Chapter 292 Sun TV

ATN's broadcasting center is located in Zhuhu District, covering only a few acres, approximately 10,000 square meters.

On the roof of the six-story office building, there are many super-large pot covers densely packed together.

From a distance, they look like newly grown white mushrooms, one after another, and growing in reverse.

Television signals are transmitted through these dish antennas to satellites above the equator, and then relayed to designated locations on the earth.

There are not many high-rise buildings in Zhuhu District, the terrain is open, and Bollywood is nearby, making it a very suitable location for a TV station.

Of course, cheap land prices are also one of the reasons. Stava did not have that much money when he started the TV station.

"This land, this building, and all sixty-five employees are yours from today." His tone was relaxed but with regret.

"I'll take care of this place, I promise." Ron shook his hand.

"Karuna, you should follow Mr. Sur from now on!" Stava waved his hand.

"Goodbye, sir!" A young man in his thirties raised his hand to respond.

His name is Karuna. He was originally a Bollywood advertising film producer, and was later poached by Stava to join ATN.

He is responsible for the daily operations of the TV station, including broadcast time, program arrangement, content planning, internal management, etc.

"Mr. Sur, ATN is saved!" Karuna looked very happy.

"What do you mean?" Ron looked around the small broadcasting base.

"Because you're here, everything will be fine."

"I can't make the satellites in the sky obedient." Ron laughed.

"You are Mr. Sur, you can save everything." Karuna clasped his hands together, with a very flattering look on his face.

A man's name is like a tree's shadow, and Ron's name has become a panacea in Mumbai.

We have the money and the people, so there is no reason why we can’t build a small satellite!

Well, that’s what Karuna thought.

"Let's go check out the broadcast center first." Ron laughed dumbly.

He asked Mary and the others to follow him. The two of them were discussing the situation with Sanjeev, another key figure in ATN.

He heads the station's English channel and was previously a special correspondent for the Bombay Express.

Sanjeev knew Mary and the others, including Karuna, but they were not that familiar with each other.

We all work in the media circle, and we see each other every day.

Although ATN had stopped broadcasting, there were still many employees walking around in the office building, some on the phone, others hurried to an office with scripts in hand.

The staff lounge at the end of the corridor is filled with water barrels, which are containers for storing water.

As soon as the water tank on the roof starts working, the cleaner will collect water from the faucet on time.

There is no way around it. Mumbai is short of water resources, and most areas have less than three hours of water supply per day.

There are always a few bottles of mineral water next to the coffee pot in the TV station's tea room, in case there is a sudden water outage and everyone has nothing to drink.

Not only water but also electricity is often cut off.

Ron was at the door of Karuna's office and saw a handwritten power outage notice posted on the wall.

There is also a program schedule on the side, all of which are clearly marked.

It’s not that ATN is so poor that it can’t even pay the electricity bill, but that the Mumbai Municipal Corporation is issuing power outage notices in certain areas.

It’s funny, but before 1991, power outages in Mumbai were not that frequent.

At that time, apart from civilian needs, there was not much industrial electricity consumption.

For household use, there are low-energy appliances such as light bulbs and fans. There are very few air conditioners and washing machines.

But after the economy was liberalized, electricity consumption increased dramatically, and all kinds of factories and fancy home appliances emerged one after another.

As a result, India's domestic electricity generation capacity has grown slowly, and power outages are commonplace.

The Mumbai Municipal Administration publishes notices in newspapers every day, notifying that a certain area will have power outages the next day and certain other areas will have power outages on the third day.

Without electricity, nothing can be done. Phones can’t be made, fax machines can’t be used, and satellite signal transmitters will naturally stop working.

What’s worse is that sometimes the power outage occurs without any notice and it goes out without a trace, and we don’t know when the power will come back on.

In order to deal with such emergencies, ATN also prepared several diesel generators on the first floor.

Standing in the corridor, Ron could smell the mixed smell of diesel in the air.

Fortunately, the power supply for the Sur Industrial Park is directly supplied by the Vasai River Dam in northern Mumbai, otherwise it would be difficult to start work stably.

"I'll call the municipal company and there will be no power outages on this street." Ron winked, and Anil stepped forward and tore up the power outage notice.

"I told you that everything will be fine now that Mr. Sur is here!" Karuna shook his head happily.

The employees gathered nearby were also very happy. They no longer had to worry about the food in the refrigerator going bad.

"Let's talk about the suspension issue first," Ron and the others walked into the office and sat down on the sofa. "What's the most urgent matter?"

“Satellite, and copyright conflict with Zee TV,” Karuna replied.

"Copyright is not that important. Zee TV can't do anything to us."

"Yes, but it's been mentioned in the newspapers recently, and it might affect our reputation."

"I'll work on it, but the satellite is the most important issue. What do you think?" Ron turned to Mary and the others.

"We've checked with the satellite agency, and they've been experiencing technical issues all year. They say it's due to orbit changes."

Mary and her friends have special identities and are better informed about the news from the Russian side than ordinary people.

"Then we'll just have to find another one." Ron shrugged.

"Mr. Soul, ATN's service with them has not expired yet, and it will cost a lot of money to rent a transponder separately." Karuna reminded cautiously.

