• Trai extends date for views on minimum channel spacing for FM Radio

    Submitted by ITV Production on Dec 28
    indiantelevision.com Team

    NEW DELHI: The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) has extended till 6 January the written comments on its Consultation Paper on "Issues related to prescribing minimum Channel spacing, within a license service area, in FM Radio sector in India".

    Stakeholders can also send counter comments by 13 January, a Trai press note said, adding that this had been done on the request of stakeholders. Earlier, the last dates for comments and counter comments were 26 December and 2 January respectively.

    With A and A+ cities demanding more FM channel even after the announcement of the Phase III guidelines, Trai had sought the opinion of stakeholders whether it would be acceptable if the minimum channel spacing within a license service area can reduced from the current level of 800 KHz.
     
    It had said that if it can be reduced, then stakeholders should suggest what the minimum level should be, justifying their answers with reasoning. Issues such as the viability and desirability of having more number of channels in the interest of the stakeholders, selectivity of FM receivers available with the consumers ( such as mobile handsets, car radios, and other receivers), transmission from a single or multiple transmission setups may please be factored in should also be considered.

    The Consultation Paper asked stakeholders to consider the implications of reducing/not-reducing the minimum channel spacing within a license service area. Furthermore, should the reduction of minimum channel spacing be confined to A+ and A category cities or should it be reduced across the country, and how should funding for the modification of transmitting setups be funded.

    The Paper says that a second solution suggested by the operators requires a separate common transmission infrastructure (CTI) which includes transmitting tower, combiners, feeder cable, transmitting antenna etc. Effectively there would be two CTIs, one existing and another new one.

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    Trai
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  • RBNL plans to raise Rs 4 bn, in talks with PE

    Submitted by ITV Production on Aug 29
    indiantelevision.com Team

    MUMBAI: Reliance Broadcast Network (RBNL), the holding company of Reliance ADAG?s FM radio and broadcasting businesses, is once again looking to raise up to Rs 4 billion and is in talks with various private equity firms.

    Talking to Indiantelevision.com, RBNL chief financial officer Asheesh Chatterjee said: "We are planning to raise up to Rs 3-4 billion this fiscal to fund expansion in radio and TV broadcasting businesses. We have appointed Yes Bank as one of our investment bankers and are in talks with private equity players."

    RBNL?s debt stands at Rs 1.2 billion. "We will repay the debt completely after raising the funds," Chatterjee said.

    In September 2010, the company had raised Rs 2.83 billion via preferential allotment of 33.32 million equity shares at a price of Rs 85 per share. The promoters had pumped in Rs 1.73 billion at that time, subscribing to 20.37 million shares. The remaining amount came from the investors.

    The company had used Rs 2 billion out of that to partly repay debt while the remaining was spent on launching channels, said Chatterjee.

    In the fresh fund-raising activity, the company is open to all instruments such as private equity, QIP and strategic investment. The equity of the company will be expanded and the promoters are not going to offload any stake, Chatterjee averred.

    The promoter holding stands at 63.87 per cent, according to data provided by the company till 30 June 2011.

    Apart from repayment of debt, the company needs funds to participate in the FM phase III auction. "Phase III will need growth capital and we will be very serious contenders at the auctions," Chatterjee said.

    Shares of RBNL rose 3.3 per cent to close Monday at Rs 78.15 on the BSE.

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    RBNL
  • Radio Mirchi rev up 10% in tough quarter

    Submitted by ITV Production on Jul 22
    indiantelevision.com Team

    MUMBAI: In a tough quarter, India‘s leading FM radio company, ENIL, has reported a 9.91 per cent rise in revenue while controlling costs that helped the net profit to jump.

    Entertainment Network (India) Ltd (ENIL), which runs private FM radio brand Radio Mirchi, has posted a net profit of Rs 97 million for the three-months ended 30 June 2011, up from Rs 43 million in the earlier year.

    ENIL ED and CEO Prashant Panday said, "It‘s been a surprisingly tough quarter for media companies. The current political environment, the high inflation and the resultant high interest rates and the squeeze in the advertising budgets due to last quarter‘s cricket season have together put the brakes on the media industry‘s growth. We hope these conditions will change shortly. Fortunately for us, our focus on cost management has helped us report a strong profit growth. Our cash generation during the quarter has also been very satisfying at Rs 230 million."

    Revenue during the quarter under review rose to Rs 632 million, compared with Rs 575 million in the earlier year.

    The company‘s Ebitda (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization) stood at Rs 218 million, up 46 per cent. The Ebitda margin improved to 34 per cent from 26 per cent in the year-ago period.

    ENIL has Rs 1.25 billion of free cash. "We are in a good position to take advantage of the opportunities available to us under the Phase-III policy that the government has just announced," Panday said.
     

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    Radio Mirchi
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