The Hindu Business Line : Pearl Media eyes national market

PEARL Media, a joint venture between former UTV executive Mr Anil Mishra and Century Communications Ltd, is all set to make its debut with a Tamil serial on Sun TV but reckons its main market is national.

The six-month-old organisation's first Hindi programme is likely to be launched in November-December. But unlike the Tamil market, where the company is not willing to look beyond Sun, a leader by a big margin, the competitive Hindi general entertainment arena will offer it more choice, said Pearl's CEO Mr Mishra. The national market is important because "the per episode realisation is higher there."

Pearl is not looking at "run-of-the-mill content." Rather, it wants to look at niche programming; the kids' space, for instance, presents an opportunity, he said.

Its upcoming Tamil serial, Chidambara Rahasiyam, is itself a move away from regular soaps; it's a "story of intrigue, suspense," based on an ancient form of prediction. The serial will be telecast every Wednesday at 8:30 p.m., and is expected to run over 70 episodes.

Its other plans include creation of content in Telugu and foray into film production; the latter will take at least one-and-a-half years, Mr Mishra said. Also, it might look at setting up a post-production facility in Chennai, if business from here grows big enough to justify the investment.

Century Communications, which has funded Pearl, has studios in New Delhi, Noida and Mumbai.

Pearl Media has also been offering media sales services to top television production units, Mr Mishra said. The segment is the other revenue earner for the company.