F) As the employees of INX media – the company that owns 9X and 9XM television channels – prepared to celebrate Holi on Tuesday evening on the terrace of their Central Mumbai office, a terse internal com munication announced that Peter Mukerjee, the initial promoter of the network, was stepping down as chairman immediately, while his wife Indrani Mukerjea, INX Media’s CEO, would demit office later on 30 April.
The announcement that had the news wires buzzing also clarified that the Mukerjeas would continue to hold their stake in the company. To add to the drama, former Zee TV CEO Pradeep Guha was appointed as a consultant to run the network as an interim measure. His mandate: to put the house in order and appoint a new CEO.
Now, what are the options for the investors in INX Media? They could either find a buyer for the ailing channels and exit completely; or refloat the network on their own or in alliance with other equity partners. INX’s foreign investors include Temasek Holdings, New Vernon, New Silk Route and Srei Capital-together they hold about 60 per cent. Indian investors include Kotak Mahindra. The Mukerjeas hold sweat equity estimated at 10-12 per cent.
INX Media had earlier opened negotiations with Balaji Telefilms for a sale of the broadcasting network. The news channel, NewsX, owned by another corporate entity, INX News, was also recently sold to Indimedia. Peter Mukerjea said a sale to Balaji was a “possibility”. But he was not forthcoming on why he quit. His statement read: “It was time to move on to new pastures.
Balaji, a television content production house, has been looking to diversify from its traditional business for some time. A functioning broadcasting setup with a music and general entertainment channel will provide ideal synergy for a content house sitting on hundreds of hours of film and television programming.
Earlier attempts at a sale have not worked and, considering the current downturn, the Balaji talks may lead nowhere. Six months ago, New Vernon opened talks with Multi Screen Media (MSM) for merging INX Media through a share-swap arrangement with the Sony network in India. However, valuation jinxed the deal. “They demanded $300 million, a valuation four times their revenue,” says a senior Sony functionary. “They had the news channel as part of the package, too. MSM’s majority partner Sony Pictures is against running news channels.”
With a freeze on funds, things have spiralled out of control in the past six months. Since October – when the film and television workers went on strike – no new programmes have been launched on 9X except a serial Black More than 150 employees have been sacked or allowed to quit including head of programming Kumud Chaudhary and brand director Anthony Petiffer.
What forced the exit of the Mukerjeas? “The investors had been pushing for professional management and to get Indrani Mukerjea to take a step down,” says a senior NX Group executive. “Peter did not agree, and preferred o step down with her.”
Pradeep Guha, who has taken over as interim head and Consultant, does not think the task ahead is easy. “The main challenge will be getting the entertainment channel going.”
9X is towards the bottom of the heap with barely a 3-4 E per cent share (see Standing Still”). And the competition is only getting sharper. To add to the existing Hindi entertainment channels, the Turner-Alva Brothers alliance has just launched another channel, Real, this month.
Guha has an unenviable job at hand.
DIRECTIONS: The questions given below relate to the preceding passage. Based on your analysis of the situation narrated in the passage, evaluated (classify) each of the following conclusions in any of the five categories listed here.
A) A Major Objective: If the sentence relates to one of the main goals by the decision maker, mark it (A)
B) A Major Factor: If the sentence relates to a major factor in arriving at the decision, an important aspect of the problem and is basic in determining the decision; mark it (B)
C) A Minor Factor: If the sentence relates to a secondary consideration that affects the criteria tangentially, relating to a Major Factor rather than to an Objective; mark it (c)
D) A Major Assumption: If it is a protection or supposition arrived at by the decision-maker, mark it (D)
E) An Unimportant Issue: If the item has an insignificant impact or relationship.
15. The news channel, NewsX, recently sold to IndiMedia.
(E) This has no direct or indirect bearing on the major objective
(E) This has no direct or indirect bearing on the major objective