05-05-2009, 10:49 AM
MUMBAI: Fever FM, HT Media Ltd's radio business, has seen a fourth-quarter break even but is still suffering from a net loss of around Rs 200 million for the fiscal ended 31 March 2009.
Fever FM, which operates in Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore and Kolkata, has posted a revenue of around Rs 350 million for the fiscal. "We have broken even in the fourth quarter. Our net loss for the fiscal is in the region of Rs 200 million on a turnover of Rs 350 million," says a source in the company.
Fever FM, which has a strategic tie up with Virgin, turned from a Hindi to a Kannada-language station in Bangalore, a move that catapaulted it to the third ranked FM radio operator in that market in the fourth quarter of the fiscal.
In Mumbai, Fever FM changed the location of its tower and beefed up its content. "The signal used to break in many locations of Mumbai. So we placed the tower correctly which helped us become the No. 3 station in the city. As it is, we were doing well in Delhi," the source adds.
Kolkata continues to be a low-cost, low-loss station for Fever FM.
Fever FM targets a break even for the full fiscal ended 31 March 2010. "We should end FY'10 with a revenue of Rs 500-550 million. With this, we will break even for the full year," says the source.
HT Media got the nod in March to demerge its radio business from its subsidiary HT Music and Entertainment Ltd. and merge the operation with itself.
The subsidiary company plans to hold events every month in a scale-up drive, the source says.
Fever FM, which operates in Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore and Kolkata, has posted a revenue of around Rs 350 million for the fiscal. "We have broken even in the fourth quarter. Our net loss for the fiscal is in the region of Rs 200 million on a turnover of Rs 350 million," says a source in the company.
Fever FM, which has a strategic tie up with Virgin, turned from a Hindi to a Kannada-language station in Bangalore, a move that catapaulted it to the third ranked FM radio operator in that market in the fourth quarter of the fiscal.
In Mumbai, Fever FM changed the location of its tower and beefed up its content. "The signal used to break in many locations of Mumbai. So we placed the tower correctly which helped us become the No. 3 station in the city. As it is, we were doing well in Delhi," the source adds.
Kolkata continues to be a low-cost, low-loss station for Fever FM.
Fever FM targets a break even for the full fiscal ended 31 March 2010. "We should end FY'10 with a revenue of Rs 500-550 million. With this, we will break even for the full year," says the source.
HT Media got the nod in March to demerge its radio business from its subsidiary HT Music and Entertainment Ltd. and merge the operation with itself.
The subsidiary company plans to hold events every month in a scale-up drive, the source says.