Num TV hive off, a surprise move

11 December 2000

It was a surprise announcement made by the company to spin off Num TV - the web- casting division - into an independent entity. Web casting is one area where Pentamedia Graphics has pumped in around $14 million, forty per cent of that for content acquisition.

Pentamedia has bought the Internet rights for 2,000 films from GV Films Ltd, Chennai. "We will soon be issuing 90,000 shares to GV Films at Rs. 600- 700 per share," says Dr. V. Chandrasekaran, chairman and chief executive. And rights for another 4,000 movies are on the anvil.

It is reliably learnt, the company is negotiating to purchase cricket content from a former test cricketer for a fancy price.

Justifying the huge investments Dr. Chandrasekaran earlier assured that Num TV would overtake animation revenues very soon. With three revenue streams - subscription, advertising and distribution of other channels - Num TV earned $2.45 million during the first half of this fiscal. Three years down the line revenues are expected to be in the region of $100 million.

Uplinked from Singapore, Num TV has a registered user base of 2 lakh people and a subscriber base of 7,000, in the US, with subscription rates being $9.95 for narrow band and $12.95 for broadband access. Another unique aspect of Num TV is that it offers program storage facilities that should attract advertisers greatly.

So why the sudden change of mind relating to Num TV? Responds Mr.K. Srinivasan, director and chief operating officer "It is not that Pentamedia is incapable of funding Num TV on its own. But several overseas investors, ISP's, TV channels are keen on investing in Num TV and hence the hive off decision." Singapore Telecom and AT&T are said to be some of the interested parties for a stake in Num TV operations.