Zee 24 Gantalu to present India to the Telugu audience

Zee Network is launching its 24 hour Telugu news channel, Zee 24 Gantalu, today. The Telugu television market has about eight news channels, of which two are from ETV and TV9 network, while the others are local channels.

The offering is a part of the network’s expansion plan. Zee has footprints in many other regional languages as well. However, Zee 24 Gantalu will be a late entrant in the Telugu news channels market. Shailesh Reddy, business head, Zee, admits that it is a cluttered market, with Zee being the ninth player.

“While the content will be more local, emphasis will be given to national news as well. People in Andhra Pradesh consider news outside the state as being from another country. Our aim will be to present India to the state,” Reddy says.

Zee 24 Gantalu will share technical and editorial networks with the other channels from the Zee news network such as Zee 24 Taas and Zee 24 Ghanta. This is the network’s second channel in the Telugu market, the first being the entertainment channel, Zee Telugu.

Zee 24 Gantalu, as part of its promotional plan, has installed about 125 television sets at various bus stations in Andhra Pradesh, besides promoting the channel on Zee Telugu.