As per latest talk in media circles, Srini Raju has sold his stake in ABCL ( Associated Broadcasting Company Limited). Srini Raju’s Peepul Capital is the promoter of TV9, the undisputed leader in telugu news channels. Srini Raju has been trying to offload his stake his TV9 from quite sometime. He has been courting offers from major media companies and HNI’s (High Networth Individuals). As per our sources, Srini Raju’s stake is valued north of 600 crores.
Srini Raju is now offloading his stake to My Homes Jupally Rameswara Rao. Rameshwara Rao is from Velama community and he is a close confidante of Telangana CM KCR. Rameshwara Rao has roots from humble Homeopathic Practitioner to a small time realtor. He has grown up as a tycoon in real estate, investing every penny of profit on land again and again. His vision proved correct, as majority of his lands flourished well as they were within the limits of the areas benefitted during Real boom. Those who are close with his family say that he purchased 100s of acres of lands in 1990’s, which reaped him rich dividends.
TV9 has been banned for almost an year in Telangana. TV9 lost its top position due to ban in Telangana and it recently captured its leader position again. It will be interesting to see how TV9 reporting is going to change due to the change in promoters. TV9 CEO Ravi Prakash will be staying on and as per sources close to him, he will still maintain all the editorial control and so they don’t expect any attrition. Ravi Prakash still holds 15% equity stake in TV9 group.
Some interesting facts about telugu media
Over 20 telugu news channels
1/4th of telugu advertising revenue comes from news channels.
Tamil and Telugu markets account for over 50 per cent of the total regional viewership
Only top 3-4 news channels are cash flow positive and others are bleeding.