GECs
MAK TV ready for rollout, plans to start 4-channel test feed 24 August
MUMBAI: It’s been a long time in the incubator but Manoranjan Aur Kya (Mak) Television Network is apparently ready to roll. The test signal starts 24 August for four of the channels of the six-channel pay network, says Mak chairman and managing director Karan Saluja.
The four channels are Mak Prime (Hindi entertainment), Mak Telugu, Mak Music and Mak Bangla Movies and are expected to be broadcasting with a full-fledged eight hours of fresh programming daily in digital free to air mode from 16 September, according to Saluja. By mid-October Mak Sindhi and Mak Style (fashion) will also be up and running as digital FTA, which is when the other four channels will become encrypted feeds, Saluja says.
By mid-November all six channels will have completed their encryption and would be a completely pay-driven network, he asserts.
On the distribution front, Saluja says Mak will be seeding about 15,000 Technosat set top boxes across the country and pricing them at Rs 15,000 per STB. Mak will be uplinked out of Singapore and has taken 21 MHz transponder space on the Telstar 10 satellite for downlink, Saluja says.
The industry had written Mak off but Saluja says work has been on at a feverish pace keeping the status of the project out of the public eye. Saluja, formerly head of Reminiscent Television, was the man who set up the Gujarati Channel ‘Gurjari’ and Punjabi Channel ‘Lashkara’.
Saluja has been working away these past months even as network directors like Satish Menon (ex-Zee and now Sahara TV president), Prashant Sanwal (ex-Sony and now director of the Zee Group’s Alpha regional channels) and Hitesh Sabharwal (Sony’s former distribution head) upped and left. Saluja has put together a new team with Vishnu Patel (he was the programming head of Zee TV for brief stint till March 1999) heading programming and Sanjeev Fernandes heading distribution. One person who has been associated with Mak from the beginning in an advisory capacity and is still with them is Amit Ray, executive vice president, media, Mudra Communications.
Regarding finances, Saluja said he has put together $ 10 million for the first phase of funding. Queried as to who were Mak’s promoters, Saluja says besides himself, there are three other promoters – Deepak Agarwal (he’s in the impost export business), Sunil Kishorepuria (of the Kolkata-based Jeevan Sagar Group) and Somnath Battacharya (running a pharmaceuticals company). Saluja clarified that his was not sweat equity but funding, as was the case for the other four.
For three of the channels, Mak Prime, Mak Telugu and Mak Bangla, Saluja has the following as attractions that he says will immediately draw in viewership. For Mak Prime Saluja says he’s in serious talks for concepts that are being developed around a few of Bollywood’s brightest. Aishwarya Rai, Urmila Matondkar, Manisha Koirala, Rekha, Sunil Shetty, Ajay Devgan are some of the names that he throws around.
Mak Telugu will have a blockbuster show featuring Telugu film star Krishna as its channel driver, Saluja says. As for Mak Bangla Movies, Saluja claims he has the rights for 750 Bangla films, including rights for one year to “all 13 movies of the legendary filmmaker Satyajit Ray.”
Saluja is certainly not thinking small. Now it remains to be seen how successful he is in seeing his vision through.
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.
