Karan Thapar Exits, Blow To Home Tv

The resignation of Karan Thapar as the programme director from TV India (TVi) -- a joint venture supplying software to Home TV -- yesterday has cast shadows on the future of Home TV.

TV India's chief executive, Pradip Chanda, too, had quit the company two days back. TV India Ltd (TVIL) is a joint venture between The Hindustan Times, the UK-based Pearson Plc and Carlton Communications, the Hong Kong-based TVB and a merchant banker.

The Hindustan Times is the single-largest shareholder with 30 per cent of stake in TV India, while the merchant banker has a 25 per cent stake. Carlton, Pearson and TVB hold 15 per cent equity, each.

 

Karan Thapar yesterday confirmed his resignation as the director, programming. "The company and the channel wants to reposition itself and it would be a different company from what I joined... so I quit," Thapar told Business Standard.

When Home TV started beaming through PAS-4 on May 20 last year, it had positioned itself as a 'mazedaar' channel appealing to every member in the family. However, in its efforts to please everybody, Home TV failed to attract viewers and could not sustain those few who stayed tuned to it. "The company is planning a revamp and there had been no real growth in viewership in recent times," TVIL's controller of sales and marketing, Mohan Barara, said yesterday.

Barara, however, refused to comment on the reasons for Thapar's resignation. "The CEO's two-year contract had expired and he did not show much interest in continuing," is all that Barara could explain.

TVIL had been on a major cost-cutting exercise as a part of which many employees in Delhi and Mumbai, especially those associated with software development, were asked quit.

Despite Barara's denial, company sources said the Hindustan Times' foreign partners like Pearson and Carlton COmmunications had been putting pressure for having more say in the running of the TVIL.

At present, Pearson's representative Catherine McKay is in the capital to do some damage control.

"The progress of the channel has not been as per the business plan and so the business plans are being redrawn," Barara said.