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Post de-merger and listing of two more entities, Markand Adhikari, Vice-Chairman and one of the co-founders of television network Sri Adhikari Brothers (SABGroup), says the company will undertake a rebranding exercise to encapsulate all three entities as one from Dasara.
The group has a total of three listed entities after the demerger – Sri Adhikari Brothers Television Network Ltd, TV Vision Ltd and SAB Events & Governance Now.
In 2005, SABGroup had sold its SAB TV to Sony Pictures Network (then Sony Entertainment Television).
At present, TV vision Ltd comprises a bouquet of five channels, namely Mastiii, Dabangg, Maiboli, Dhamaal Gujarat and Dillagi. In an interview with BusinessLine , Adhikari gives the roadmap for the company’s growth. Edited excerpts:
What was the thinking behind de-merging the businesses and listing them separately?
We were one of the first media companies to list. We were the original content and production company.
We have broadcasting, publishing and events. We wanted to unlock the value for the shareholders.
Now our three verticals have focussed business plan.
We are now a ₹2,000-crore company and will be focusing on content creation and syndication.
At a time when a lot of companies are exiting the movie production business due to losses, you are entering it. What is the thought behind it?
Yes, we are entering the movie production and distribution business. We are also setting up modern studios – one near Sahar International Airport and the other in North Mumbai. We plan to have three to four movies by next year under SAB banner. We will keenly look at the script and cost before entering any movie production.
Most of the films will be mid-budget. Currently, we have done Pyaar ka Punchnama 2 and Great Grand Masti.
What about your television business? Will it continue to be the bread and butter for the group?
Yes. General Entertainment Channel (GEC) and comedy will be central to our television content. We are currently running five channels.
We will be a seven-channel network by the end of the year.
Our channel Se7en targeting the North-East audience will be launched in a month and Hindi GEC Happii will be launched by December.
Under the Happii brand, we will be introducing Happii-Fi, our digital initiative, Happii-G focusing on ground events, and Happii-Me focussing on media dark places besides creating content for mobiles.
Digital is gaining huge popularity. How is SABGroup addressing that market?
We are still watching it carefully. We have a huge library of content. We have launched our digital initiative Happii-Fi. It is not an OTT platform. We are looking to create 100 per cent original digital content, including web series and short formats.
We are also looking at extending our reach through strategic tie-ups with OEMs and OTT players and even telecom companies.
We want to be India’s biggest multi-platform comedy brand.
What will be the size of investment into the proposed venture?
We are looking to invest close to ₹400-500 crore. This will be largely through internal accruals.
You have a huge content library. How exactly do you plan to put it to use?
We have about 5,000 hours of content. We plan to syndicate our library, formats and sell the remake rights to other countries as well.
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