How To Save The Sikh Television Channel(840) In Uk

[humkire]

In the last few days lots stories are circulating about this channel suffering due to a lack of funds just after been started a few months ago.

i just wanna share my opinion if it is of any value.

I run a business as most you here alredy know. When i 1st started outin 1996, i was penniless but i knew i needed enuff money to make it run for at least the 1st 6 months,whatever happened so that in the meantime i could earn enough to pay the expenses for the next 6 months and so forth. So i borrowed from different places to the tune of about £10,000 or more ,which i duly paid back in 3 years and my business is still running after 13 years, and has since expanded.

My point is, yes i am proud there is a sikh channel and etc etc. I understand its run as a charity too . However you dont just start something without proper financial planning then run into problems after 30 -50 days!!! thats very very bad planning .

You know this is a media project thats going to be very costly. So, ahead, as you start planning to have such a channel ,rightaway you appoint an important team looking after finances . You draw into this team a bunch of people who are wealthy to start with. This team needs to have an objective of raising at least the 1st year's expenses . For that you draw up strategies ,you identify and target different sets of contributors. For example a huge conference coould have been held of all gurudwara presidents in UK and the jathedar of akal takht etc could have been invited where a financial committment is made from every gurudwara etc. Different sets of contributors too could have been paced to kick in at different stages, e.g the 1st year could have been set aside to build a large following of individual donors to follow an intial committment from gurudwaras and wealthier individuals. Further projects could have been set off in time to ensure a stable revenue. Thats how you do it ,not just something randomly that run under within 30 days. That sounds amateurish as much as it sounds honourable .

One big reason khalsa won the moghuls was because all the main players/power brokers/warlords from every misl sat together in a big diwan and they took collective decisions. You cannot just have a tiny team of people kicking off a mega project of this size on their own initiative . You do need to work out the different sets of players you need to engage and you need to involve sikh leadership at all levels so there is common consensus for its success.

it is not difficult but what it requires is strategy,direction ,focus and proper project management so a systematic methodology is adopted ,people organised into different teams and the whole thing becomes one success after another. I'm not even sure whether this channel was available on the different means of watching tv apart from satellite such as cable, internet ,freeview etc .

Anyway lets hope lessons have been learned early enough ,the appeal for money is successful

and sangat rallies together and Gurujee blesses this project.

The wise thing would be do the following rightaway,

1) Have different teams of people looking after different areas .this would include a)finance b)accounting c)marketing and publicity d)technology and broadcasting e)admin f) program organisation . all of these teams would work in coordination and be answearable to 5 piaras overlooking the entire running of the sikh channel project

2) to organise a huge diwan rightaway of every sikh gurudwara/organisation in UK of their top brass ,where the main takht jathedars would pressure them to back this project financially ,get their cheque books out and write out their 1st cheques rightaway .

3) to be identifying , targetting , ringing around,writing to and contacting wealthy sikhs all over the world to quickly contribute to the project asap

The support of individual donor families setting up direct debits is of course vital but that happens over time as people get used to switching to channel 840 and a sense of committment and responsibility slowly builds up. You cannot just set up a new channel and then expect everyone to start switching over to it and setting up direct debits immediately. That is a time consuming affair as the owners of punjab radio ,sukhsagar,amrit bani radio have all painfully found out over the past few years, at least thats what i have been told.

Likewise,certain arrangements and window dressing can give access to public funds, apart from appointing certain individuals even non -sikhs as patrons, as well as fund raising activities such as dinners etc whilst ensuring these dont compromise with sikhi values.

Most of all, such projects to succeed need 2 key ingredients, i.e a)to get all the jethabandhis and sangat behind you in support asap and above all, b)a lot of humble amritvela ardas with a lot,lot ,lot ,lot ,lots of big ,big ,big tears. Ggurbani says the cry of a humble ant in pain is heard better in heaven than the proud trumpeting sound of an elephant.

One thing i have learnt is that Gurjee's kirpa is so unpredictable. Just on the day you are short of something and feeling dumped by God ,money can appear from sources you could never have thought of,again a lesson the main sikh radio channel guys have learnt through my observations. Money is a strange thing as i have learned in my business .it can exist in places you could not have imagined with your MBA degree ,it can melt before your very eyes but also manifest from unimaginable sources. Gurbani says an ant can become a king and a king can become dust, and in a split second a king into a pauper and a bankrupt into a king. Its all in the palms of the Master ,he gives as and to who He desires ,in whichever way He chooses. One thing is never to worry as stated in SGGS ,pg 955, ''Nanak chinta mat kero ,chinta tis hi hoe''. There it says God even looks after the creatures in the sea, provides their sustenance without them needing to barter and trade. And when all else fails as Shri Guru Arjan Dev Jee says then its time for total suurender ''meh sabh kich chorhh,prabh tuhi dheayah''.

The organisers of sikh channel have to plan finances as if everything depends on their hard work ,but have to depend on Gurujee as if everything depends on Gurujee. Dont just ask people to give you money ,ask people to pray for your success.

There are also rumours out there as to who really owns this channel and the wealth of that person. This should be put to rest by a clear transparent account of who owns it, and how its organised etc, the actual expenses incurred every month,what systems of accountability ,responsibility and financial transparency are in place, so there is confidence in financially supporting this channel.

This has to be a sangat owned project with the signature approval of the main jethabandhis, sikh, community, socio-political and religous organisations, gurudwaras, and sangat .

[Guroo Guroo Jaap]

why are they not asking for money from the brit asia viewers?

[Singh@]

"Servant Of The Khalsa"

How can they ask money from Brit Asia when Brit Asia HAs nothing to do with them!

