Congress MP owned Mega TV to fuel battle down South

The 24-hour, free to air Tamil news and current affairs plus entertainment channel is set to beam from September 15

Down South, the political battle is turning into a media war. Major political parties in Tamil Nadu are launching their own satellite channels. First it was the Maran brothers with the Sun network. Then the DMK (Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam) launched its own channel, Kalaignar TV, a GEC cum news channel, on June 3.

Now another heavy political stalwart has entered the space. Congress MP KV Thangabalu recently began the trial transmission of Tamil GEC Mega TV. The channel is to be headed by Jyoti Thangabalu.

Mega TV will have eight daily news bulletins, seven in Tamil and one in English. It will also have a mix of reality shows, soaps and other entertainment shows. “Education, entertainment and empowerment have been set as our goal in all the programmes aimed to cater to the youth and women. A special thrust will be given to youth and women based programmes,” says Issac Jacob, marketing head, Mega TV.

Congress MP owned Mega TV to fuel battle down South

Tamil Nadu already has several GECs: Sun TV, Jaya TV, Raj TV, STAR Vijay and K TV. As mentioned earlier, quite a few of them are owned by political stalwarts. But Mega TV is sure of making its presence felt among these big names. “Positive, thought provoking entertainment will be our USP. Trust in social thinking and a positive outlook will form the undercurrent of all our entertainment programmes, whether they be film based or non-film serials,” says Jacob.

Mega TV began its trial transmission on Monday on the birth anniversary of the late prime minister, Rajiv Gandhi. Congress president Sonia Gandhi will inaugurate the channel officially in a few weeks’ time. “If everything goes according to plan, the channel will be up and running by the second week of September,” asserts Jacob.

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