ASIANET EYES NEW OPTIONS

The Malayalam language channel Asianet is considering options to foray into FM Radio and launch a daily package targeted at the strong Malayalam-speaking community in west Asia. A majority of the six million Indians in west Asia originate from Kerala, the southern Indian State, which has Malayalam as its main language.

The network has hired a new CEO in veteran journalist Mohan Nair, corporate editor of the leading Indian business daily The Economic Times from early next month. Nair believes the cost of launching a full-fledged channel targeted at the West Asian Diaspora is too high. He is, therefore, going to take the path of offering a two-to-four hour daily programming bank specially created for non-resident Malayalees.

Besides he is also keen on steering the network into FM radio which was opened to private Indian companies recently. "We will look at three cities in Kerala for our FM radio service, " he says. Nair says that Asianet owner Raji Menon who recently bought out his nephew Sashi Menon's stake in the channel is focusing on professionalising it by inducting managers working in other professions.

Menon was recently arrested on fraud charges. The amount: $9 million dollars. Menon, who was earlier based in Russia, had issued the cheques two years back for exports of some medicines from an Indian company, which bounced later. The company had filed a case against him. Menon was later let out on bail.