TV Today To Merge Meow FM; Net Profit Down 79.5% India Today's broadcasting division TV Today Network, which runs Aaj Tak and Headlines Today, has announced, again, its decision to merge its FM radio subsidiary Radio Today (which operates Meow 104.8 FM) with itself. The move has been discussed for years - according to this article, it was awaiting permission from the I&B ministry in October 2007. Then, the share swap offer was pegged at 5:9. We checked the ministry's website for any recent approvals on Radio Today but were unable to dig up anything. The restructuring is finally taking place via a 1:6 share swap offer with stakeholders in a move that will increase promoters' shareholding by 1%. The merger will help the group share resources and local advertisements in the radio sector, which has been grappling with lower ad spend. It will also help TV Today diversify its revenue stream, Angel Broking noted in a report. The Living Media group, under which are TV Today and Radio Today, sold its first radio station Red FM to a clutch of investors including NDTV, Malaysia' Astro group and Hyderabad-based Value Labs in 2006. It then launched Meow 104.8 FM, a talk-show styled radio channel targeted at women. Its COO Anil Srivatsa resigned in June, according to afaqs. The station was launched in2007 and is present in three metros - Delhi, Kolkata and Mumbai. TV Today witnessed a 79.5% sequential drop in net profit to Rs. 166.4 million, though it showed…
