May hive off Internet biz into separate co: HT Media

Q: Could you give us a ballpark figure?

A: The numbers are yet to be firmed up but they are likely to be somewhere in the region of USD 4-5 million

Q: What is the expectation on ‘go4i' because you have taken their content creation business and merged it back with HT media?

A: It is the strategy of the company to start refocusing on our Dot Com business and there will some exciting things happening on our Dot Com business given the fact that globally the readers are migrating towards internet as one of the channels by which news is acquired and so we are beefing up our internet operations and ‘go4i’ which was one of the ventures tried in the yesteryears when the Dot Com had just about started, we are going to be refocusing on that and those part of business which can be effectively merged and utilized for delivering value to our consumers are going to be merged with HT media.

Q: At any point in time will you be looking at taking all this Internet properties that you have into a separate company?

A: This cannot be ruled out but obviously it must mean that our ability to focus on those businesses should accelerate aggressively and that is the only reason we are going to be focusing on those and creating them into separate companies.

Q: Could you give an idea of the capex you have for radio operations and how soon do you intend to roll out?

A: We have already rolled out. Our radio station in Delhi is already on technical streaming. That is the first station, which has gone on air. It is called FM 104. The brand name will be announced in one-week’s time. Bombay and Bangalore should happen in the next 30-45 days and we are happy with the responses we are getting.

Q: What are the target revenues form radio business?

A: I can’t share it with you now but it is our objective to become no1- no2 player in that market.