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| Chandra
believes he has got a good deal |
"Now that we have got the rights, we'll start the process of
setting up the sports channel. There is an offer from Turner, but
we'll have to look into some other aspects too before we make any
announcements in this regard (relating to a possible joint venture),"
said the maverick media baron, who is credited with changing the face
of Indian television market by starting the country's first Hindi
language entertainment channel, delivered via satellite, over a decade
back.
Some time back, Turner Broadcasting Asia-Pacific had written a
letter to Chandra, offering collaboration on a sports channel, the
details of which are still not available with the media. At present,
Turner International India and Zee Telefilms have a 26:74 distribution
joint venture called Zee Turner Pvt Ltd.
Wouldn't it be logical for Zee Telefilms to extend the relationship
with Turner with the sports channel and, in turn Time Warner, if
it wishes to take on other global giants like News Corp (Star's
parent company) and Disney (ESPN's owners)? "These are business
decisions that have to be taken after considering various other
aspects and cannot be disclosed to the media always," Chandra
said.
Zee Telefilms has also mandated FCB-Ulka, an advertising agency,
to undertake a public opinion poll on a suitable name for the proposed
sports channel. "We'd have to see what the agency has to say
on the name," Chandra explained when asked what could be a
likely name for the sports channel.
Some of the options on the names that are available with Zee include
the traditional Zee Sports and the trendy Sportz, may be with an
emphasis on the alphabet `Z' to denote its parentage.
According to company sources, a final decision on the name is likely
to be taken either later in the day or over the next few days after
Chandra returns from Chennai. He had been camping there over the
weekend to make forceful presentations to the BCCI, which ultimately
swung a split verdict on the issue in the cricket board in Zee's
favour early Sunday afternoon.
Chandra also maintained that Zee has managed to get the telecast
rights at a good bargain at $ 308 million, plus another Rs 930 million
committed for the development of domestic cricket in association
with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).
"As a businessman, I do calculations. The percentage increase
in the number of days of available cricket is 33, while our bid
was hiked by about 20 per cent. So, in a way, we have managed to
get a product worth Rs 33 at Rs 20," Chandra, who was in a
jovial mood, tried to explain the intricacies of bidding and winning.
Experts seem to agree with the Zee Telefilms logic. According to
conservative estimates from the Hong Kong-based research agency
Media Partners Asia (MPA), Zee's cricket coverage could potentially
bring in revenues between $320 and $350 million over a four-year
period against total cost estimate between $350 million and $375
million. MPA also estimates that net advertising revenues have the
potential of touching approximately $160 million with distribution
or subscription revenues at around $140 million, with 80 per cent
generated from India.
Short-term losses bit long-term gains? MPA analyst Vivek Couto
grandly explains, "Did Subhash (Chandra) and Zee overbid? Who
cares? In the Mogul-ish scheme of things when Ted Turner bid for
the Atlanta Braves or when Rupert Murdoch outbid Barclay Knapp at
NTL to win the English Premier League in 90s, sure the bids were
inflated and early losses were sizeable. But long-term returns (both
tangible and intangible) were there for the taking too."
Isn't Subhash Chandra also sometimes referred to as the Asian Rupert
Murdoch?
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