COMMENTARY
INTERVIEWS
SPECIALS
CHAT
ARCHIVES

Triangular battle for Asianet scalps Sashi Kumar; Malayalam TV channel market hots up

D Jose in Thiruvananthapuram

The 10-month old battle for the control of Asianet Satellite Communications Limited -- it is Kerala's first cable network for ground distribution of satellite television channels -- between the Bombay-based Rahejas and media celebrity Sashi Kumar, has culminated in the exit of the latter from the helm of Asianet.

While the Rahejas have captured total control of the cable company, Kumar's uncle, Raji Menon, a Moscow-based non-resident Indian, has taken charge of the Madras-based holding company, Asianet Communications Limited, which manages the Malayalam satellite channel of the same name.

The bid by Rahejas to acquire control of the unique cable division succeeded last week when Kumar and his uncle sold off their 50 per cent equity in the company to them.

The deal also cost Kumar his hold over ACL. He was forced to sell his shares in the company to Menon and step down from the post of chairman-cum-managing director of the company.

Sources said that it was differences between Menon and Kumar over the way the latter handled the Raheja dispute that cost him his "dreamchild".

The former, who was not showing much interest in the venture, started asserting himself, after the Rahejas won the first round of a legal battle for control of the companies.

Menon plunged into the scene after a lower court in Thiruvananthapuram upheld the claim of the Rahejas for control of ASCL, on a petition filed by former ASCL managing director C M Radhakrishnan.

Radhakrishnan, a former director of the Central Bureau of Investigation, had approached the court after he was ousted from the post on the eve of a meeting of the board of directors on June 30, 1998.

Radhakrishnan, who was inducted into the board as a nominee of ACL, was removed by Kumar after he switched sides to the Raheja camp, upsetting the precarious balance in the board, where both had five nominees each.

If the meeting were allowed to be held with Radhakrishnan in the chair, the Rahejas would have succeeded in taking over the company at the boardroom itself.

Sensing trouble, Kumar swung into action and replaced Radhakrishnan with his father-in-law, P Bhaskaran, as managing director.

Although ACL succeeded in getting the lower court's order stayed by the Kerala High Court, the Moscow-based director was not optimistic of winning the legal battle finally. He agreed to part ways as friends.

The loss of ASCL is a big blow to the channel as it has been the major money-spinner and had the potential for value addition.

The cable network, passing through electric poles in the state, has capacity to carry up to 50 channels, besides providing other services. The network has at present about 85,000 subscribers and has a built-up infrastructure to expand the subscriber base to 150,000.

The Bombay builder conglomerate had apparently took up 50 per cent stake in the company in view of the huge potential offered by the network. The Rahejas, who invested nearly Rs 330 million in the company by way of equity and fresh investments, have been jockeying for the control of the company for the past two years.

The takeover of the cable division by the Rahejas and the management of the holding company by Menon have caused considerable confusion and anxiety among the employees and subscribers. Senior Asianet officials were tightlipped on the future of the ties between the two companies.

It is still not clear whether ASCL would continue to purchase the ACL software and beam it through its network in Kerala or whether ACL would switch over to free-to-air mode.

Launched in August 1993, Asianet beams its programmes via Intelsat over 15 countries in west Asia, south Asia and southeast Asia. The Asianet channel is also picked up by other cable operators in the state.

Majority of the employees, who owe their allegiance to Kumar, are in a fix as to what course they should take following the latest developments. Kumar has reportedly asked his close friends in the company to continue.

Kumar, who toiled for nearly six years to put Asianet on a strong foundation, is also undecided about his future plans.

Kumar bagan his media career as a film columnist in The Hindu. He has vast experience in the visual sector. He was in the television medium for nearly two decades, first in Doordarshan and later PTI TV. He quit PTI TV in 1992 to set up Asianet, his "dreamchild".

The developments in Asianet are expected to intensify television channel wars the state has been witnessing. Surya TV, Madras-based Sun TV's Malayalam channel, and the proposed launch of Malayalam programmes by several others, including Zee TV, are expected to hot up the scene.

Business news