Sahara To Rechristen Home Tv

The Subroto Roy-promoted Sahara group _- which has picked up 51 per cent stake in TV Mauritius, the company managing the affairs of Home TV _- plans to rename the Home TV channel as Sahara TV. The change is expected sometime in October-November. The group will also invest about Rs 350 crore in the entertainment channel.

The UP-based Sahara group has chalked out a two-channel strategy in the first phase of its forays into television broadcasting _- a general entertainment channel and later another a hybrid channel having news and current affairs, sports and other non-entertainment programming.

Admitting the impending changes in Home TV, Sahara group sources told Business Standard, "We have controlling stakes of 51 per cent in TV Mauritius. We have drawn up plans to revamp Home TV, including a name change to Sahara TV, which are likely to happen during October-November." A media blitz announcing the changes is expected next month.

 

TV Mauritius till recently was promoted by The Hindustan Times (30 per cent equity stake), UK-based Pearson plc and Carlton Communications and Hong Kong-based TVB (15 per cent each) and merchant bankers Schroeders which held 25 per cent stake.

Though the Sahara sources refused to divulge the exact quantum of investment which the group has made to acquire controlling stakes in TV Mauritius and revamp it, cable and satellite TV industry sources said the Sahara group has earmarked a budget of about rs 350 crore.

Sahara, a diversified group active in airlines, housing and now broadcasting sectors, will completely revamp the programming on Home TV after the name change. This includes airing programmes made by the likes of Govind Nihalani, Shyam benegal and Ramesh Sippy. Majority of on-air programmes of Home TV are likely to be axed.

Apart from serials and Hindi films, Sahara TV would air news and current affairs programming totalling about 150 minutes daily. "When we launch our second channel the news and current affairs programming on Sahara TV is likely to be lessened," the sources said, adding, "We'd prefer the second channel to be on PAS-4 too."

Home TV , at present beams through a transponder leased by Carlton Communications on PAS-4 for which the Sahara group would be paying the rentals to the British company.

In an innovative move, all prospective programmes to be aired on Sahara TV would first be shown to commoners in place like Gorakhpur, Delhi, Lucknow, Hyderabad and Mumbai to gauge their reactions before being put on air.

Though Sahara group has not officially admitted it, the UP company has picked up all the stakes of Pearson plc and Carlton Communications. HT, TVB and Schroeders are believed to have diluted part of their respective equity stakes which has given Sahara group a controlling stake of 51 per cent.

Sahara was one of the three companies which had been bidding for controlling stakes in TV Mauritius.

The other two were Hollywood major Metro Goldwyn-Myer (MGM) and US-based civil aviation and energy major having small interest in entertainment industry, Ogden.

MGM, which was in the forefront of picking up equity stake in Home TV with its vast library of programmes and films, has along with some other major foreign players has put on hold its plans to enter India owing to the uncertainty in the broadcasting scenario.