Star gains foothold in South through Vijay TV

By Our Corporate Reporter

CHENNAI, AUG. 10. The picking up of 51 per cent stake in Vijay TV by the Star group would help the former gain advertisement revenue available for the Tamil channels, said Mr. Ronnie Screwvala, Chairman, UTV, at a press conference here on Thursday.

Vijay TV, a 100 per cent subsidiary of the UTV group, had a share of 10-12 per cent out of the total revenue potential of Rs. 175- 200 crores.

The broadcasting division has been hived off into a new company, Vijay Broadcasting, which will be wholly owned by Mr. Screwvala.

The Star group, which takes over the activities of programme content, ad sales, distribution and marketing, will enable Vijay TV in alluring the advertisement market and gaining a growth of 20-25 per cent every year.

The regional language market has huge potential and the Star goup's participation will give Vijay TV the impetus to move on to the next level, Mr. Screwvala, said.

At present, SUN TV enjoys a major chunk of advertisement revenue for Tamil channels.

Star will be able to pass on to Vijay TV the huge advertising backup as well as its competencies in various areas of programming and marketing.

Mr. Peter Mukerjea, Chief Executive, said the Star group's other language channels had been doing well in Asia. Its thrust on programmes, marketing and distribution through vast network will yield better results for both.

This will also enable Star to take its expertise to Tamil Nadu, one of the fastest growing markets in the Asian television business.

Star, a wholly owned subsidiary of News Corp., has 30 distributed services in seven languages. It has also invested in cable systems such as Hathway in India and Internet portals and service companies, including indya.com.

It also made an entry into radio business with the launch of Radio City in Bangalore.

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Section  : Business
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