MUMBAI: ATN International is in advanced stage of negotiations with Chennai-based Win TV to partner for Bengali news on ATN World, aimed at the West Bengal and Bangladesh market.

"We are also talking of a possibility of equity participation from Win TV," says ATN International managing director Santosh Jain. ATN International, a listed company, is planning to introduce six news bulletins on Bengali general entertainment channel ATN World.

Win TV owns and operates a Tamil and a Kannada language channel and wants to expand into the Bengali language space with news content. "News is essential if we are to survive. We expect to garner an annual revenue of Rs 10 million from news," says Jain.

ATN is planning to launch the channel in Bangladesh, for which it is in talks with a local company which has major interests in power, aviation and textiles. Two teams have already visited ATN office in Kolkata and an internal due diligence has been done. "We are in the final stages of negotiations for a marketing and programming tie up. The group, which plans to diversify into media business, is to fund our operations in Bangladesh," says Jain. He, however, did not reveal the name of the Bangladesh-based company.

Stiff competition from the other Bengali channels and a slow-growing regional market is threatening ATN World. The company hopes that a partnership with Win TV and the Bangladesh-based company will provide for funding and news content.