MUMBAI: Raj TV Network is keen on further strengthening its presence in its core market of south India and also expanding its reach to the diaspora from the four states of Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.
The television network is on the lookout for equity investors – financial or strategic – to fund its growth plans. The company has appointed Destimony Securities as its advisor for the equity stake sale.
“By getting in investors, we are looking at raising approximately Rs 200 crore,” Destimony Securities MD and CEO Sudip Bandhopadhyay told Indiantelevision.com.
Raj TV Network plans to revamp its clutch of south Indian GECs, music and news channels and also on furthering its brand in the Telugu market.
The network operates 12 channels – four in Tamil, three in Telugu, two in Kannada, two in Malayalam and one in Hindi.
Raj TV Network also has a large library of Tamil movies which has not yet been tapped gainfully.
“We have a huge inventory of Tamil movies that needs to be monetised. Alongside, the large diaspora of the four states in the South needs to be captured,” Bandhopadhyay said.
Ernst & Young had in 2007 valued Raj TV Network’s movie collections at Rs 325 crore.
The network is currently busy revamping its Telugu channels -- Raj Musix Telugu, Raj Telugu News and Vissa. The relaunch of the Telugu channels is expected sometime next month. Raj TV Network also plans to rebrand Vissa to prefix the Raj brand.
Apart from this, Raj TV Network has ambitious plans to make its presence felt in northern parts of the country.
“We don’t just want to build the brand name in the south but also move to other regional markets as well,” says Raj TV MD M Raajhendhran.
The network is already present in a few Hindi speaking markets with Raj Parivar, which currently features only songs. It has long term plans to start GECs and other regional music channels as well in north India. Bhojpuri is one of the markets Raj TV Network is considering. Additionally, it is also looking at the Bengali market.
In the third quarter ended 31 December 2013, Raj TV Network reported a 53.98 per cent rise in net profit to Rs 4.99 crore (20.01 per cent of revenue during the quarter) from Rs 3.24 crore (18.55 per cent of revenue of that quarter) a year ago.
