Raj TV to beam into Singapore

Raj Television Network Ltd is making its entry into the Singapore market, by signing an agreement with Singapore-owned TV 12 for exporting content to TV 12's Vasantham Central, a channel airing programmes for the Indian community in Singapore.

Raj TV expects an annual revenue of Rs 3 crore from the two-year agreement. Under the agreement, Raj TV will share content from its bouquet of programmes, which will include movies, serials, game shows, reality shows and news. This is part of Raj TV's plan to export its content to overseas markets.

Vasantham Central, a free-to-air channel, has a viewership of over a million. It will be entitled to air a total of 1,500 hours of Raj TV content. Raj TV Network director (operations), M Raveendran said the company would launch its entire bouquet of channels in Singapore based on the response to its content on Vasantham Central.

"We plan to use the Singapore entry to evaluate and understand the local market and gain insights into viewer preferences, before conceptualizing our own programmes for the market. The association with Vasantham will be of use when we launch an exclusive channel in Southeast Asia," Raveendran said.

Raj TV is listed on the BSE and NSE. Over the past one year, it has aggressively targeted countries like Malaysia, Europe, Africa and the US for content export.

It has also launched its channels in these markets. The company also has content syndication agreements in place with Sri Lanka's national broadcaster Rupavahini, and UK-based Tamil channels Deepam TV and CIEE Television.