"Without a stable satellite signal, how can a TV station grow? Mary, do you have any suggestions?"

"PanAmSat and Singapore Telecommunications in the United States can provide the services we need." She handed over the information she had prepared long ago.

Since deciding to buy ATN, Mary and Lena have been gathering intelligence on the matter for the past month. They are very active and enthusiastic about their work.

Ron glanced around and had a rough idea in mind. PanAmSat's PAS-4 satellite had just been launched in March of this year, and its signal could cover 87% of India.

Singapore Telecommunications is a bit weaker, reaching only 77% of the population. Of course, you get what you pay for. While the US quoted an annual service fee of $5 million, Singapore only charges a little over $3 million.

"Call Pan American and we'll move the satellite channels there within a month." Ron directly chose the most expensive one.

"No problem, dear." Lena smiled and wrote it down.

Karuna and Sanjeev standing by were stunned as they listened. Two hundred million rupees were spent just by opening his mouth.

"Zee TV's audience coverage is only 81%, right?" Ron looked at them.

"Yes." The two were confused.

"Then be the best, better than them. I just want to be first!"

"Understood." The two nodded hurriedly. This new boss was much more radical than Stava.

"Now that the hardware issue is resolved, let's talk about content. ATN has too few channels and not enough content to support 24-hour broadcasting."

"Mr. Sur, we are working hard on preparing a new show," Karuna explained awkwardly.

"It's not fast enough, and there's no professional team to coordinate. Let me first tell you about my decision. Sun TV is fine, and we can talk about the name change later.

ATN was renamed Sun TV and now has three channels. The English channel retains its previous content and is primarily aimed at the domestic elite and overseas users in neighboring countries.

The Hindi channel is divided into two parts, with Sun TV being the station's flagship channel and a comprehensive channel. It features the most authoritative and cutting-edge content, including news, dramas, variety shows, and major events.

Sun Video is a video channel, featuring Bollywood films, music, and entertainment news. These three channels must be broadcast 24 hours a day within six months. "I don't care how the content comes in, it can't stop."

It is now 95 years, and the results of economic opening are beginning to show, and Mumbai has become visibly more prosperous.

Televisions are rapidly entering thousands of households, and the audience base is expanding rapidly.

If it continues to develop slowly as before, it will have to compete with Zee TV later.

Karuna and Sanjeev looked at each other, hesitant to speak.

"Let's talk about the general channel first. Sanjeev, you are in charge of the news section. What are your questions?"

“Boss, intelligence is crucial to producing high-quality news, but the information we collect is usually inaccurate.” Sanjeev spread his hands helplessly.

This is a regular feature of the Indian media, and the news they publish is usually full of loopholes.

Indian journalists and editors also do not pay enough attention to the accuracy of facts. For the same car accident, 10 reporters will often write five or six versions of casualties, making it difficult to tell which one is the most accurate.

Some people simply skip the investigation process and rely entirely on their own imagination.

If Sun TV really wants to become a flagship, then the news and current affairs must be of high quality. Relying on fooling around will only lead to the rapid loss of high-quality users.

"The Times of India will provide you with reliable intelligence in the future." Ron solved the problem with just one sentence.

“Huh?” Sanjeev didn’t understand.

"I know people, but you need to quickly build your own intelligence network. Especially informants, you need to maintain long-term relationships."

"With the help of Times of India, we will definitely do better journalism than before." Sanjeev suddenly gained confidence.

"Let's talk about the ratings. How many subscribers do we have now?"

“Due to the suspension, there may only be five to six million left,” Karuna replied.

"It's a little less." Ron frowned slightly.

"We are working hard to resume broadcasting and save as many users as possible who we have accumulated previously," Karuna explained.

"Don't worry too much. Don't forget what Sur TV does." Ron chuckled.

The eyes of several people in the office lit up. Yes, Sur TV is now India’s national TV.

It has a huge user base, so there must be something it can do, right?

"We'll talk about the users later. Let's get the TV station up and running first. Mary, I'll leave the TV series to you."

"No problem." She agreed happily.

The investment in TV series is much smaller than that in movies, and the shooting period is also shorter.

Sun Entertainment can completely shoot the film themselves, as they have ready-made actors and crew members.

If we need to rush the progress, the worst that can happen is that we can go to Bollywood and buy a few already filmed dramas to use as a starting point.

"Karuna, you're in charge of the variety show. I have a few ideas, we'll talk about them later.

The video channel will first use the copyrighted movies in its inventory, broadcasting 21 movies per week, free for the first three months."

"Boss, ATN has its own cable TV network, and many users already have the habit of paying," Karuna said.

"Huh? Doesn't the TV station broadcast via satellite?"

“Yes, but Mr. Stava started out as a cable TV network and then switched to satellite TV.”

"So, we still have this network?"

"There are about 300,000 subscribers in Mumbai. During the ATN shutdown, the operation was supported by cable TV subscription fees."

"Those Bollywood movies?"

"Yes, it saves trouble. We don't have to produce other programs."

"It seems that the expansion speed of Sun TV will be faster than expected." Ron had an idea in his mind.

(End of this chapter)