online.

The service is powered by Direct2Drive, Fox Interactive Media’s digital retail store, which already offers an array of downloadable film, television and anime content from providers, such as 20th Century Fox, Lionsgate Films, and Starz Entertainment. Users can access the service at http://broadband.indya.com.

Single episodes are now available for free on a trial basis in order to allow users to sample the quality of the content and service. Additional episodes are priced starting from US$0.99 though special discounts are available for bundle purchases. Additionally, indya.com’s exclusive recap episodes will be available for top serials, chronicling an entire week of events in a 45-minute specially created recap. Recap episodes for shows like Kahaani Ghar Ghar Kii, are available now in the same week as aired on TV, with other shows to be added to the mix in the near future, informs an official release.

It will be available worldwide and is targeted at broadband-enabled South Asian audiences in the U.S., U.K., Canada and South East Asia.

The new service is offered via a “download-to-own” model, in which content is downloaded to the end-user’s PC. Purchased content is then playable on up to two Windows Media compatible devices, including portable players, allowing consumers to view their content on the go, adds the release.

“This is the first time an Asian internet portal has made this kind of scale of entertainment content available online,” said Star India executive vice president and head, interactive media Ajay Vidyasagar. “We are very pleased to be able to launch the service with a number of Star’s popular properties and look forward to working with other content providers in order to offer broadband enabled South Asians the world over the best entertainment content for download.”

January 18, 2007