Luxury finds a new address: your television

MEDIA: TV 18 is all set to announce its next partnership "" premium niche channels.

Here's a bit of news for those who know that Reliance ADAG's head of DTH operations, Sunil Khanna, quit the Anil Ambani group recently to launch his own media venture. It is now learnt that Khanna is joining hands with Raghav Bahl's Television 18 group to spearhead its niche channels business.

The TV 18 group is likely to set up a separate company to launch a bouquet of premium niche channels that will be available on DTH platforms and via digital cable which is accessed through a set top box.

Media industry sources say that Sunil Khanna will have an equity stake in the company. Khanna, who will continue to advise Reliance on its DTH project till the company finds a new head, refused to confirm if he would hold a stake in TV 18's new company.

When contacted, Haresh Chawla, CEO, TV18, said that the talks on launching specialised channels were at a very preliminary stage. "We are still exploring the idea," he told Business Standard.

Media experts say that it is a good time to get into channels tailored especially for premium addressable homes as the DTH penetration in the country increases. Media industry reports estimate that DTH will reach 25 million homes in about seven years.

However, broadcast analysts make a point when they say that TV18 is expanding too fast. Says a senior executive in a rival channel: "It seems to be biting more than it can chew. It remains to be seen if it can hold all these businesses together."

However, an industry analyst says that Raghav Bahl's strategy to offer equity stakes to its CEOs might work in its favour.

In Global Broadcast News, which runs CNN-IBN, Bahl offered minor equity stakes to Rajdeep Sardesai and Sameer Manchanda.

"The stakeholder becomes an equal partner to the risk and reward that the company may offer and he works like an entrepreneur rather than an employee," the analyst added.

Among media companies, TV18 started the culture of offering E-sops to its employees, helping it keep attrition rates low. TV 18 operates news channels such as CNBC, Awaaz, CNN-IBN and IBN7 in the country.

An industry veteran, Sunil Khanna, has worked for several years in the Zee group looking after content, the cable business and Dish TV, its DTH project.