Sun sets on Prabhat, Suprabhat

Sibabrata Das in Mumbai

Regional language channels Prabhat and Suprabhat have shut down transmission due to financial problems, indicating possible signs of a shakeout in the satellite industry. The operations of the Marathi channel Prabhat and the Kannada language channel Suprabhat have stopped. “We are off air. We realised that the time had come for us to do a stock-taking,” admitted Prakash Jain, chairman and chief executive officer of i2i Media which owns the two channels.

Competition from Alpha Marathi, Shahyadri, Tara Marathi and ETV have taken the toll on Prabhat. In the Kannada market, Sun TV’s Udaya channel has squeezed the growth of Suprabhat. “There is no space for so many players in these regional markets,” confessed Mr Jain.

Prabhat ran into trouble immediately after it was launched in late 1999. Three months after operations, the four original promoters faced a funding shortage and sold the company to Mr Jain who ran a telecom business. Needs Media was merged with Mr Jain’s company and the new entity was called i2i Media.

Investments, however, did not get into the software and the channel repeated most of the programmes. “We were starved of funds right from the beginning. Marathi plays and culture was how we positioned the channel. But we did not have the money to take the channel forward,” said Anil Shetty, a founder promoter.

Matters worsened with the founder promoters falling out with the buyer. Though Mr Jain said he paid Rs 2.5 crore to acquire the two channels, Mr Shetty alleged that the four promoters had received no money. “We still own 26 per cent stake in the company. And Mr Jain has not paid us the amount yet,” Mr Shetty said. The same view was echoed by Ravi Aggarwal, an original promoter who still runs his cable business.

Suprabhat was launched after Mr Jain took over Prabhat in early 2000. Positioned as a general entertainment channel, it also reeled under a funding crisis. Gradually the founder promoters were pushed out of the operations in the two channels and Mr Jain took control.

The two channels went off air on September 15. “We decided to take a break. We are in search of a right strategy and programming mix. We also want to repackage the channel. We may come back after 4-6 weeks,” said Mr Jain.

However, Mr Shetty does not believe it will be that easy. “The company owes huge amount of dues to producers. The regional market is getting tougher. Without an investor, it will be difficult to restart the two channels,” said Mr Shetty. In fact, Mr Jain admitted that he is trying to get an investor.

Not being part of a strong bouquet will make the survival of the two channels difficult. Prabhat and Suprabhat could be the victims of a crowded and cluttered market, fund shortage, and an advertising downturn. But Mr Jain has hopes. “We have built a brand equity. We may be able to revive interest in the two channels,” he said. That is, if he manages to raise funds.