GECs
Star, UTV announce JV for Vijay TV
Star Group Limited and UTV announced in Chennai today the formation of a joint venture which will oversee Tamil regional language channel Vijay TV. Star has taken a controlling 51 per cent majority stake in Vijay Televisions Ltd, the UTV subsidiary which manages the channel, while the remaining 49 per cent remains with other shareholders, primarily UTV. The JV covers content, distribution, ad sales and marketing.
The JV will focus on content production and distribution in Tamil and will enable Vijay TV programming to reach new markets within India and overseas under the Star bouquet, an official release says.
Peter Mukerjea, CEO STAR India, said: “Vijay TV is an established brand in the market and brings to the table local experience and equity with the consumers. Vijay TV will complement our success in Hindi language programming, and help us penetrate deeper into South India – the synergies are obvious.”
“The regional language market has huge growth potential and a joint venture with Star will give Vijay TV the right impetus to take it to the next level,” said Ronnie Screwvala, Chairman of UTV.
Mukerjea ruled out any change in the name of the channel and said he expected the channel to be ready to pose a serious challenge to its rivals before the year was out. Mukerjea said they would be refurbishing Vijay TV’s film library as well as pumping money into development of programming but would provide no details about the roadmap that had been set out to reposition the channel.
On what would happen to CEO Rohit Adya in the new dispensation, Mukerjea said he would be returning to UTV. Ajay Vidyasagar who has come in as COO will be heading the channel.
While the broadcast of Vijay TV channel stays with UTV under its subsidiary Vijay Broadcasting, the JV will provide content, distribution, ad sales and marketing to the channel.
The new company has reportedly been floated to circumvent the statute that foreign companies cannot hold more than 20 per cent in a satellite channel while uplinking from India.
It is too early in the day to predict how far Star’s acquisition of Vijay TV will impact on the the channel stakes in Tamil Nadu with Kalanithi Maran’s Sun TV being far and away the leader but Tamil television is bound to see a sea change with the big boys Star and Zee (Asianet Bharati – soon to be Zee Alpha) making their entry.
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.
