Sun TV Network to invest Rs 150 crore in Sun Bangla

Sun TV Network plans to invest Rs.150 crore on its soon to launch Bengali GEC Sun Bangla in its first year of operation. Sun Bangla is slated to launch in 4QFY19. Further, the broadcaster will invest Rs 30 to Rs 40 crore on its second Tamil GEC Sun Life.

The company has revisited its strategy on over the top (OTT) platform Sun NXT and will now invest in creating original content for the platform. Sun NXT offers over 50,000 hours of live TV content, movies, originals, kid’s, and music across four South Indian languages Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, and Malayalam. The platform boasts of a library of 8000 films.

The broadcaster will invest Rs 275 to 300 crore in the movie business in FY19. Going forward, it intends to invest a similar amount in the movie business. The company has been selective about movie acquisition over the past 3 years.
The management reiterated that it is eyeing an upside of Rs 350 to Rs 500 crore in subscription revenue due to digitization in Tamil Nadu. The company will also be able to implement new TRAI guidelines because it does not have too many fixed fee deals. The company does content deals on a per subscriber basis.