Eros plans foray into television

Eros will leverage its existing movie library of around 2,000 titles and launch movie and music channels. "The plan is under consideration. Our entry in the television broadcasting space will happen with an alliance or syndication. We intend to cover the entire spectrum of television entertainment," said Jyoti Deshpande, COO and commercial director, Eros International.

At present, SET Max, B4U Movies, UTV Movies, Zee Cinema, Star Gold and Sahara's Filmy are the popular Hindi movie channels that are being aired.

Eros International is an integrated media and entertainment company that produces and distributes films across the home entertainment, television, theatre and internet platforms.

The company has lined up around 35 films for release in 2008, of which some have already released. The mega movies from Eros that are set to hit the silver screen this year are Goldie Behl's Dhrona starring Abhishek Bachchan, Subhash Ghai's Yuvraj featuring Salman Khan and God Tussi Great Ho with Amitabh Bachchan, Salman Khan and Priyanka Chopra in the title roles.

Last month, the AIM-listed company formed a joint venture (JV) with film studio Lions Gate, a Canadian entertainment company, to distribute Lions Gate and other English language content in original and dubbed versions. These films will be distributed across the home entertainment, new media, television, theatres formats, in South Asia.

Under the JV terms, Lionsgate has acquired home entertainment distribution rights of 20 titles from Eros' library for the North American region. Deshpande added that the partners will also remake some of Lions Gate content for the Indian audience, apart from making cross-over films.

Eros also plans to set up an animation studio and a live-action studio that will house all the facilities required to make world-class action thrillers in India. in In October 2007, it launched Eyeqube Studios, a visual effects studio, in association with leading visual effects artist Charles Darby, who holds a minority stake in the entity. The studio is working on the special effects for forthcoming films Dhrona and Aladdin.

With presence across 50 countries, Eros made headlines when it acquired the worldwide rights of Shah Rukh Khan's Om Shanti Om for a whopping Rs 74 crore. Its theatre business contributes 60 per cent to revenues while 15-20 per cent sales come from satellite rights and other new media formats from home video.