Reality shows to drive revenues for Reliance
Billionaire Anil Ambani's Reliance Broadcast Network is targeting four-fold revenue growth in the next three years, driven by reality television shows and the proliferation of TV sets in rural India.
- (1888PressRelease) June 21, 2011 - Mumbai: Billionaire Anil Ambani's Reliance Broadcast Network is targeting four-fold revenue growth in the next three years, driven by reality television shows and the proliferation of TV sets in rural India.
The Indian broadcaster aims to boost revenue to Rs10 billion (Dh822 million) in the year ending March 2014 from Rs2.5 billion in the year ended March 31, CEO TarunKatial said in an interview. Growth will be fuelled by demand for local-language programmes in India's "Hindi heartland," reality shows, and extreme sports, he said.
Rising disposable incomes and low penetration of cable TV are stoking growth in India's satellite TV business, where Ambani faces competition from BhartiAirtel and Tata. Television industry revenue in Asia's third-biggest economy may more than double to Rs630 billion in 2015 from Rs297 billion last year, KPMG said in a March 19 report.
Intense competition
"Competition is intense now in every element of the broadcasting market here," said Rajesh Jain, executive director at KPMG India in Mumbai. "Unless you're able to build uniqueness and consumer loyalty, you won't be able to garner advertising revenue."
Reliance is getting ready to premiere India's Sexiest Bachelor this month through a joint venture with CBS and plans to start a male-oriented extreme-sports channel and a reality TV channel through a separate venture with RTL.
"Reality shows like Big Brother, they are now going to find their way into India more and more," Katial said at the company's headquarters in Mumbai. "Voyeuristic content wasn't really seen in India too much, until now."
The Reliance Broadcast stock has declined 17 per cent this year compared with the Sensex's 10 per cent drop. The company's television revenue may rise to 40 per cent of total sales in 2014 from less than 3 per cent last year, when the business began, Katial said. Radio will account for 40 per cent of revenue, down from 70 per cent now, he said.
Digital business
Reliance's digital TV business had 2.75 million subscribers at the end of May, said Cheryl Waldiya, a spokeswoman for Reliance Broadcast in Mumbai. By comparison, Bharti, which leads Ambani's Reliance Communications Ltd. in mobile-phone subscriptions, had more than 5.6 million customers for its direct-to-home TV service at the end of March.
Competitors also include Dish TV India, Sun TV Network and Tata Sky, a venture between the Tata Group and Rupert Murdoch's Star Group.
Satellite TV subscriptions in India rose to 32.1 million at the end of December from 19.1 million a year earlier.
http://gulfnews.com/business/retail/reality-shows-to-drive-revenues-for-reliance-1.822009
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