Matrix Prasad in NTV

Jagan started taking over media organisations through his men and NTV is the latest casualty.  Earlier Mr. shyam Prasada Reddy became Chairman of Local TV and now Mr. Nimmagadda Prasad, popularly known as Matrix Prasad has invested in NTV. Since the chances of getting license for his Sakshi seems bleak, Jagan wants to have hold in other channels so that he would help his father to win for a second term. Mr. Matrix Prasad and Mr. Shyam Prasad Reddy are Jagan's partners in Indu Projects. The talks with TV5 are inconclusive. With Mr. Chowdary foregoing part of his share to Matrix Prasad, there are tremors in the channel. The 'B' trio may be sent out and there are enough signals according to insiders.

CEO Geetha resings from Sakshi

In a surprise development, Ms. Geetha , CEO, Sakshi HDTV resigned on Saturday. It ois interesting to note that she left the organisation just before a month ahead of its purported launch. When the promoters named it as Indira TV way back in 2006 and wanted to bring it out as a General Entertainment Channel with a considerable number of news bulletins apart from entertainment content, she was choosen for the post. When there was inordinate delay in the project, other Heads like Satish Babu and Srinivasa Reddy went back but Ms. Geetha stayed put on the advice of the Chairman Mr. Jagan. She acted as a bridge between the Chairman and the Sakshi newspaper staff until the launch of the Newspaper. She enjoyed reasonable power in Sakshi TV in the early stages but later differences brewed up with Mr. Vijay Sai Reddy and they  are it their peak and finally she had to bid goodbye. Known as a creative person in the film and tv circles, she was one of the pillars of Gemini and Teja channels. Sources close to her say that she may might take up an assignment in films.

Key person quits HMTV

Mr. GS Rammohan, Output Editor has left hmtv, even before its launch,  almost after completion of one year there.  Some conspiracy theories are doing the rounds behind his quitting. It is learnt that he met the Managing Director cum CEO cum Editor in Chief of the channel Mr. Murthy and explained the reasons for quitting. However, the exact details of the discussion is yet to be known. Soon after coming out, Mr. Rammohan straightaway went to Andhra Jyothi and joined their channel as its Associate Editor. People close to him confirm that he would be more comfortable with Andhra Jyothi management where he worked for more than 5 years. With Mr. Rammohan's exit, HMTV lost a senior man in the organisation. The loss is considerable since a person in the key post left just a couple of days before its launch (on 12th ?) but the other Heads have put a brave face saying that the launch would be as scheduled. However, news is that the launch will be only in the second half of January ( with an excuse of Dhanurmasam ).

Studio N speeds up

Studio N promoted by Narne Srinivasa Rao of narne Group and led by Mr. Sivaram Prasad is gearing up for launch in January. The make shift office close to the permanent building is working round the clock. However, some of the staff members are not happy since they were not given any specific designations. Some were assured good posts but later were asked to confine to lower designations. One such person who came all the way from Delhi to join in the Input department had to go back after knowing that he was not the Input Chief. However, these internal issues are kept aside and Mr. Sivaram Prasad is getting ready for the launch. Though he is confident of January 15th launch, the reality is that he may take time till Feb 10th, just in time for the forthcoming elections.

 

P.S : Mr. Gopal Reddy, a close associate of Mr. Sivaram Prasad, MD has joined Studio N , quitting TV5 as everybody expected. It all started on the day when Mr. Prasad left TV5. Everyone (his friends and foes) started asking him as to when he would leave TV5. Finally he had to take the decision and join his old friend in Studio N. Mr. Reddy is a good sports journalist.

Realisation in NTV ?

After one year of its launch, NTV's Chowdary has evaluated the performance of the channel and came to an understanding that he was greatly mislead by a team and started taking corrective measures. Induction of Mr. Sreeram is one such step. It is also rumoured that a batch of three 'key' persons will be sent out soon. Mr. Chowdary is also repenting on foregoing the services of Mr. Kommineni, who is now leading TV to success. Interestingly, in the recent past, Mr. Chowdary tried to give away his channel to Congress and at one stage ( to be precise, on the day when Chiranjeevi was about to enter Pulivendula ), Mr. Ram Reddy of Sakshi Features literally took over the News Department and dictated the scrolling and decided the names of the persons with whom the phone interviews are to be taken. This  created panic among the staff and now he has decided to forego government advertisements and maintain a neutral stand. Janakshemam has been stopped suddenly. Will the realisation help NTV regain its past glory ?

HMTV on 12th ?

The much awaited hmtv is hopeful of launching on 12th Dec2008,  more than one year after its starting. Former President of India Mr. Kalam is said to be the chief guest. However, insiders say that declaring dates is only an eye wash and it is only possible to give a test signal and the launch is impossible at any cost during this year. The programming department claims to have 100 hours of  programming ready for telecast while the Bureau is confident about the live coverages. The DSNG vans are scheduled to arrive in Hyderabad by 10th of this month. If everything goes as per the claims of the management, hmtv will be the first multilingual channel in India with Telugu, English and Urdu bulletins.

TV5 is No. 2 Telugu News Channel

The latest ratings show that TV5 is in second position .

 

In the 15+ age group, TV9 has 3.39%, TV5 has 2.22 percent, ETV2 2.15%, NTV 1.05% and Gemini News has 0.32 % of market share. The steady growth of TV5 and the miserable state of NTV are clearly seen from the data.

