Sun Network, which runs the Sun TV network in Tamil Nadu and other southern states, has bagged nine FM radio stations in Friday’s auctions for A and A-plus cities.
NEW DELHI: Sun Network, the Chennai-headquartered media group, is all set to give stiff competition in the FM radio space. The group, which runs the Sun TV network in Tamil Nadu and other southern states, has bagged nine FM radio stations in Friday’s auctions for A and A-plus cities.
While Kal Radio Pvt Ltd got two stations, South Asia FM Radio secured seven more. Both Kal Radio and South Asia FM Radio are entities promoted by Sun, confirmed company officials. Sun is run by Kalanidhi Maran (pictured), brother of Union communications minister Dayanidhi Maran.
Sun already has four FM radio stations in the South (including Chennai and Coimbatore and Tirunelveli), and the current addition of nine stations will raise its tally to 13. And there’s much more to come, as another four rounds of financial bidding are scheduled over the next few weeks.
During bidding for A and A-plus cities, Kal and South Asia FM took nine stations for a total of Rs 94 crore. According to industry buzz, Malaysia’s media major Astro is expected to partner the Sun Network for South Asia FM.
However, there’s no official confirmation on such a pact yet. Recently, Astro, along with NDTV and Hyderabad-based IT company Value Labs, purchased Red FM (radio stations held by Living Media in Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata).
Against Sun’s tally of nine FM radio stations during Friday’s bidding, Bennett Coleman’s Entertainment Network India Ltd (ENIL) bagged seven cities for around Rs 70.20 crore and HT Music got four cities for Rs 75 crore. Among other majors, Anil Ambani’s Adlabs and Radio Mid-Day managed to enter nine cities each for Rs 99.6 crore and Rs 78.70 crore, respectively.
So far, there is no overlap between the cities for which Kal and South Asia FM have bid for, said an industry insider. Also, both Kal and South Asia have not shown any interest in bidding where Red FM is already present, the source pointed out. While Kal got Hyderabad and Bangalore, South Asia FM will be present in Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Kanpur, Surat, Pune, Nagpur and Lucknow.
This is in addition to Sun’s acquisition of radio stations (Chennai, Coimbatore and Tirunelveli) during the first phase of FM privatisation. Meanwhile, after picking up a stake in Red FM, Astro is present in Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata.
Last year, Sun Network entered into a joint venture with Astro to provide Indian software to the Malaysian company’s DTH service. Kalanidhi Maran was then quoted in media reports as saying that the association with Astro was not for funding but for establishing a relationship.
Rs 806 crore booty: The government is likely to get around Rs 806 crore across 13 cities (A and A-plus) as one-time-entry-fee (OTEF) from new bidders and migration fees from the existing players who will shift from a fixed to revenue-sharing licence regime, according to industry estimates. Out of this, around Rs 540 crore will be the OTEF from new bidders.
The existing licensees who will migrate to the second phase include Entertainment Network India Ltd (ENIL), Music Broadcast Private Ltd (MBPL), Radio Mid-Day, Red FM, Win Radio, and Sun Network. In the revenue-sharing regime, the annual fee is 4% of revenues.
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