‘Malayala Manorama’ news channel to air on August 17

On August 17, ‘Malayala Manorama’ will foray into television with the launch of its 24-hour Malayalam news channel, Manorama News. It has built a state of the art studio in Kochi, which will be the hub for the news channel. It will also have full-fledged studios in Delhi and Mumbai.

The news channel plans to have three separate feeds of 4.5 MHz each for different regions within Kerala. The Kochi feed will cater to Central Kerala, the Thiruvananthapuram feed to South Kerala and the Kozhikode feed to North Kerala.

All three feeds will have 21 hours of common programming and only three hours of local news, with six half-hourly news bulletins through the day, catering to the respective regions.

Anil George, who was earlier head of Maxus, Bangalore, a Group M agency, is the COO of Manorama News.

The other key team members are Johny Lukose as director, news, and Jude Attipetti as head, programming. Jaydeep KP who was the head, news, Asianet, till recently, will now be the editor, content. The channel has already recruited 90 reporters from within Kerala and will be supported by the reporters from its print venture.

George says that the channel’s positioning is lined between a general entertainment format and a current news format. One key reason for this, he explains, is that the entire Southern region, including Kerala, lacks players in the current news programming arena, a gap this channel will fill. Manorama News promises a national news format similar to CNN-IBN and NDTV in terms of technology, coverage and content.

The channel will have more than news – it is planning half-hourly discussion forums and chat shows on different issues related to women, entertainment and crime.

“Most viewership in Kerala is led by Asianet and Surya and soaps and comedy rule the roost, which made it imperative for us to enter the news arena,” adds George.

George claims that the news channel has the backing of a media major such as ‘Malayala Manorama’, which has earned the trust of consumers in Kerala for all these years.

Currently, the key players in the Malayalam news channel market are Asianet News, Indiavision and People TV.

The state is naturally inclined towards news as it has the highest numbers of literate people, so another news channel will be well received.

Incidentally, 2005 saw the birth of five channels in the Malayalam television market, taking the total number of television channels in that space to 12, including DD Malayalam.

The Malayala Manorama Group is looking at natural catchment areas such as the Gulf and North America. In the future, the channel plans one or additional formats, including entertainment, music and movies, with no confirmed time-frame.

© 2006 agencyfaqs!