The next would be to the UAE and Baharain. The Rs 80 crore, to be in equity, will be collected in 1000-share lot valued at Rs 10 per share, according to the company's chairman Mr MK Muneer who is also a MLA representing the Indian Union Muslim League.

He said the company expected to break even in three years. For the next three years it had been estimated that the company would annually need Rs 20 crore for additional expenses.

A market feasibility study had been conducted and the final report was awaited. "Nothing would be done in a hurry," Mr Muneer said. Indiavision envisages the market for cable and satellite advertising in the country to be at over Rs 2,500 crore and the market growth is expected at 20-25 per cent.

Mr Muneer said the channel would have a programme mix of infotaintment, entertainment and news. Priority would be for news which would have a 40 per cent share. An English news channel was being planned later. He felt that no longer were the viewers channel-oriented, citing the case of KCB's popularity.

Indiavision does not plan to confine itself to Malayalam alone. It plans a bouquet of regional language channels in Kannada, Tamil, Telugu and Urdu. The first step in this direction has been made with the registration of Hindu Satellite Communication Channel for Kannada telecast.

Mr Muneer said that the channel would have a technological edge over other channels. Apart from Kerala and the whole of India, Indiavision would be beamed in West Asia. Plans are afoot to have the programmes beamed in the US and Europe.

In the US, consultations were on and the channel might become a pay channel there. The channel will incorporate digital broadcast and will have a satellite news gathering system. The main studio would be at Ernakulam, Kochi, for which 3.5 acres of land had been acquired.

Regarding tie-ups, Mr Muneer said that discussions were on with major channels for tie-ups. These tie-ups would generally be programme-based. He refused to comment on the much publicised tie-up with Sony TV, stating that tie-ups would be there with various channels.

The channel would have Jnanpith award winner, Mr MT Vasudevan Nair as the chief programme consultant. The director board would include industrialists and prominent names from the socio-cultural circle.

Mr Muneer felt the time of mega serials was over. On the contrary, Indiavision would concentrate on telefilms. Already 10 telefilms had been worked out and it would be premature to disclose details, he added. Though he was the leader of a political party, Mr Muneer said the channel would be above politics and would be independent and secular. The mix of the director board would point to this, he added. The main mission of the channel would be commitment to the people. The logo of the channel would be released at a function in Kozhikode on Friday by Mr Bharat Mohanlal.