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NDTV mulls new channels

NDTV is examining the option of selling a stake in its Web site and launching new television channels, its chairman said on January 17. "There's a lot of interest for a strategic stake in ndtv.com, and we are weighing the option of unlocking value in it right now, or six months down the line," Prannoy Roy said in a conference call with analysts and reporters.

The Web site, which carries news, also has advertisements and e-commerce links.

The New Delhi-based broadcaster late on Monday reported a fiscal third-quarter net profit of Rs 14.11 crore ($3.2 million), down 7.5 per cent from the same period a year earlier. Total revenue rose 29.5 per cent to Rs 68.89 crore.

NDTV -- which broadcasts a Hindi and an English general news channel and a bi-lingual business news channel -- competes with T.V. Today Network Ltd., Television Eighteen India Ltd. and Zee Telefilms Ltd., besides other regional firms in an increasingly crowded space.

During the quarter, NDTV signed deals with DirecTV in the United States, UK's BSkyB and ATN in Canada for carrying its news channels on their satellite platforms.

It also bought -- along with Malaysia's Astro and Indian software firm Value Labs -- three private FM radio companies of the Living Media group with licences for the cities of Mumbai, New Delhi and Kolkata under the brand name Red FM.

"This was another step in our overall plan to become a multi-media firm, and as the licensing regime eases, radio is a very attractive space to be in," Roy said.

The Indian government last year said private FM networks will only have to pay a share of the their annual revenues rather than a high fixed annual fee, which had driven them to losses.

NDTV, which has a joint venture with Astro, will also launch a television channel in Malaysia and Indonesia in the coming months, Roy said.

It will also launch an entertainment channel in India, possibly over the next six months, and look at broadcasting separate regional-language feeds to the big cities, Roy said.

"Entertainment is the biggest area in media, and we have a lot of suitors who are interested in partnering with us on it," he said. "And the new technology will allow us to get bigger revenues from the regional feeds."

About 56 per cent of India's TV-owning homes, or about 61 million, own cable and satellite channels.

News channels earn about 10 per cent, or Rs 500 crore ($113 million) of advertising revenue, with nearly 30 news channels chasing the money and more planning to launch, according to TAM Media Research.

 ( http://economictimes.indiatimes.com)

 
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