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Follow UsNarayanan Madhavan
NEW DELHI: India's Pentamedia Graphics Ltd is set to achieve its target of
50,000 pay users for its Internet broadcast venture, Numtv.com, in the next five
months, its chairman said on Wednesday.
"As expected, we will get 50,000 in four or five months," V
Chandrasekaran, who is also the chief executive officer of the Chennai-based
multimedia company, told Reuters on the margins of an information technology
seminar.
He said Numtv.com, launched last December, had 200,000 registered users, and
had enrolled between 5,000 and 6,000 pay users for content, like movies and
television programs, which include offerings from prime Indian television
channels.
Narrowband users pay $9.95 per month, while broadband users pay $12.95 per
month, Chandrasekaran said. Numtv.com is mainly aimed at overseas Indians.
Pentamedia, a leading sub-contractor for Hollywood animation movies, is
banking on Numtv.com to boost its presence as a broadband broadcaster.
Pentamedia said on Tuesday it had tied up with Singapore's Infocomm
Development Authority (IDA) as a broadband content supplier to the Singapore ONE
network. Pentamedia will provide animation and entertainment content to the
network.
On the animation side, Pentamedia has five movie contracts worth $10 million
to $15 million, which are expected to be completed over the next 12 months,
Chandrasekaran said.
He said the company was on the lookout for acquisitions in activities like
post-production work related to its animation work. Pentamedia says it is the
biggest in the field outside North America.
Pentamedia's shares closed at Rs 437.05 on Wednesday in Bombay, up Rs 14.05
from the previous close, broadly in line with the trend on the exchange.
At current levels, Pentamedia's shares are commanding a price-to-earning
ratio of less than 10.
Asked to explain the conservative market estimate, Chandrasekaran said the
price had moved down only in line with the benchmark index.
(C) Reuters Limited 2000.