GECs
Win some, lose some for TV’s tycoons in the year gone by
It has been a topsy-turvy year for the movers and shakers of Indian television. While some enjoyed windfall profits in the year gone by, more saw massive erosions in their personal wealth.
According to a survey conducted by business daily Business Standard, Zee founder Subhash Chandra, who was the top honcho from the television industry in list last year, continues to hold his position as Indian television’s richest as far as personal wealth goes. A new entrant this year is Jeetendra Kapoor and family, whose Balaji Telefilms continues to prosper. Subrata Roy of the Sahara group, promoter of Sahara TV, has climbed up to 30th position from 33rd, his wealth having increased from Rs 4745.1 million to Rs 7791.8 million.
Chandra, who was fourth on the list last year, has however had to settle at number five, with a personal wealth of Rs 27,695.6 million – down from Rs 119,744.6 million one year ago. Vagaries of consumer choice dictated this year that Chandra’s flagship Zee Telefilms be sidelined as one time ally Star TV fired on all cylinders through high-octane family soaps.
Jeetendra Kapoor and family enter the list at number 74, with a combined wealth of Rs 1,394 million. Balaji’s sitcoms have been widely acknowledged as largely responsible for the phenomenal turnaround in Star TV’s fortunes. This apart, its shows are the only ones which appear to be bright lights on an otherwise dark programming landscape in rival channels Zee TV and Sony Entertainment.
The others in the “Richie Rich” list who find a mention in the survey are the Adhikari Brothers, who the report says, suffered a loss of wealth of 87 per cent to settle at a modest Rs 340 million. Investors, the survey nsotes, supported the Sri Adhikari Brothers stock as long as brothers Gautam and Markand restricted their activities to producing TV programmes, but gave an emphatic thumbs down when they set up their own TV channel.
Pentamedia Graphics’ V Chandrasekaran has fallen drastically to the 79th position from the 30th, his wealth having shrunk from Rs 9,181 million to Rs 1,236 million. Rajan Raheja, promoter of Hathway Cables, is also down from the 64th to the 84th position on the list. His wealth is down from Rs 3,216 million to Rs 1,123 million.
Subhash Ghai, Mukta Arts promoter, who is eyeing Indian television, also debuts in the list at number 57. Ghai was the first in Bollywood to go public in September 2000. His wealth today is at Rs 1,920 million, 43 per cent lower than the figure on the day Ghai’s company got listed.
A few other major media players who are not listed in the market are also mentioned in the report.
A really big player on the unlisted list is undoubtedly the Tamil Nadu-based Kalanithi Maran, the king of the southern language television firmament. Maran owns Sun Networks and controls over 85 per cent of the Rs 4 billion southern TV advertising market. There is no reliable estimate about the wealth of Maran, but it is believed to be anywhere between Rs 8000 million to Rs 15000 million.
A major failure of the report must surely be the ommission of the other southern media biggie Ramoji Rao and his closely held Eenadu Group from its calculations. Rao has a virtual lock on both the print as well as electronic media in Andra Pradesh. Apart from that he owns the world famous Ramoji Rao Film city, which is a huge outdoor studio which provides world class production facilities. The total turnover of the group is Rs 7,500 million. There are no estimates available with indiantelevision.com on his personal fortune.
Aroon Purie of India Today comes next on this list. With print brands like Business Today, India Today etc with estimated value of Rs 1000 million and 24-hor news channel Aaj Tak (which reportedly broke even within only a few months of its launch) has a valuation close to Rs 1000 million and Living Media which publishes Purie’s titles is worth Rs 2,000 million. The total net worth of Purie is thought to be close to Rs 4,000 million.
Prannoy Roy of New Delhi Television, another media player first came to the limelight as “the election specialist” who was a fixture on national broadcaster Doordarshan when national polling was on. After that it was his famous TV programme “World This Week” on DD which kept NDTV in the news. This 75 per cent owner in NDTV progressed from a one programme outfit to channel content provider. His fortune is estimated close to Rs 1,350 million.
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.
