Aidem Ventures gets ad-sales duties for ABN Andhrajyothy

The Telugu news channel stands fifth or sixth in the genre that has 18 players.

ABN Andhrajyothy, the Telugu news channel of Aamoda Broadcasting Network (ABN), has handed over its ad-sales responsibilities to Aidem Ventures, a Mumbai-based advertising sales agency. ABN is an established player in the Telugu news market through its daily, Andhrajyothy, since 2002.

Aidem, meanwhile, is the exclusive media representative for Mi Marathi, Live India, Sahara One, Sahara Filmy, Shagun TV, Economist.com, KBS World, Al Jazeera English (AJE) and other Al Jazeera channels, Clubbing TV, DanceTrippin, RCK TV, Jukebox, Lakshyya Entertainment, Get Punjabi, Jaya TV Network, Dangal, In Sync and Sri Lanka Premier League.

Launched in 2009, ABN Andhrajyothy competes with 18 players in the Telugu news genre, all of which command ad-rates in the range of Rs 1000-1800 (for a 10-second slot). While Alok Rakshit, business head, regional entertainment and news, Aidem Ventures refused to divulge any details on the ad-rates for the channel, he explains, "Generally, the national advertisers on the regional channels are offered ad-rates lower than that of the regional/retail advertisers. This is because the national players buy in bulk." The range of this difference can be anywhere between 15 and 100 per cent.

Currently, national advertising contributes about 15-20 per cent of the channel's total advertisers. It is learnt that the channel aims to increase this contribution.

"We have developed a very strong foothold in the local market and we feel that this is the right time to expand our ad sales operations pan India. We hope this association with Aidem will broaden our national client base, thus giving us healthy revenues from pan India markets," says Vemuri Radhakrishna, managing director of ABN Andhrajyothy.

The size of the Telugu television market is about Rs 800-1000 crore, and it is the third or fourth largest television industry in the country. Hindi is the largest market segment in the space, followed by Tamil as the second largest, while Andhra Pradesh and Bengal are next in the fray.

"Among the southern states, Andhra Pradesh has the largest number of dedicated news channels, apart from the highest cable TV penetration. This makes TV a vital medium for reaching out to the Andhra Pradesh market. Furthermore, ABN Andhrajyothy being one of the leading news channels in the market, we feel privileged to be signing its All-India sales mandate," says Rakshit.