Newsmaker: Subhash Chandra

Media master

Subhash Chandra

When Richard Li of Star TV came shopping around for an Indian partner to break into the broadcasting scene in India in the early nineties, this earthy Hissar businessman was his unexpected choice.

After all, the big boys of business like Bennett, Coleman & Co and the Hindujas were vying for Li's attention. And here was Subhash Chandra, a little known businessman, who was dabbling in a not-so-glamorous packaging business from a non descript office in the bylanes of Worli in Mumbai.

Chandra came as a shock to the media world when Li tied the knot with the media novice to start Zee TV "" that too, with only two hours of daily in-house programming and a handful of support team. That was October 2, 1992. And the rest is history.

Chandra might have lost the top slot in the Indian channel business in terms of viewership as well as revenues to his former partners, Star TV "" with whom he split (after Rupert Murdoch took over Star TV from Li) to go on his own.

And even Sony TV might have whizzed past him. But last week, Chandra bounced back with a vengeance, picking up 50 per cent equity stake in Ten Sports for $57 million, and with the option of buying out the entire equity by 2009.

The move came close on the heels of Chandra's ambitious bid for the global rights for the ICC-held World Cup cricket broadcasting rights (for 2011 and 2015). Here again, the badshah of Indian TV will lock horns with his chief competitor "" Rupert Murdoch who has also pitched for the rights through two of his companies, including the joint venture ESPN-Star Sports.

Chandra also moved in swiftly "" taking 60 per cent stake in UNI for Rs 32 crore "" a move which would strenghten his flirtation with the print media. Chandra already holds a minor stake in DNA.

Chandra is also trying to woo the viewers back to Zee in a market dominated by Star's popular serials that are ruling the idiot-box as per the TAM ratings (a measure of viewership of various programmes on TV).

In October-end, Zee's immensely popular Sa Re Ga Ma "" Little Champs musical competition hit the number one slot on the TAM ratings by upstaging Star's ever popular serial Kyunkii Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi, which has ruled the slot for years now.

Incidentally, 56-year-old Chandra is the most unlikely candidate to take on Murdoch. A school dropout, he started by setting up a vegetable oil unit and advising Food Corporation of India to store food grains in the open by covering them with polythene sheets.

But it was exports of rice to Russia which made him a millionaire. He was also among the first to sense the consumer market shift towards more utility packaging and set up a laminated tube plant which would replace the old aluminum tubes. It was a chance meeting with a friend, who worked with Doordarshan that had him hooked on to broadcasting.

But the going has not always been easy for Chandra. Star's amazing success with KBC and slick programming (together with its financial clout) saw Zee slipping in the minds of the viewers, and also advertisers.

Those who have worked with him feel that his centralised style of functioning and varying moods has lead to many of his creative/business heads, and many of his CEOs, quitting abruptly.

Also, his direct-to-home business "" where he was the sole player "" will now face some tough competition from big boys like Tata Sky, Sun TV and Reliance Communications.

Chandra's ambition to become a sports broadcasting czar was balked when, despite an audacious bid of $260 million for TV rights of international cricket in India, he lost the battle in the courts.

Even the World Cup rights (for 2007 and 2003) slipped from his hands despite Chandra being the highest bidder. Chandra managed to bag rights for only 25 matches of international cricket for four years in neutral locations "" that too at a steep $219 million.

But now that the Ten Sports deal has got him back in the game, if he also bags the World Cup cricket rights then he will be back with a bang. Till then, wait and watch!