News Broadcasting
Galaxy Multimedia to tap capital market
Here’s another player leaping into the television universe. Galaxy Multimedia Ltd, a multimedia and entertainment company, is coming out with an initial public offering (IPO) of Rs 25 million at par to part finance its 5,000 square feet high-tech studio that is currently being set up at Andheri in Mumbai. The studio, offering high-end fully digital post production facilities, is scheduled to commence operations from April. The total project cost to set up the studio is estimated at Rs 120.5 million.
The company, promoted by Vipin Rai Bhayana, has its main focus on multimedia which includes computer based tutorials (CBTs) for schools and colleges, production of TV software.
“We intend to provide a one-stop shop for all production, post-production and multimedia requirements ensuring convenience and constant value-addition to customers. The studio we are setting up is totally integrated – both video and audio,” said Galaxy chairman and managing director Vipin Bhayana.
The company will finance the studio project through an initial equity infusion of Rs 100 million and Rs 25 million through rupee term loans. Out of the Rs 100 million equity, the promoters have already invested Rs 51 million and Rs 24 million has been raised from FIIs (DSP Merill Lynch and Alliance Capital) and associates. The company will raise the further Rs 25 million from the public. The five-year rupee term loan of Rs 25 million has been raised from Bank of India (BoI). The lead manager to the issue is UTI Securities.
Describing the share holding pattern of the company, Mr Bhayana said that the management (including promoter and board of directors) holds 51 per cent, associates hold 14 per cent, NRIs and OCBs hold six per cent, FIIs hold four per cent and the public will hold 25 per cent.
The company has pre-empted its present multimedia installed capacity for 18 months. It has entered into a tie-up with Schoolnet India, a company formed by IL&FS, for 18 months and will be providing it with 10 CBT titles for K-10 programmes.
Galaxy Multimedia is currently working on the development of education aids. The MoU with Schoolnet India was signed in October 1999.
Galaxy has also entered into a joint venture with another media company for producing the television serial Hotel Hindustani for Zee TV that has been sold to Zee TV through an associate company Buddha Films. The serial is scheduled to be on air from February-end. The company is currently working on four more teleserials slated to be shown on ther channels.
News Broadcasting
Rajesh Sundaram joins NDTV Profit as senior editor, assignment
The 32-year newsroom veteran has launched channels on three continents and covered everything from 9/11 to South African television
MUMBAI: NDTV Profit has bolstered its newsroom with a hire who has done rather more than most. Rajesh Sundaram, a journalist with over three decades of editorial, managerial and consultative experience across India and international markets, joins as senior editor, assignment, tasked with sharpening the network’s newsgathering and real-time response.
Sundaram’s career reads like a tour of Indian media’s most formative moments. He began at Businessworld in 1994, moved to Zee News as bureau chief across Mumbai and Chennai, then joined NDTV in 2002 as part of its political bureau during a particularly febrile period in Indian politics. A stint as India correspondent for Al Jazeera International followed, where he covered key geopolitical developments and got his first serious taste of the global newsroom.
What sets Sundaram apart, however, is his serial channel-launching habit. At NewsX, he helped get the operation off the ground. At Headlines Today, part of the India Today Group, he served as editor. At News Nation, he helped launch the Hindi news channel and its digital ecosystem. He then crossed continents to lead the launch of ANN7 in South Africa as editor-in-chief, overseeing both television and digital. Back in India, he launched Tamil news channels News7 Tamil and Cauvery News, and later served as principal consultant for the launch of Marathi channel Lokshahi. Most recently, he helped build and lead the Press Trust of India’s video service and content studio, before stints consulting for Business Today and The Himalayan Times.
Rahul Kanwal, chief executive and editor-in-chief of NDTV, left little doubt about what Sundaram is expected to deliver. “The assignment desk is where a newsroom’s intent becomes action,” he said. “Rajesh brings a rare combination of field experience and leadership in building news operations at scale.”
Sundaram has reported from across India and the world, covering elections, civil conflicts, the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks and the 2008 US presidential election.
At NDTV Profit, he will lead the assignment desk, driving editorial coordination and real-time response across markets and breaking developments. For a business news network sharpening its focus on speed and multi-platform delivery, it has hired a man who has built newsrooms from scratch on three continents. The assignment desk is in good hands.