Ok If your idea is that to put brit asia on subscribition and some of that money can go to Sikh Channel, will i think that no1 would even subscrbe to brit asia as you have better channels like punjjabi tv 9X etc.. So i think thats why Brit Asia is not under a subscribtion fee. Also when doing live shows from their studios (SC) they have to pay extra. Brit Asia dont have live shows do they?

Anyway Brit Asia isnt part of SIkh Channel.

Fateh

[kpanthmovement]

"Servant Of The Khalsa"

How can they ask money from Brit Asia when Brit Asia HAs nothing to do with them!

Ok If your idea is that to put brit asia on subscribition and some of that money can go to Sikh Channel, will i think that no1 would even subscrbe to brit asia as you have better channels like punjjabi tv 9X etc.. So i think thats why Brit Asia is not under a subscribtion fee. Also when doing live shows from their studios (SC) they have to pay extra. Brit Asia dont have live shows do they?

Anyway Brit Asia isnt part of SIkh Channel.

Fateh

Gurfateh

Just to confirm yes Sikh channel does have something to do with brit asia because they are both owned by the guy behind claim today solictors, he first opened brit asia tv then when funded sikh channel, I belive sikh channels on the upper floor and brit asia is on the floor below. Also just to add brit asia has lots of viewers.

[SikhRoots]

yeah, Singh@ is totally right on this. BritAsia is a pretty seperate entity with a whole different board and staff.

[Singh@]

"KPanthMov.."

Can u also confrim that Mr Davy Bal also owned Legal TV and Red TV

Oh and just to add that you cant say that Brit Asia have a lot of viewers, when Brit Asia dropped out of the BARB. this means that you dont no how many people actuly watch Brit Asia unless mby doing some poll.

[kpanthmovement]

yeah, Singh@ is totally right on this. BritAsia is a pretty seperate entity with a whole different board and staff.

The point I was trying to make is that its owned by the same guy thats what they have to do with each other but yes they operate differently and I never said they didn't.

"KPanthMov.."

Can u also confrim that Mr Davy Bal also owned Legal TV and Red TV

Oh and just to add that you cant say that Brit Asia have a lot of viewers, when Brit Asia dropped out of the BARB. this means that you dont no how many people actuly watch Brit Asia unless mby doing some poll.

Well least it was in Barb lol Singh what Im trying to say is that they do have a decent amount of viewers for the channel just to run on ads.

[Singh@]

I hardly see any adds on Brit Asia

[citizen_soulja]

Davy Bal Solicitors own Claim Today Solicitors

© 2009 CTS Claim Today Solicitors. A division of Davy Bal Solicitors Limited.

source: http://www.claim-today.co.uk/

whatever ''Davy Bal'' owns is not really an issue.....(tax is) and according to companies house neither Davy Bal or CTS, or BritAsiaTV or Sikh Channel (which is a PLC NOT a Charity) pay taxes:

if you go to companies house and do a search using their web check service:

http://wck2.companie...cessCompanyInfo

of the following company numbers you can see that they are either dormant, have no accounts filed or are exempt due to being to small or are dormant.....

DAVY BAL SOLICITORS LIMITED (exempt to small, even thought the following are subsidiaries)

1ST FLOOR 3 BROADWAY

BROAD STREET

BIRMINGHAM

WEST MIDLANDS

B15 1BQ

Company No. 04598943

CLAIM TODAY LIMITED (Dormant)

3 BROADWAY

BROAD STREET

BIRMINGHAM

B15 1BQ

Company No. 04103111

THE SIKH CHANNEL LIMITED (no accounts filed, PLC NOT Charity)

6 THE MOORINGS

MIDDLEWICH

UNITED KINGDOM

CW10 9ER

Company No. 06789223

BRIT ASIA TV LIMITED (dormant previous name?? The Sikh Channel Limited)

8TH FLOOR WARWICK CHAMBERS

14 CORPORATION STREET

BIRMINGHAM

WEST MIDLANDS

B2 4RN

Company No. 05293090

ONE PLYMOUTH TV LIMITED (dormant, overdue accounts)

90 GILLOTT ROAD

BIRMINGHAM

WEST MIDLANDS

B16 0ES

Company No. 05525668

The main issues with Sikh Channel are:

Transparency of accounts (because money is coming from Sangat)

Clear up the whole 'Who owns what' scenario (because it could create something know as a conflict of interests, also we dont want anti Panthic forces becoming the mouth piece of the Sikh community)

Responsibility of Sikh Channel to portray PURE SIKHI (because ...well thats just obvious)

Unity of the Panth (because its very important!! and Sikh Channel is the perfect platform)

As i have said before Sikh Channel is in a very important position to help unify the Panth

Sikh channel needs to concentrate on unifying the message, history and philosophy of Sikhi in a way that is acceptable to all Sikhs, we don't really have a lot of unity at the moment maybe Sikh channel can change this.

Instead of asking for a few donations and living month to month and always worrying about funds if the Sikh Channel worked to create UNITY and established a network of support from Gurdwareh they would run forever.

1 instead of focusing on Sangats donations focus on procuring 5% of donations made at all UK Gurdwareh

2 make appeal to Sangat to get them to take action at their local Gurdwara in convincing the committee to donate 5% of charavah (donations made to Gurdwareh)

3 instead of displaying Sangats names they should display the names of Gurdwareh that refuse to cooperate

[Singh@]

citizen_soulja

I think you have some problem,

1st you are trying to put doubt in sangats mind and then your saying that we do need a sikh channel and its good idea:S

get one story straight