GECs
PromaxBDA India Unveils First Set of Conference Speakers
MUMBAI: PromaxBDA is pleased to announce the first round of sessions and speakers for the 2014 India Conference in Mumbai. This year’s programme takes place on 27 and 28 May 2014 at the prestigious five-star Westin Mumbai Garden City Hotel and includes sessions by Kendrick Reid – Senior Vice President & Executive Creative Director of Brand Strategy at BET Networks, Tom Palmaerts, Trendwatcher at Trendwolves, Hugo Moss, Designer amd Motionographer at Huge Designs and Ian Wormleighton, Creative Director at Red Bee Media.
Marking its 11th edition this year, the two-day annual conference by the PromaxBDA Association is India’s largest gathering for entertainment media marketing, design and promotion professionals.
Themed ‘Evolution’ – a concept by Official Creative Partner, Ink Project – the conference presents informative and inspiring sessions on critical trends and topics needed to stay relevant in today’s fast changing media and marketing environment.
“The Promax BDA Conference in India brings together some of the most creative professionals in the entertainment media scene. With a decade of experience under our belt, we look forward to once again presenting to attendees two days of inspiring dialogues and specially curated sessions by renowned speakers from the industry..,” said Ms Rajika Mittra, Country Head (India) of PromaxBDA Asia Pte Ltd.
Senior Vice President & Executive Creative Director of Brand Strategy at BET Networks, Kendrick Reid will open the conference with a keynote session on innovation, inspiration and how it leads to brand rejuvenation. Kendrick is responsible for developing breakthrough, brand-building creative marketing strategies and executions for all BET branded businesses. Prior to joining BET Networks, Kendrick led Comedy Central through two successful innovative re- designs and oversaw the branding for the networks multi-platform initiatives as its Vice President and Creative Director.
Presenting a topic on ‘youthwatching’, Tom Palmaerts will reveal how young people are building the future. A Trendwatcher at Trendwolves, an agency specializing in youth intelligence, Tom conducts future trends research on youths for major brands Clariant, HP, Microsoft Innovation Center, Palm, PwC, and Universal Music, amongst others. In 2008, he was awarded ‘Youth Trend Specialist Of The Year’ by the Dutch trendwatching platform Second Sight, and was awarded ‘Trendwatcher of the Year’ in 2013.
The [PRO] Series panel discussion sessions are back again this year with a 3-part series. Leading the [PRO] Series and moderating the panel sessions are prominent and highly renowned industry superstars and veterans such as Tarun Katial, Chief Executive Officer of Reliance Broadcast Network, Rajiv Bakshi, Vice President of Marketing, South Asia of Discovery Networks, and Gaurav Seth, Senior Vice President and Head-Marketing of Sony Entertainment Television. In this year’s [PRO] Series, speakers will discuss and examine topics such as ‘The Evolution of Branded Content and The Future of the Television Business’ and ‘Marketing to Millennials – Do You Speak Their Language’.
Opening the conference, and coming onboard once again as the Conference Chair is Mr. Raj Nayak, Chief Executive Officers of COLORS.
“Promax brings together the largest pool of mainline and online marketing, promotion and design professionals in the Indian television and entertainment media. It pits vital questions against expert answers. It inspires action based on insight, and not mere trial and error. The creative, the inspiring and the stalwarts meet in one place across two days from across the industry. Information updates, trends and conversation buzzwords – if you’re in the TV industry for the long haul, mark your calendars for the PromaxBDA India Conference 2014,” said Mr Nayak.
Additional speakers as well as the full PromaxBDA India 2014 conference schedule will be announced in the coming weeks.
Interested attendees can now register for the conference at www.promaxindia.tv. Registration closes on 19 May 2014.
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.
