Sources said the TV channel had accumulated losses of over RM15 million and the existing shareholders were running out of money to continue. They said the operating company Bernama TV Synergy Sdn Bhd was also facing legal action from creditors.
Although it is called Bernama TV, the government’s national news agency Bernama is only a minority shareholder with a 32% stake. The other shareholders are Silver Ridge Multimedia Sdn Bhd (30%), Standard Code Sdn Bhd (30%) and Hallmark Entertainment Sdn Bhd (7%).
Silver Ridge, a unit of Mesdaq-listed Silver Ridge Holdings Bhd, and its controlling shareholder Datuk Mohd Suhaimi Abdullah are said to have been the driving force behind Bernama TV, which is aired over Astro Channel 502.
Bernama TV has been operating from rented premises in Wisma Bernama and has also relied on resources from the national news agency. It has struggled to get advertising revenue in a sector that is largely dominated by Media Prima Bhd’s group of free-to-air TV stations.
Sources said Bernama TV was handicapped by having to rely solely on Astro for its transmission and although the satellite TV company charged very little because it needed local news content, it was the lack of advertising revenue that was the problem.
People familiar with the rescue discussions said among the options available were for the government’s Radio Televisyen Malaysia (RTM) to take over or to sell the company to other private media companies.
They said the value in Bernama TV was the broadcasting licence and although it involved huge sums of money, there would be parties which may be interested.
Among existing media giants, cash-rich Star Publications (Malaysia) Bhd could be a potential buyer as it has a newspaper and two radio stations and is said to have always wanted a TV channel to complete its suite of media platforms.
Media Prima could also be interested to have an additional channel while the new media company that is taking control of the Malay Mail could also be looking at Bernama TV, the sources said.
This article appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, August 19, 2009.