Music and Youth
9X Media sale: Pradeep Guha & Rajat Sharma rubbish reports
MUMBAI: The entities that were said to be involved in acquisition talks have no clue about the development. It seems to be pure speculation.
The media and entertainment industry was since morning rife with speculation that India TV promoter Rajat Sharma is acquiring a controlling stake in the New Silk Route (NSR)-backed 9X Media. Reports emerged in the last few hours that also state the value of the deal was Rs 200 crore (Rs. 2,000 million).
9X Media’s CEO Pradeep Guha, however, rubbished this news. He told Indiantelevision.com, “All the reports are absolutely rubbish. We are not selling 9X Media.” When Rajat Sharma was contacted, he retorted: “I have no idea where these reports are coming from. I am out of the country. All these reports are absolutely false.”
Though, Sharma has been keen on evaluating several opportunities to diversify the business portfolio of Independent News Service, which depends entirely on advertising revenue from India TV, acquiring 9X Media is not in his list. Yet. Sharma and his wife Ritu Dhawan are the largest shareholders of INS, which is the parent company of India TV. They own close to 60 per cent stake in the company.
According to reports that are making the rounds in the industry, Sharma may seek help for the fund transaction from existing investors in INS like the Silicon Valley-based media investor Keyur Patel who also owns a stake in NDTV through his CV Global Holdings, a Mauritius based investment arm.
NSR was earlier looking to sell its 80 per cent stake in 9X Media to Sony Pictures Networks in August. Its CEO Pradeep Guha directly owns five per cent stake whereas 9X Media Employee Trust has a 13 per cent stake. NSR has Drag Along/Tag rights over Guha’s shareholding and can cause him to sell his entire holding if the transaction materialises.
9X Media was founded in 2007 by Peter Mukerjea and Indrani Mukerjea and owns a bouquet of music channels that include regional language channels in Marathi and Punjabi. Its flagship channels are 9XM and 9X Jalwa.
The rise of India TV as India’s leading news channel within a fairly short span of its existence owes a lot to the vision of its chairman and editor-in-chief Rajat Sharma who, along with his wife Ritu, leads a team of professionals.
Sharma, considered close to the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, co-founded India TV with his wife Ritu Dhawan in April, 2004 from a swanky studio-cum-office in Film City, Noida. Sharma and Dhawan had set up their own production house, Independent News Service (INS), the parent company which owns India TV, in 1997 that has now transformed into a broadcasting company — a la NDTV and TV18/Network18.
MUMBAI: Mumbai is about to witness something it has never seen before. The Global Youth Festival arrives on 6-7 December at Jio World Garden with 15,000 attendees and 60-plus experiences sprawled across six sprawling arenas. On its sixth edition, this is no ordinary jamboree—it is a carefully orchestrated collision of wellness, adventure, arts, music, yoga and social change.
Chief Minister of Maharashtra Devendra Fadnavis will throw open the proceedings with a landmark ceremony, signalling the state’s backing for a movement that has already mobilised youth across 20-plus countries and 170-plus cities. The sheer scale is staggering: 500-plus volunteers powering the machine, 600,000-plus volunteer hours logged across previous editions, and millions of lives touched annually.
The speaker roster is formidable. Diipa Büller-Khosla and Dipali Goenka, chief executive of Welspun India, will share the stage with Malaika Arora in conversations spanning leadership, creativity and culture. Union Minister for Sports and Youth Affairs Mansukhbhai Mandaviya will also attend, reinforcing GYF’s reach into the corridors of power.
But this is not mere talk. The Solaris Mainstage promises concerts from renowned Indian artists. Innerverse delivers a 360-degree LED spectacle of art, technology and sound. The Love and Care Arena houses hands-on projects spanning women’s empowerment, child education, rural upliftment and animal welfare. India’s largest outdoor sound-healing experience awaits. An inflatable obstacle course, neon drifter karts and open-sky bouldering cater to thrill-seekers.
Some have branded GYF the “Coachella of Consciousness.” Others call it “India’s Largest Sober Festival.” Spiritual visionary Pujya Gurudevshri Rakeshji, who inspired the festival, will deliver the Wisdom Masterclass. Every rupee goes to charity.
After Mumbai comes Kolkata on 14 December. New York looms next year. For one weekend in December, Mumbai becomes the epicentre of youth-driven change—and nothing will be quite the same after.
Tickets available on BookMyShow. Visit youthfestival.srmd.org or follow @globalyouthfestival on Instagram.
