Markand Adhikari-led Sri Adhikari Brothers Group (SABGROUP) is preparing for expansion in broadcast and digital segments, having earmarked Rs 400-500 crore to be spent over the next three years. The network will centre all its content on comedy, especially for digital.
In 2005, however, the company sold the SABTV brand and content to Sony Pictures Network (then called Sony Entertainment Television) for an estimated Rs 60 crore. The channel now rebranded as Sony SAB is one of the leading channels in the Sony network.
Since then, SABGROUP has launched and operates five channels, mainly in the music and regional general entertainment channel (GEC) space - Mastiii (music, pan India), Dabangg (music and GEC content, UP and Bihar), Maiboli (entertainment channel, Marathi), Dillagi (entertainment channel targeting non-metro/non-urban markets) and Dhamaal Gujarat (entertainment with youth focus, Gujarati).
"We want to create a comedy first eco-system across TV, on-ground and of course digital. The comedy piece will be presented under the 'Happii' umbrella, launching with the Happii-Fi digital content in the coming weeks. It will, then, be followed by the television called Happii and on-ground events and activations under the Happii-G banner," says Manav Dhanda, group CEO, SABGROUP.
He adds the company has enough cash to fund the expansion over the next three years, but in case the need arises, the firmwould raise funds through equity sale or debt.
Unlike its peers in the broadcast space, SABGROUP has no plans to launch its own over-the-top platform right now. It will, instead, release the content across platforms, free and paid, and further increase reach by associating with telecom operators and device manufacturers.
Also, the content on digital will be exclusively produced for the medium, and despite having a vast library of television content in the genre, will not use any archive content in its digital offerings.
"There is no way to monetise archived content sustainably. Estimates peg the consumption of catch-up at 15 per cent of the total digital consumption in the country. So evidently, original programming is the main story here. Also, we are not targeting the metros only. Our content will be in Hindi, and will appeal to those who probably have not heard of the TVF - the people who are Hindi speaking, and live away from the metros. We think that is the place to occupy," adds Dhanda.
On the television expansion front, the network is set to launch Happii, the comedy GEC by the end of the current calendar. The channel will launch with three hours of fresh content a day, including Saturday and Sunday.
The group also has plans to launch three regional channels - Se7ev (pronounced seven), a northeast-focused music channel with international and local music from the region and a Bengali and Punjabi entertainment channel each.
SABGROUP's vice-chairman and managing director Markand Adhikari says, "For the regional channels, we'll adopt a mixed-genre strategy - music, drama and comedy. Our existing channels are doing well and this strategy has worked well with Maiboli, which is Ebitda-positive within two years of launch.
Also, for streamlining operations and unlocking asset value, we'll be de-merging the TV business and events and publishing business as two separate listed companies in a month or so, since we have got all the necessary approvals now."
The two new companies will be called TV Vision and SAB Events & Governance Now Media. Apart from TV and digital content in the comedy genre, the group also produces and distributes films. For the current financial year, it has a slate of five to six films, all in the Bollywood space. It also has a game development and creative solutions unit, which creates promos, corporate logos and makes ad-films. The group also plans to create two state-of-the-art studios, which can be used for in-house productions and given out to third parties.
