Manipur is likely to have its first ever private FM station shortly. Sun TV is planning to start FM stations in 14 towns in the eastern region spread over 11 states including Imphal, an informed source from Kolkata said today.
The group has already acquired the licences to start FM stations in all the 14 towns of the region. It was in the process of signing the final agreement with Prashar Bharati. According to the official source, Sun group was likely to start FM operation in Gangtok in Sikkim, Aizawl in Mizoram, Imphal in Manipur, Itanagar in Arunachal, Kohima in Nagaland, Shillong in Meghalaya, Asansol and Siliguri in West Bengal, Jamshedpur in Jharkhand, Guwahati in Assam, Rourkela in Orissa, Bilaspur in Chhattisgarh, Agartala in Tripura, and Port Blair in Andaman & Nicobar Islands. "We do not know when we could roll out FM in the east because that depends on other technicalities like studio and machineries," said a Sun TV official. The group would invest Rs 233 crore for expansion of FM operations. The company has set aside Rs 183 crore for setting up studios and Rs 50 crore has been earmarked for pre operative expenses, it said. After FM brands like Radio Mirchi of Times group and Red FM of India Today, the Maran family controlled Sun TV - one of the leading regional channel in southern India - is entering the FM market in eastern region with a splash, the source informed. Sun TV hit the headlines for its attempt to enter the eastern Indian market by taking over RPG cable TV operations in Kolkata, which was later denied by the company. The Sun group currently has three FM stations in Chennai, Coimbatore and Tirunelvelli. Sun submitted bids for licences in 84 cities through two subsidiaries called South Asia FM and Kal Radio. "We have got 67 licences. Now the group will start FM operation in at least 46 of them. The agreement with Prashar Bharati will be signed by May," said the Sun group official. Maran family controlled group would start the FM operation in east through South Asia FM. Kal FM mostly owns licenses in south and north India. Source:http://www.kanglaonline.com/index.php?template=headline&newsid=31005&typeid=1 ++++++++++++++++++ Jaisakthivel, Chennai __________________________________________________________ Yahoo! India Matrimony: Find your partner now. Go to http://yahoo.shaadi.com ---[Start Commercial]--------------------- World Radio TV Handbook 2006 is out. Order yours from http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0823059367/hardcoredxcom/ ---[End Commercial]----------------------- ________________________________________ Hard-Core-DX mailing list Hard-Core-DX@hard-core-dx.com http://arizona.hard-core-dx.com/mailman/listinfo/hard-core-dx http://www.hard-core-dx.com/ _______________________________________________ THE INFORMATION IN THIS ARTICLE IS FREE. It may be copied, distributed and/or modified under the conditions set down in the Design Science License published by Michael Stutz at http://www.gnu.org/licenses/dsl.html