The Hindu Business Line : WorldSpace set to expand

SATELLITE radio broadcaster WorldSpace India is getting aggressive in the domestic market and has earmarked $10 million as advertising and promotional spend for the current year.

Speaking to newspersons, Mr Deepak Varma, Managing Director, WorldSpace, said, "We are enhancing our presence in Delhi, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Kolkata, Chandigarh, Kochi and Pune this year and hope to achieve a pan-Indian footprint by end of 2007." The company is planning to set up lounges that will enable the consumer to experience satellite radio.

The broadcaster is hoping to increase its retail presence to about 1,000 outlets across the country by the end of this year. It is also looking at direct sales to push its sets.

Mr Raman Multani, Executive Vice-President and COO, WorldSpace India, said, "We will ask consumers to keep the radio sets for the weekends and once they sample the product, they will be able to decide whether to buy the product or not. Our past experience is that the conversion rate is 68-70 per cent."

WorldSpace radios are manufactured in India by BPL and by some OEMs in Indonesia, China and Germany. The cost of these radio sets starts from Rs 3,790 to Rs 12,000. Currently, the company has 60,000 subscribers and aims to add 1 lakh this year. "If this happens, there should be no problem in achieving profitability this year itself," Mr Multani said.

Mr Varma further said WorldSpace is a subscription-driven service with very little advertising. While it is now offering a one-year subscription of Rs 1,800 a year to customers, it will also allow consumers to enter into long-term contracts.

WorldSpace offers 39 radio stations in India that includes jazz, classical music, old Hindi film music, rock, news channels like BBC, CNN, NDTV as well as regional stations.

On the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India's recommendations of permitting 100 per cent foreign ownership, Mr Varma said that this would not make any difference to the operations. Meanwhile, WorldSpace Inc is gearing up for an IPO soon and would be listed on the Nasdaq, he added.

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