GECs
Asianet-Surya battle for prime time supremacy
MUMBAI: Sun Network’s Malayalam channel Surya TV concludes its promos with the entreaty “… in YOUR Surya TV”. Recently, its arch rival Asianet introduced a ‘provocation punch’ in some of its promos. Tit-for-tat, the phrasing goes like, “… in OUR Asianet.”
“This shows that the Asianet management and its viewers are not separate entities. This underlines our relationship with our viewers. But we are not going to retain this punch line, respecting the feedback that such a ‘stress’ is not necessary,” says Asianet vice president, programming, Sreekantan Nair.
But the intensity of the competition between the two leading Malayalam channels is hard to ignore. Primetime revamp, show launches, shuffling of schedules…Asianet and Surya TV are attempting anything possible to get an edge over the other.
Surya’s programming revamp
Talking about the recent developments, Surya TV played the first shot by launching a daily primetime show Kayamkulam Kochunni in the 9:30 pm slot. Supposedly, the game plan was to counter Asianet’s channel driver show Kadamattathu Kathanar of the same slot. The earlier show Aayliyam Kaavu Surya had launched to give competition to Kadamattathu Kathanar but didn’t pick up and was taken off abruptly.
Surya went for a major programming reshuffle along with new show launches in the first week of October. The daily comedy show Savari Giri Giri at 10 pm was cut down to a twice-a-week (Saturday & Sunday, 9:30 pm) show. The channel’s seven-day comedy serial Ettu Sundarikalum Njanum was shifted to the 10 pm slot from the 9:30 pm slot, to make way for Kayamkulam Kochunni.
Then the channel brought back its music show Music Moments to the primetime band and placed it at the 10:30 pm slot. The channel launched a horror serial Aakashadoot in the Sunday 10 pm slot which was later shifted to the Saturday 9 pm slot to accommodate Savari Giri Giri. For the weekend primetime band, the channel launched a music competition show Padam Namukku Padam for Saturday with anchor-turned-actor Kootickal Jayachandran at the helm. Thus, the field was set for a primetime tussle.
Asianet to launch two primetime soaps in November
Asianet, putting its thinking cap on, has played on the back foot for the 9:30 pm slot. The channel is shifting Kadamattathu Kathanar to the 10 pm slot and is taking off its recently launched daily 10 pm comedy programme Daily Express. But the channel has no intention to surrender its 9:30 pm slot. Asianet is taking on Surya’s Kochunni with a new soap family thriller 1,2,3 Saat, which will be launched on 1 November. 1,2,3…Saat directed by AM Nazeer stars veteran Malayalam film actor Rajan P Dev, Suresh Krishna, Shankar and Reshmi Soman. The channel will telecast a curtain raiser of the show on Sunday, 31 October at 5:45 pm.
Sreekantan Nair reasons with Kadamattathu Kathanar’s re-positioning, the channel wants to come up with more and more successful serials. “Kathanar has been on since a long time and is still doing reasonably well. But we want to plan it long-term,” he points out.
On 8 November, Asianet is launching another primetime daily soap Oorma directed by KK Rajeev. The show has Devan and Priya Raman doing the lead roles. The channel hasn’t decided on the timing at the time of filing this report. Asianet will be winding up its 9 pm serial Muhoortam shortly.
According to a channel official, the channel’s policy is not to stretch any serial beyond its limit. “The story is almost over and we don’t want to ruin its ratings by stretching the storyline,” he offers.
To counter Savari Giri Giri, Asianet introduced a star-studded comedy serial Life is Beautiful in the weekend 9:30 pm slot. On 25 October, the channel launched a daily musical entertainment programme Maanyamahajanangaley anchored by popular television artists.
Primetime warfare apart, Asianet jumped into the SMS bandwagon in October by launching two SMS-based interactive services. It developed two short codes — 7887 for the India and 6017 for the Middle East — through which Asianet news can be accessed. The same codes can be used to cast vote on the channel’s opinion poll and also to send voice messages to one of its new shows Dil Se.
