Sun TV Network to invest Rs 300 crore in Bengali, Marathi channels

Media conglomerate Sun TV Network is planning to invest Rs 300 crore on content and marketing for its upcoming Bengali and a Marathi channels, an official said on Monday.

"We have decided to brach off to newer markets. We believe the market of Bangla offers a good cultural fit... We will be investing Rs 150 crore both on content and marketing in the first year to the Sun Bangla channel," Group Chief Financial Officer S.L. Narayanan said.

The Bengali channel in the GEC (general entertainment channel) segment, which is scheduled to be launched on February 3, will be the group's first foray outside south India, he said. He added that the Bengali GEC market was about Rs 1,200 crore and the group was expecting to reach break-even by end of two years of its launch here. 

Narayanan said: "We plan to roll out a Marathi channel in another year and another Rs 150 crore would be invested."

The group has no plan to launch Hindi, English or any sports channel, he said. 

The group operates channels spanning various genres like news, music, entertainment, kids, movie and comedy in 4 south Indian languages: Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam.-IANS