Big dreams don't die young though. By 1993, Radhakrishnan and his partners were ready with the then novel concept of the Multi System Operator (MSO). Gathering together 4000 scattered cable ops in Mumbai under a master headend to beam 38 channels, the team decided viewers would also be treated to a local news channel called InMumbai - the television version of the Times of India. Radhakrishnan and his partners were part of that dream in association with the Hinduja controlled IndusInd Media and Communications.
In 1995, the dream grew large enough for Rupert Murdoch who had taken over from Lee, to approach IndusInd for a 100 million dollar stake in the company. The proposal was turned down by the Hindujas, paving the way for a rival cable network in the city. Around this time, there was also a proposal for a joint venture between TCI Time Warner and IndusInd Media, a venture that would have brought in addressability to the country in the 90s itself, says Radhakrishnan. This proposal too was shot down by the Hindujas.
Disheartened but not defeated, Radhakrishnan and his partners then partnered with Rajan Raheja to float Wincable in 1999, a cable network that soon ate into nearly 50 per cent of the InCableNet business that had nearly 70 per cent of Mumbai in its hold earlier. Nearly 85 per cent business in Delhi went to WinCable as well, says Radhakrishnan. With Incable, WinCable and Hathway in the fray, the MSO war took root in the country, each staking its territory.
Meanwhile, his dreams of a channel went on the back burner as first Sony launched SET in 1996, then Home TV made its appearance on the Indian scenario. His perseverance paid off when finally ETC made its entry on the small screen in 1999. The potent mix of Hindi music, then the Gurbani which later spun off into a separate ETC Punjabi channel, and the judicious mix of non music programming helped ETC become a frontrunner in its genre.
In early 2002 however came the decision that had to be made with a heavy heart - the merger of ETC with Zee. "It was a sentimental moment", says Radhakrishnan, but a decision well worth the effort. Today, Radhakrishnan is busier than ever with the management of both ETC and the two Zee channels on his hands, planning and plotting with unending zeal his projects on hand. It helps, he says, that he is getting to work in close cooperation with a man he holds almost as a role model - Zee's Subhash Chandra!
The revamped Zee Cinema already bears the stamp of his effort, and the ratings bear out the result. Zee Music is next in the pipeline, and should be a cakewalk for the man who conceived and nurtured ETC. For a person whose story thus far itself seems to have spanned a lifetime, there are still several visions to be realized and many more dreams to be dreamt. He's happiest about the fact that in a fickle industry where friendships die young, his partnership with Kohli and Shah has endured the ups and downs of over 17 years.
Work has been the overriding passion of his life so far, a reality borne out by the fact that he took a vacation for the first time in 14 years when he got married last May. Despite his hectic schedules (seven day weeks are often the norm) and being married to a media professional enables him to discuss matters work related in the evenings too. Still, he manages to grab a bit of television in the later hours.
20 years down the line is a long way off, but when pressed to visualize himself in the far future, Radhakrishnan says he would probably be chilling it out in the remote Himalayas. Knowing him though, it would not come as a surprise if he set off a cable revolution there too!
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