Chennai : In a move to streamline the operations of Num TV, Pentamedia Graphics Ltd's wholly-owned subsidiary in the US, Num Media Inc., will now be made a subsidiary of Num TV. This initiative has significant financial implications as Num Media Inc. collects the subscription revenues from Num TV viewers in its main market, the US. Speaking to The Financial Express, Mr K Srinivasan, chief operating officer, said Pentamedia would provide the content for Num TV, while the latter would undertake distribution of the content. A transfer pricing mechanism would be adopted for the content supplied. The Num TV spin off is necessitated to provide better focus to the broadcasting portal and facilitate offloading 15 to 25 per cent of the equity to strategic investors.The partners are expected to come from the area of Internet infrastructure providers and content providers. "A large number of investors have evinced interest in picking up a stake in Num TV", said Mr Srinivasan. Singapore Telecom (Singtel) is believed to be one of the forerunners for a stake in Num TV, which currently uplinks from Singtel's facility in Singapore. Other prospective investors include AT&T and host of Indian satellite channels. Num TV has made considerable infrastructure investments. It has about 2.2 GB of bandwith available with it worldwide, which is about seven times the bandwidth available within the country. It would also look at alliances with Internet Service Providers for hosting of its servers. It has put up 25 more servers across various locations in the US.
The media casting portal plans to position itself as an `Asian Channel'. Content in Japanese and Chinese is also planned. Strategic alliances for content in these languages is being looked at. Among other things, the portal provides Num Services. For example, a marriage taking place can be telecast over the Net and those invited would be given user-names and passwords to log on to the site and watch the event. Also, the e-commerce would be facilitated on the portal and would be a important revenue stream.
Given the target audience of Num TV, company officials expect advertising to rake in a substantial amount. An investment of about $14 million has been made in Num TV. It has over 6000 paid subscribers and over 2,00,000 registered users. Pentamedia Graphics has convened an extra-ordinary general meeting on December 15 to obtain shareholder approval for hiving off Num TV into a separate company.
Copyright © 2000 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.