SRI ADHIKARI TARGETS MARCH LAUNCH
FOR SABE TV
Sri Adhikari Brothers is to hold
an extraordinary general meeting seeking shareholders’
approval for a private placement of its shares through
KPMG India. The consulting firm had earlier valued
its library of 1,500 hours of programming at Rs
530 million. The placement is believed to have been
made at a price or Rs 800 a share. Sri Adhikari
was looking at raising Rs 1,200 million for its
Hindi entertainment channel branded Sabe TV.
The company is in conversation
with Panamsat, Asiasat, and Thaicom for a transponder
on either PAS-4 or Asiasat-3S or Thaicom-3. "Sabe
TV will be digital but free to air," he reveals.
"And it will air 18 hours of programming daily."
Director Markand Adhikari says
the production house has commissioned 10-15 production
houses amongst which figure TV18, Balaji Telefilms,
Manish Goswami’s Siddantha Cinevision, and actor-director
Sachin’s Sushriya Arts. He adds the company will
also be producing three or four programmes and series
in house. Ketan Mehta’s Maya Magic has been signed
to design the channel identity.
Adhikari says that the channel
will be launched in March 2000.
He adds that he will announce the
names of eight to 10 key executives who will be
joining the company this week.
