Channel to god

Competition snapping at its heels in the domestic market, Aastha looks at geographical expansion.

Aastha Broadcasting Network Limited, which operates India's spiritual channel Aastha, is expanding.

The channel "" available on major television platforms, cable and DTH, in the UK, US, Canada and Germany "" is now eyeing other global markets. It has just launched in Poland and Luxembourg and will be available in South Africa and New Zealand in the coming year.

In an e-mail interview from the US, Aastha's chairman and managing director, Kirit Mehta, says, "We desire reaching Aastha to every Asian-Indian household in the world. A bouquet of niche channels is also on the anvil."

Though Mehta is cagey about details, he says the bouquet could include channels on Jainism, health and fitness, and some in south Indian languages. For now, the former non-ferrous metals trader from Mumbai is on a business trip to the US and UK with wife Neena, who is president (programming) of the company. The objective is to grow subscribers to the channel driven by its "live" global telecast policy from temples abroad.

Launched in 2000, Aastha was followed by a host of "me-too" channels which included Sanskar, Sadhana, Ahimsa, Shraddha and Jagran, among others. However, Aastha still commands over 40 per cent share of viewership in this genre followed by Sanskar (at about 30 per cent) and Jagran from the Zee Group.

Media analysts say Mehta's channel is not only popular but is a huge commercial success too. Partly, this has to do with its unique business model which was adopted by its followers in the genre.

For a regular TV channel, content is the biggest cost. For religious channels, however, content is a revenue earner since the spiritual leaders who appear on the screen need to buy air time for that appearance (read speeches and discourses). A media industry source says that leading channels in the genre could be charging between Rs 30,000 and Rs 50,000 for a 20-minute slot.

But Aastha's growing international operations, which are delivering handsome returns, give it an edge over its competitors. Mehta refuses to disclose his revenues or the channel's paid subscriber base abroad but admits that the "the numbers are large". In the UK, an Aastha subscriber pays nearly £10 a month, while in Canada his outgo is nearly 14 Canadian dollars.

Back in India, it enjoys another advantage. "Because of huge consumer demand, Aastha pays little or no carriage fee, whereas others are shelling out Rs 20 crore a year per channel to find place on a cable distribution platform," says the distribution head of a TV company. Admits Anil Anand, head of Zee Jagran: "New religious channels cannot get away from carriage fee."

According to estimates, in the Rs 60 crore-religious channels industry, Aastha's India revenues are close to Rs 15 crore. Mehta refuses to comment on figures. He's also miffed at the channel's success being credited mainly to paid content.

"Not all content is paid for. We do a lot of in-house shows for slots between 5-7 pm and 9-11 pm," he says. "Besides, if there were little or no strategising behind making Aastha a success, then all channels in the genre would have been at par."

Mehta believes that Aastha's acceptance by platforms with stringent entry criteria like DirecTV in the US, Sky Digital in UK and Rogers Digital in Canada, is testimony to its unique programming.

"A lot of blood, sweat and tears have been shed in shaping Aastha." While Ramdev's yoga hit it off with the audiences, "live" telecasts are an added attraction. "These call for Herculean planning, logistics and zero-error implementation. We've done live telecasts from Mauritius, UK, US, Nepal, Canada and Hong Kong," he explains.

But Aastha's competitors are getting smarter, intent on grabbing a larger share of the religious TV market slated to touch Rs 100 crore in the next two years. Zee Jagran, for instance, is redefining the genre and is now positioned as a channel for wellness and spirituality.

"We've included mythological, social and patriotic films on the channel," says Anand. Films with a social message such as Munnabhai MBBS have been aired and it has now tied up for talks by motivational speaker Shiv Khera.

Owned by the Triveni group, Sadhana is also revamping its programming to include films and serials that fit the genre. But Mehta is not worried. His business is growing. Aastha has just entered France and is now available on IPTV platforms in the US and UK.

"The channel was started for the benefit of mankind rather than for a commercial purpose. But to make it self-sufficient in the long run, when we are gone, it has to be made commercially viable."