MUMBAI, Sept 16 (Reuters) - MGM Networks will stick to its strength of Hollywood films in India, but may consider a foray into regional-language content when it gains a wider viewership, a senior executive said on Tuesday.
MGM Networks, which manages Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's interests in cable, satellite and television, is launching at a time when global media and entertainment firms such as Viacom Inc and Time Warner's Turner are adding local content.
The MGM channel, which will be distributed by a unit of News Corp's Star, will be available on cable, direct-to-home satellite and other new platforms such as IPTV to reach a wider audience in an increasingly crowded market.
"We know there is an English-speaking audience that is watching Hollywood rather than the dominant local fare," Executive Vice President Bruce Tuchman said ahead of the launch.
"There will be decisions about regional-language after we have launched and got bigger," he said.
Annual revenue for television in India, which is seeing an explosion of new channels, is forecast to more than double to $11.6 billion by 2012, making it the most lucrative TV market in Asia, according to research firm Media Partners Asia.
But price controls and intense competition will slow the growth of average revenue per user, it has said, while costs of production, distribution, content and technology will rise.
MGM, home to the lucrative James Bond franchise, has equity stakes in regional-language movie and entertainment TV channels in markets such as Latin America and Korea, Tuchman said.
But it would be premature to say it would follow a similar model in India, he said.
News Corp's Twentieth Century Fox and Star earlier this month formed a joint venture to produce local-language films in Asia, and Star also plans to launch six regional language channels in India. Turner International is also launching more TV channels.
"We know people are doing that here -- producing local content for the market," Tuchman said.
"But specialist content is going to be important, and right now we are probably not going to pretend to be what we are not." (Reporting by Rina Chandran; Editing by Mark Williams)
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