“I can’t say that we don’t have any competition. Any new entrant in the Kerala market wants to compete with Asianet first. We are interested in only healthy competition. Such a competition helps us to come up with quality programmes. We look at competition quality-wise and content-wise,” comments Nair.
GECs
Sahara One reports financial results, notes director exit and business realignment
Muted revenues, steady expenses and strategic adjustments shape company’s current phase
MUMBAI: In a tale where the sands seem to be slipping faster than they can be gathered, Sahara One Media and Entertainment Limited has reported another quarter of wafer-thin income and widening losses, even as a boardroom exit adds to the unease.
The company informed the Bombay Stock Exchange that its board, in a meeting held on April 4, approved its unaudited financial results for the quarter ended September 30, 2025. The numbers paint a stark picture. Total income for the quarter stood at just Rs 0.13 lakh, unchanged sequentially and sharply down from Rs 0.26 lakh a year earlier.
Losses, meanwhile, deepened. The company posted a net loss of Rs 24.16 lakh for the quarter, compared to Rs 18.81 lakh in the June quarter and Rs 39.69 lakh in the same period last year. For the six months ended September 2025, the cumulative loss stood at Rs 39.69 lakh, while the full-year loss for FY25 was reported at Rs 60.72 lakh.
Expenses continued to outweigh income by a wide margin. Total expenses for the quarter came in at Rs 24.30 lakh, led by employee benefit costs of Rs 6.51 lakh and other expenses of Rs 17.78 lakh. Earnings per share remained in the red at Rs (0.11) for the quarter.
The balance sheet reflects a company with significant assets on paper but limited operational momentum. Total assets stood at Rs 23,065.57 lakh as of September 30, 2025, broadly unchanged from March 2025. Equity share capital remained steady at Rs 2,152.50 lakh, while total equity was reported at Rs 18,004.85 lakh.
Cash and cash equivalents saw a modest uptick to Rs 6.75 lakh from Rs 4.68 lakh earlier, supported by a positive operating cash flow of Rs 180.01 lakh for the period.
Yet, beneath these numbers lies a more complex narrative. The company’s auditors flagged their inability to obtain sufficient evidence to form a conclusion on the financial statements, citing lack of access to records. They also raised concerns over the company’s ability to continue as a going concern, pointing to insufficient funds, delayed recoveries, and stalled content investments.
Adding to the governance overhang, the company disclosed that Rana Zia has resigned as whole-time director, effective October 16, 2025, citing other professional commitments. The resignation, noted and accepted by the board, also brings an end to her role across company committees.
Regulatory pressures continue to loom large. The Securities and Exchange Board of India has already initiated penal actions for non-compliance with listing norms, with trading in the company’s shares remaining suspended. There is also a risk of promoter demat accounts being frozen.
Legacy legal issues remain unresolved. A substantial deposit of Rs 694,027.88 thousand linked to the long-running OFCD dispute involving Sahara group entities is still under the purview of the Supreme Court of India. Restrictions on asset disposal continue to weigh on the company’s financial flexibility.
Operationally, challenges persist across multiple fronts. Advances worth Rs 1,92,916 thousand given for film content remain stuck, with delays in project completion and uncertain recoverability. The company’s YouTube channel, despite being operational, has generated no revenue for over three years due to compliance lapses. In a further twist, management has indicated that revenues may have been fraudulently diverted through unauthorised changes to its AdSense account, with a police complaint in the works.
There are also missed revenue opportunities. Television content rights continue to be used by a related party despite the expiry of the licence agreement, with fresh negotiations still underway.
For now, Sahara One Media and Entertainment Limited appears caught between legacy disputes and present-day operational hurdles. As losses linger and governance questions mount, the road to recovery looks less like a sprint and more like a slow trudge through shifting sands.
