I am a master in India

Chapter 313 Surpassing the Best
Sun TV had been officially broadcasting for two weeks, and Ron was at his office in the Juhoo district looking at the viewership reports.

On paper, the number of subscribers to Sun TV is approximately 15 million.

Compared to the eight million users accumulated by ATN, the data has almost doubled.

Without a doubt, the additional three to four million users were either free users or existing Suer TV subscribers who received a half-price subscription.

Even so, Sun TV's viewership has almost caught up with Zee TV's.

Before the broadcast, they were half the size, so this is definitely a case of the latecomer surpassing the early bird.

"How many users actually pay for subscriptions?" Ron asked Karuna.

"About five million."

"one third?"

"Yes."

“But Suer TVs only shipped 4 million units in total, and other brands had 5 million subscribers, totaling 9 million. But we have 15 million viewers. What about the remaining 6 million?” Ron asked, puzzled.

“Boss, those six million are from long-term ATN customers; they paid for the entire year in one lump sum,” Karuna explained.

Okay, Ron got it.

This is similar to a barbershop issuing membership cards; memberships left by the previous owner still count.

"Does the addition of five million users include the half-price plan?"

"Yes, as you can see, most of our users opt for bundled subscriptions, with Sun TV and Sun Video being the most popular."

These are two high-quality channels that SunTV has put a lot of effort into creating, and they also have a relatively wide Hindi audience.

Needless to say, the general channel is packed with news, variety shows, dramas, and musicals, all available 24 hours a day.

The recent "Celebrity Cooking Competition" has become a sensation throughout India, sparking heated discussions on the streets.

This is the closest ordinary people have ever been to Bollywood; they have never seen a side of the stars' lives before.

Sun TV's reality show unveiled that veil of mystery.

The impact was sensational, with audiences eager to study every move of Bollywood stars.

It is said that many women fainted while watching television, especially due to Shah Rukh Khan's appearances.

The show was undoubtedly a success, attracting more subscribers and boosting sales for its sponsor, Suer Electric Appliances, resulting in a win-win situation.

Well, there's no other way. They couldn't get sponsors for their first show, so they had to do it themselves.

After this is over, it will be easier to negotiate advertising deals for the next show.

The film and television channel is also performing well, with no shortage of movies and songs. Ron has recently acquired a batch of film rights in Bollywood.

The main selling point is to offer a large and satisfying selection, with five movies, some commercials, and a musical interspersed throughout the day, filling the schedule completely.

Subscribing to both channels together costs only 30 rupees, which isn't expensive for families with a television.

If your TV is a Suer brand, that's even better, you can get a 50% discount.

Five million subscribers, half paying full price and half paying half price.

The revenue from subscription fees alone is approximately 1.1 million rupees, though SunTV cannot take all of it.

Some of that also goes to cable TV operators, whose own cable TV networks only have around three million subscribers.

After deducting channel commissions, SunTV will ultimately receive approximately 90 million rupees.

That's pretty good, considering it's only one month's income.

Even if the number of users doesn't increase, they can still recoup their initial investment costs within a year.

But in reality, the number of users of Sun TV is growing rapidly at a rate of 500,000 to 600,000 per month, which is almost the monthly production capacity of Sun Electric.

After the six-month free period, a large number of users will inevitably remain.

Furthermore, by next year, most of the six million existing users will likely choose to renew their subscriptions.

They tolerated ATN's terrible quality for a year, so there's no reason they shouldn't support a better solar TV.

Next year, 96, will definitely be a year of explosive growth for Sun TV.

Ron was looking forward to it; the momentum was strong, and they should press their advantage.

“Tell me about the next steps,” he said, looking at everyone in the conference room. “Leaving aside the existing programs, we need to produce more high-quality content. Sanjiv, you will be in charge of producing a legal program that will mainly track major social cases, such as the recent gang wars.”

“Yes, boss.” Sanjiv was a journalist by training, which was exactly what he excelled at.

"Mary, the crime-themed TV series and movies are all yours."

“No problem, Sun Entertainment is already having scripts written.” She was in charge of liaising with television stations and Bollywood regarding content.

“Besides these, it’s time we added more channels,” Ron said ambitiously.

"Boss, what should we do on the next channel?" Karuna was now completely convinced by Ron.

"Everyone should brainstorm ideas; children's content, animation, music, science and education, and agriculture are all acceptable, with no restrictions on scope or subject matter."

If you have good ideas, write a plan and convince me that you will be in charge of this channel.

Some people were intrigued and began to discuss it animatedly. The young people, in particular, were the most ambitious.

Finally, the channels were tentatively set as children's, music, and science and education channels, which, in a sense, are all needed by society.

“I plan to make the science and education channel available to the public for free,” Ron said, revealing his intentions.

"Free?" Everyone looked at each other in bewilderment.

“Yes, there isn’t a single private TV station offering free channels yet, and we can be the first.”

“This makes a lot of sense,” said Sanjiv, who is in charge of press affairs. “It’s very beneficial to our public image.”

