MUMBAI: Travelxp HD & Media Worldwide Limited, which already runs the channels Sangeet Bangla and Sangeet Bhojpuri in the regional space, is now planning to launch its next regional music channel -Sangeet Marathi.

Unfortunately, Sangeet Marathi's launch has been delayed for almost five years now but Travelxp HD & Media Worldwide Limited CEO Prashant Chothani is positive that it will go on-air this year.

The major reason of the delay has been government permissions, which has tested Chothani and his team’s patience for a while now. “We should have been on-air by now but it did not happen. There is a permission, which is pending and the minute that happens Sangeet Marathi will go on-air,” confirmed Chothani.

“We are being told everyday we that it will happen but, the fact is that we cannot run the channel because of a regulatory permission. It’s just a formality, but that formality is taking a lot of time. I am extremely frustrated. There are bigger companies and bigger platforms that have raised their voice and their concern on how the regulatory framework operates. I had great hope when the new government came in, but we are still the same,” he lamented.

Chothani holds the vision of launching a new channel every year, but due to delay in his current project, he hasn’t managed to live his vision. “In my professional career that spans not more than 30 years, I won’t be able to launch more than six channels for one has to wait five years for a channel to launch,” said he disappointedly.

As per Chothani, his company has seen a growth rate of 15-20 per cent every year. While 2008 witnessed a dip, there has been continuous growth with ad revenues and ad rates going up.

The company’s other music channels – Sangeet Bangla, Sangeet Bhojpuri and Music India – are doing well. In fact, Sangeet Bangla, which has completed 10 years, seems to have the brightest future. “The quality of content has got better with time on Sangeet Bangla. Our job was to provide a platform for the music content of the industry and by far we have succeeded,” stated Chothani.

Speaking about the Bhojpuri market, he said, “In the Bhojpuri industry things are not looking up as they should have. The Bhojpuri film producers really need to think on the kind of content that they would like to produce. They haven’t responded to the platform that we have created.”

Travelxp HD and Media Worldwide Limited's aim is to launch channels and is not looking at getting into the live space at the moment. “The economic environment has been troublesome with results not coming on time. So, our energies are going in launching these projects. There are various other things that need to be addressed first. Moreover, there is enough content from the film and music industry that we can put out. Experimentation happens after you exhaust all the conventional methods of broadcast. Thus, in my opinion we would like to settle down first and launch two to three channels till the end of financial year. Then we would like to experiment and do other things but at the moment that is not our focus,” opined the head honcho.

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