The Hindu : Gemini, Teja to be pay channels

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Jul 16, 2002

Southern States

Southern States - Andhra Pradesh-Hyderabad

Gemini, Teja to be pay channels

By K.V.S.Madhav

HYDERABAD July 15. The popular Gemini and Teja TV are going pay. Come November, viewers hooked onto these channels have to pay to watch them, if plans of the Chennai-based Sun Network are any indication.

For these 24-hour entertainment channels known for their creative output, courtesy presence of the best of talent, mostly from the South Indian film industry, and classy production values, this appears to make perfect business sense. "It's time we went pay,'' says the Regional Manager of Gemini Television, A. Balakrishnan.

``We hope to turn pay by November if all goes well,'' he says. This way, Gemini and Teja would be the first regional channels from the Sun TV stable, and probably in the entire country, to turn pay. They plan to charge Rs. 10 to Rs. 15 per household a month.

Mandarins at the Gemini house in City are upbeat about the proposal and contend that there would be no opposition from viewers. "Today, all the national channels have gone pay. People are getting used to the concept. When they are paying for some of the national channels, which they hardly see, I see no reason why they shouldn't pay for channels that beam programmes in their mother tongue,'' affirms Mr. Balakrishnan. The Telugu television viewer, he insists, has matured a lot and was "looking for quality programmes.'' And ready for pay channels too.

The tremendous increase in programme costs coupled with a plethora of serials being telecast throughout the day, make a new stream of revenue a must for TV channels, he pointed out. "The revenue generated will only help us enhance programme quality,'' he maintains.

The Sun Network is preparing ground for Operation Pay by trying to rope in the intermediaries - cable operators and multi system operators - and at the same time gauge the mood of viewers. Set top boxes were being distributed to the intermediaries and the process was expected to be completed in two to three months. "Efforts are on to reach out to every nook and corner of the State. We want the channels' reach to be the same even after we turn pay,'' he maintained.

Asked whether the regional channels of the Sun Network operating in other South Indian States would follow suit and turn pay, he remarked, "I guess it would be a logical progression.''

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