Ex-TME head Divya Radhakrishnan launches television services company

The company - Helios Media aims to help channels create a robust eco-system; ropes in Zoom's Bala Iyengar Business Director

BestMediaInfo Bureau | Delhi | December 13, 2011

Divya Radhakrishnan, former President of TME, the media arm of Rediffusion DY&R, has launched an integrated ancillary service company for television broadcasters, Helios Media. Helios has roped in former Business Head of Zoom channel, Bala Iyengar, as Business Director and will head the Sales vertical.

Radhakrishnan has been in the business of media management for the last 24 years and has worked with leading advertising agencies like Publicis and Rediffusion Y&R. In her last assignment, she headed the contact practice at Rediffusion wherein TME, Rediffusion PR and the event management company Showdiff Worldwide were under her leadership.

Iyengar has 14 years of experience and will lead Sales and Content syndication functions at Helios Media. He has held responsible positions in many blue-chip media networks like The Times of India Group, Sony Entertainment Television, Star Network and MTV.

The vision of the company has been crafted on the premise that the broadcast industry is facing a key business challenge in view of the burgeoning number of TV channels in India and a large number waiting to come in. While content is the primary scope of these channels, a lot of effort has to be invested in creating a robust eco-system to run the business. This puts in a lot of stress on channel business heads, resulting in dilution of focus from the key delivery of content. Also, the proliferation will lead to further slicing of the revenue pie making the all-encompassing business model non-viable.

Helios Media has set up Sales, Marketing, Research and Traffic management verticals. It is offering the services as a composite package or as a standalone, based on the requirements of the broadcaster. It has offices covering the geographies of Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore and Chennai

The need for such a platform is amplified by the fact that Helios has already signed up three channels/groups:

• M Tunes is India's first Bollywood music channel in HD with 5.1 Dolby surround sound. Initial TAM numbers are very encouraging and the channel is in the race to be among the top 3 Hindi music channels.
• Music Express is the second music channel from the same group, albeit in a different format. Music Express will have a combination of music, trailors, short filmy programming on current affairs and retro music
• World Media Connect: Helios Media is the Asian arm of World Media Connect which markets Indian channels to the ethnic population based in the US and the UK. The channels under its portfolio include six from the Sun Network (Sun TV, KTV, Gemini TV, Udaya TV, Gemini Movies, Surya TV), and Punjjabi TV. It will be aligning with some more channels shortly

Helios is also in advanced stages of negotiations with four speciality channels coming into India.

Info@BestMediaInfo.com

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