Asianet to throw up Rs 350 crore to expand outside Kerala

Televisionpoint.com Correspondent
Asianet Communications will throw up about Rs 350 crore for expanding its satellite television network outside Kerala.

Asianet will unveil its Telugu channel, Sitara TV, by September 2007, with an investment of around Rs 100 crore. As a prelude, Asianet has already begun mopping up satellite distribution rights for Telugu films.

Asianet, in which Rajeev Chandrasekhar's Jupiter Entertainment holds over 51% stake, rolled out its Kannada general entertainment channel, Suvarna TV last week. It will expand the Kannada bouquet with news and youth channels, besides Suvarna. Asianet's investment into the Kannada television space is also pegged at around Rs 100 crore.

Asianet is currently the leader in Malayalam satellite television market with over 60% share. Kerala's market size is estimated at around Rs 200 crore, with the other notable players being Sun Network's Surya TV and Kairali.

Apart from the flagship entertainment channel, the Malayalam bouquet also include news channel Asianet News and youth channel Asianet Plus. It is expected to replicate the same model in other languages, starting with Kannada.

However, in language markets like Telugu, it is likely to bank heavily on satellite film rights given the robust nature of the movie industry there.

Asianet was likely to take the organic expansion model to tap the southern language markets even though observers had earlier linked it with possible acquisitions.

"The acquisition strategy in south will not be channel focused, whereas we could look for channel buyouts in other markets," a company source said.

Chandrasekhar's Jupiter entered the satellite television play when it acquired 51% stake in Asianet, one of the industry pioneers in India, last year. Jupiter's media business will cover satellite television, FM radio and niche community publication initiatives.