GECs
South Indian music channel Southern Spice launched in Mumbai
Southern Spice is headquartered in Chennai and beams a mix of Tamil (40 per cent), Telugu (30 per cent), Kannada (10 per cent), Malayalam (10 per cent) and English (10 per cent) – in a random mix. Anil Shetty of ARMD Media (the firm managing all aspects of the channel – including programming and promotion) explains the reasoning thus: “Music channels are not about about appointment television. It’s all about frequency of viewing.”
‘As to why the channel is packaged in English, Shetty says that is the only way to bridge all four languages.
On the programming front there are nine daily shows currently running ans two weeklies. This number will eventually go up to seven, according to Shetty.
Among the shows on air are Phone-Tastic, Say To Play, Reach Out (all three interactive), FIR, I-Me-Myself, Time-Out, Hot Hotter Hottest, South Full, Reach Out, Loaded and Fast Forward.
Southern Spice is promoted by Fortune Media Private Limited, a company floated by the Martin Lottery Agencies Ltd, one of the largest bulk distributors of lotteries in the country. Santiago Martin is chairman and managing director of the company. Martin Lottery is associated with the state lotteries of Bhutan, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, Punjab, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra.
The lottery link is very evident in the channel’s decision to to have a daily live relay of the Bhutan lottery from 3 – 4 pm.
With an initial capital expenditure of Rs 50 million, and running costs of just under Rs 10 million a month, the money sunk into the project so far is roughly Rs 90 million.
When queried as to when they expected to break even, Shetty says the channel is looking at a 30-month gestation period.
On the distribution front, Shetty says 95 per cent of the cable & satellite universe in the southern states have been covered, 80 per cent of Mumbai, 75 per cent of Delhi and 100 per cent of Calcutta. So far 3,000 set top boxes have been distributed across the country, he adds.
Simply Spice is beaming off NSS -703 as a free-to-air service. The channel is being uplinked from Singapore.
Technical Specifications:
Satellite : NSS – 703 57° E
Downlink Frequency : 3888 MHz
FEC : 3/4
Downlink Polarisation : Horizontal
Symbol rate : 09766 Kg Symbol/sec
Free-To-Air
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.
