MUMBAI: Balaji Telefilms is planning to set up its own studios in Mumbai, Chennai and Hyderabad in a phased manner. The production house will also continue with its existing arrangement of utilising studios on a long-term lease basis.

"We are in the process of identifying land for studio space in Goregaon, a western suburb of Mumbai. We will then look at Chennai and Hyderabad," says Balaji Telefilms president of strategy and business development R Karthik. The investments will depend on the acquisition cost of land, he adds.

The need for owning studios comes in the wake of Balaji's plans to scale up its television production business. With new channel launches, the company expects the demand for content even in the regional languages to increase dramatically. Besides Hindi content, Balaji has a strong presence in the Sun Network channels.

Balaji Telefilms is expanding its programming hours with two soaps lined up for Hindi general entertainment channels Sony and Zee TV.

The show on Sony will be a daily and is expected to go on air by April. The Zee show is also likely to be launched at that time and air at least thrice a week, says Karthik. The titles of these shows are yet to be finalised.

The production house will also have a new programme on Malayalam channel Surya TV in April, taking the number of shows in the southern language to eight.

The popular one-year running Kkavyanjali on Gemini will be replaced with a fresh Balaji programme on 16 March. Kaarthikadipam will air at 9.30 pm.

Balaji Telefilms will also be producing shows for Sun Network's Bangla channel Surjo which is slated for launch this year, says Karthik.