GECs
Tara takes on a new look
The Broadcast Worldwide-promoted Tara regional channel bouquet has recently launched a collection of Hindi and Punjabi songs in partnership with Milestone Entertainment. The audio cassette has been titled Tara Rum Pum clearly indicating its Tara Punjabi lineage. The broadcaster intends to further release these cassettes in all the regional languages it is aired in. “This new exercise is targeted at increasing awareness of the channel,” says a source in Broadcast Worldwide.
For a long time the company’s survival has been speculated about, and one regularly has heard the buzz of a complete sellout, courtesy the tough times it has been passing through. But the management, led by promoter (and former Star TV India chairman) R. Basu, has managed to stay afloat.
In the current exercise he has halved the staff – especially the production team – strength to 200. And he is using the $800,000 worth of investment Broadcast Worldwide attracted from Mauritian company Crombie International to revive its flagging Punjabi, Marathi, Bengali and Gujarati channels and increase subscriber awareness.
Four new shows are being introduced on Tara Bangla. Among them: an intercollegiate quiz hosted by Barry O’Brien (brother of quiz master Derek), and a half hour women’s show Sukanaya, Both will be introduced in September.
Tara Marathi is being revamped with a new offering beginning 22 August called Snowcem Tara Ganesh Utsav. A panel of judges will be visiting selected community worship halls and homes with Ganesh pandals in Mumbai, Pune, Kolhapur, Aurangabad and Nasik. In Mumbai there will be five awards for the best Ganesh home and sarvajanik puja pandals, while the outstation ones will be given two prizes.
The entire activity will be broadcast in half hour slots on Tara Marathi from 30 August backed by on air and offline advertising .Simultaneously Tara Marathi will be launching a music cassette called Snowcem Tara Ganesh Utsav, which will comprise of songs sung by famous artistes, including Marathi singer Suresh Wadkar. Approximately 7,000 of these cassettes will be distributed free.
Around October, the second half phase of revival will be undertaken. Tara Punjabi and Tara Gujarati will be similarly revamped.
Broadcast Wordwide director business development Pradipto Sircar says that channels drive to generate classified advertising is working out fine, thank you. Rates are being hiked on Tara Marathi (from Rs 300 to RS 400) and on Bangla (RS 400 to RS 500) for a thirty second still ad. “This exercise of broadcasting classified ads is mainly to utilise the unique localised strengths of the channels. It is quite an unique concept for channels and is highly cost effective,” he says.
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.
