MUMBAI: In a significant move, Balaji Telefilms Ltd. has decided to set up a wholly owned subsidiary company to manage its movie business.

The company has tentatively been titled Balaji Motion Pictures. "The entire business related to movies will be transferred to the subsidiary company," a company statement says.

Balaji Telefilms has so far taken a cautious approach to the movie business and has no releases this fiscal. The company produced two films in the last fiscal and raked in a revenue of Rs 104 million, incurring a minor loss. While Kya Kool Hai Hum was a success, the second film Koi Aap Sa didn't fare well in the box office.

The leading TV content company then decided to venture into co-production deals as a de-risk strategy. Balaji tied up with White Feather Films, a company started by Sanjay Dutt and Sanjay Gupta, for producing Shoot Out at Lokhandwala at Rs 120 million which is expected to release in the next financial year.

Balaji Telefilms has posted a 49.26 per cent jump in net profit to Rs 214.76 in the third quarter ended 31 December. Income from operations rose 21.49 per cent to Rs 850.30 million.

Revenue mix from commissioned and sponsored programing

Commissioned category continues to drive Balaji's revenues.

How the channels stack up

The channel-wise revenue distribution during the third quarter of the current fiscal is as follows:

Programming split

The hour wise programming distribution during the quarter breaks up in favour of the commissioned category.

Change in Programming during the quarter 
The following serial/s went off air during the quarter ended 31 December 2006.

Serials on air

As on 31 December 2006 the following 15 serials were on air on various channels.