“That’s right. As someone working in the media industry, I should do something for society.” Ron said righteously.

“I agree,” Karuna raised her hand.

Everyone agreed that setting up a free channel as a formality wouldn't be a problem. "Besides launching more content channels, SunTV will also accelerate its expansion next year."

Ron had someone bring him a map and pointed out several places.

"India has more than 20 states, and the languages ​​in each state are not the same. Therefore, it is difficult to dominate the entire Indian television market with only one flagship channel, Sun TV."

Gujarat, Punjab, West Bengal, and Karnataka will all establish local television stations next year, and a Marathi-language television station will also be launched in Mumbai.

"Boss, isn't this too fast?" Karuna was taken aback by such a large-scale investment.

"No, with Suer television as a backing, setting up a local television station is no problem at all."

“That would require more manpower.” Mary’s first thought was that labor costs would increase significantly.

“Sure,” Ron waved his hand, “our cable TV network can expand at the same time.”

"Boss, we can take this opportunity to start a broadcasting business," Karuna suggested.

"A broadcast?" Ron asked curiously.

"Yes, far fewer households in India own televisions than radios."

Ron suddenly realized that India is predominantly populated by farmers, with the majority of its more than one billion people living in rural areas.

The number of radios in use is at least several hundred million, which represents a vast market.

Don't underestimate the radio; many advertisers run ads on radio stations, and they might even make more money than with television.

"Do we need to build a launch tower? What will the cost be?" he asked.

“A single AM ​​signal tower can cover thousands of kilometers. You don’t need many; a few are enough to cover the entire territory of India.”

The All India Broadcasting Corporation uses this model; the self-supporting steel structure tower is low-cost and quick to construct, making it very suitable for rural areas in India.

FM radio advertising has a very short coverage distance, less than 100 kilometers, and is mostly applicable to city radio stations.

"You draft a contingency plan. If it's suitable, the radio station will be built simultaneously next year," Ron decided directly.

“Yes, boss.” Karuna was excited.

This is going to be a major undertaking; the speed at which the solar television empire is expanding is ridiculously fast.

Sull televisions are truly a treasure; with their help, the media industry has been incredibly successful.

After the meeting, Ron made a point of keeping Anand behind.

He also attended today's meeting, participating as a logistics staff member.

Anand was largely in charge of expanding the Sun Cable TV network.

"What's the situation like here in Mumbai? How many cable TV operators are there?"

“Ron Baba, there are too many, at least twenty.”

"So many?" he asked, somewhat surprised.

"There are more and more new people joining the industry every month. However, these operators are not large in scale and generally only control a certain community."

"How can such a small number of people generate a profit? Will anyone be willing to pay a subscription fee?"

“Of course, there are plenty more.” Anand suddenly became animated.

"How so?" Ron asked curiously.

"They show adult films, which are very popular and have a large audience."

This was a path Ron had never imagined.

Anand explained to him the chaos surrounding Mumbai's cable television, describing it as a complete mess.

Smaller operators typically broadcast adult films on Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays.

When Anand was walking around the streets, people asked him when Sun TV would also provide this kind of content.

It was usually female viewers who made this request to him. When he went to the vicinity of the College of St. Mary, the women there complained to him, "Brother Anand, you haven't taken good care of us."

This is a code, and the smaller operators understand its secrets.

Later that day, they would keep their promise to "take good care" by marking an asterisk in the corner of the television screen or displaying a message scrolling at the bottom of the screen: "BBC Channel X will be broadcasting at the ×× time slot. Please take note."

This is also a code, which those in the know understand: a specific channel will broadcast pornography at a specific time, and this specific time must be when Mumbai people are living a life of debauchery.

It won't be Tuesday, because Tuesday is the day to worship Ganesha. It won't be Thursday, because Thursday is for commemorating Sai Baba. It won't be Saturday either, because many people observe Hanuman's festival on that day.

It certainly won't be Monday, because the weekend's heavy drinking leaves people with hangovers. So in Mumbai, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays are nights of drinking and adult films; people welcome the former and then indulge in the latter.

“Ron Baba, more and more people are making this request to me; they are all clients.”

“What are you trying to say?” Ron glanced at him sideways.

"Could we start an adult channel? I guarantee there would be no shortage of business. The subscription fee is 50 rupees, and plenty of people would pay for it. Especially those women, housewives, oh my, they're so fierce in bed."

"Get lost!" Ron slapped him on the back of the head in a bad mood.

SunTV is a legitimate television station; it wouldn't do this kind of business.

“Something like ‘In Praise of the Mother’ would also be fine.”

"That's something we can consider."

"I'm in charge of reviewing the films, and my judgment is absolutely spotless."

Ron ignored him and let him interrogate him; that would be a big problem.

It might end up with all buses number 50 and 60, ugh, that's an eyesore.

With Sun TV on track, it's almost the end of the year.

It's time for him to return to Uttar Pradesh; the state elections are in a few months, and he has to attend.

(End of this chapter)