NEW DELHI: Rupert Murdoch's Star network has made a strategic buy out of
much-advertised indya.com.
The general purpose portal is backed by venture capitalists Vinod
Khosla, John Sculley, Healtheon's Pavan Nigam, Gunjan Sinha of eGain,
and whizz-kid Pradeep Kar of Microland.
Speaking in Bangalore, India's Silicon Valley, the project's head, Gary
Walrath, also executive vice-president Star, said: "The move is in line
with Star's vision of providing next-generation media connectivity in
Asia and equips indya.com with an unparalleled edge to be the only
internet-based communications, entertainment and commerce powerhouse.
Indya.com will now be the online face of Star in India."
Said Lalit Ahuja, executive liaison, Star group: "This is in line with
our repositioning as a multimedia company. As we move to multipoint
businesses, the buyout will help us develop new revenue streams."
Star has also invested in four other portals - explocity.com,
baazee.com, egurucool.com and indiaproperties.com.
The shareholding varies between 20 per cent and 33 per cent.
Says Walrath: "We selected whatever space matters to us; the overlap is
minimum. We will pursue our interest in each of these portals."
Earlier, James Murdoch, chairman and chief executive officer of Star,
visited India and said that the focus of the group would be on
consolidation.
Referring to other activities of the group, Murdoch said that no
decision had yet been reached on whether to launch its pet project - DTH
in India.
Murdoch said he was still studying the regulatory issues concerning
DTH.
He had also held meetings with the Information and Broadcasting
Minister, Sushma Swaraj, and with IT minister, Pramod Mahajan.
He added that the group's foray into FM radio in India was an exciting
venture. Following the launch of Radio City in Bangalore, he plans to
set up stations in Lucknow and New Delhi by the end of the year.
However, no new channel launches are under consideration at present.
Of all the competing channels, Star is the only one without a children's
channel in its portfolio. Nor said Murdoch would Star launch Fox news in
India.
Reviewing the India operation, Murdoch said Star has fared well in the
past year - a year which saw it leapfrog to the number one position
thanks to its Who Wants To Be A Millionaire show, and its soap operas,
which dominate prime time.
"Our growth in the market would help the Indian broadcasting industry to
consolidate," said Murdoch.
Declining to give details of Star's financial performance in India,
Murdoch said that Star's overall broadcasting operations in India would
break even in the next 15 months.