HMTV gearing up for Dec' 08 launch

 

 

HMTV, formerly known as T Channel is all set for December launch. The work is progressing on a war footing at their new premises located at ASRao Nagar and the test signal is likely before the end of this month. The channel is expected to be different from other channels with its English and Urdu bulletins. The Heads are now concentrating on how to take forward the channel. They have been in touch with NRIs of Telangana and are trying to seek their help in both content procurement as well as revenue generation. A note is being circulated among the NRIs apart from  holding teleconferences with them. The note in circulation is enclosed herewith for your reference.

 

 

A note on hmtv

 

Our firm belief is that if the people of our country are given correct information in right perspective, they are capable of making proper decision which is of utmost importance in a democracy. We have a feeling that the present fare put out by various news channels and newspapers is falling short of universal standards of journalism and democracy. There is also a feeling that the Andhra Pradesh media in general is domonated by persons who do not seem to have commitment to the welfare of the society. Fair play has been lacking. Political agendas are sought to be implemented through tv channels and columns of newspapers. We thought there is a need to show the proper way by building an ideal media house.

Mr. K. Ramachnadra Murthy who has been a journalist for more than thirty five years and a distinguished editor for more than two decades has been exploring the possiblity of founding an organisation which could build such a media house. He was looking for the right persons to associate with. Mr. Mallepalli Laxmaiah and other friends have been with him in this dream. Mr. Murthy, while he was editor of Andhra Jyothi, happened to meet Mr. Vamanrao, chairman of Kapil group of companies, who is interested in funding a responsible news channel. As both Mr. Murthy and Mr. Vamanrao share the same value system and believe in honest means and lofty goals, it did not take much time for them to get together to develop Hyderabad Media House. HMH is about to launch a tv news and current affairs channel in December this year.

A formidable team has been built up over the year with like-minded persons who are known for their integrity and accomplishment in their respective fields. We are rearing to go. We are confident that we would be able to catch the imagination of the viewers with our content and presentation. We want to be different from the rest of the channels by all means.

After Mr. Laxmaiah participated in teleconference on November 12, 2008, we were pleased to note that our friends in the US and other countries are willing to extend their support to the channel. While whole-heartedly welcoming our well wishers into the family of hmtv, we have a request to make through the following points.

1)All the Telugu channels are winding up the show at 11 pm and repeating the day's programmes till 5 am next day. We would like to produce some  programmes which would interest NRIs. Our night would be NRI's day when they can watch such programmes. In order to produce original programmes, we need footage from the US and other countries. We need to have a network of reporting. Can our friends organise a network of enthusiastic persons who are prepared to ruch to the news spot,  take visuals and send them across to us?

2)Is it possible to also have a marketing network of sorts to help the channel in mobilising some advertisements from the US so that part of the cost of production could be met?

3)We would also like to include news about the parents of NRIs who are living in India. We would use our local network of reporters to get the news. We, would also request our NRI friends to encourage their friends and relatives back home to patronise hmtv.

4)We will be obliged if any of the NRIs could come up with suggestions to improve the content and business of hmtv. We would be happy if they could bring to our notice any problems in distribution of the channel over there.

This is all for now. We can develop more ideas on further interaction.

Gemini staff asked to resign

The inevitable has happened. All these days, the Geminimanagement has been telling its employees that the staff will not lose their jobs. Now that the channel has been leased out to an agency, all the Gemini News staff have been asked to tender their resignation. The only assurance being given is that they will be given appointment orders on behalf of the new agency. The staff who have been working with the Sun Network enjoying benefits like Bonus despite meagre salaries are now worried about the latest development. Some of the staff have already searched for new jobs and left the organisation but those who didnt find a suitable job are still continuing. It has to be seen whether the new agency retains all of them or jettison some of them.

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IVR's Mahaa News Channel

Yes, it is another news channel in the already crowded Telugu News Channel market.It is MAHAA TV of Mr. I.Venkata Rao. ETV2, TV9, Gemini News, NTV , TV5 are operational and work is going on in Sakshi , HMTV, iNews, Asianet Telugu, Zee 24 Gantalu while Andhra Jyothi's TV (name yet to be known) , IVR's mahaa TV and Sivaram Prasad's Studio N are ready for recruiting hands.The total number of telugu news channels thus become 13.

 

Today's advertisement in Andhra Jyothi said that MAHAA TV is Mr. I.Venkata Rao's own channel. Since his books are also published by "Monika"  and the network is also named after Monika, people are made to believe that Mr. IVR is the chief promoter of the channel, though it is rumoured that Mr. Nama Nageswara Rao is behind this venture. There is another news doing its round saying that a retired police officer is the chief promoter. The launch is expected in February ( Mr. IVR is hopeful of launching in January itself ) but it will be herculian task considering the experience of Mr. Ramachandra Murthy who has been struggling hard to bring out hmtv for the past one year.

 

Mr. Katta Shekhar Reddy will be the second in command and the key persons in the team have already been selected. It is also known that Mr. Vinay is the Chief Producer for this channel. Mr. Rama Rao ( Formerly with Andhra Jyothi at Guntur ) will be the Input Editor, Mr. Narayana ( ETV) will be the Hyderabad Bureau Chief and Mr. Keshav (ETV ) will be the Output Editor. Some more ETV staff members have been finalised but the names are yet to be known.

 

Interestingly, Mr. Sivaram Prasad of Narne Group is also planning to launch his channel in January. He has already ordered for the equipment and the installation is likely to be completed by the end of November. The recruitment will be from 1st December, by which time everything will be in nplace and those who join can start working immediately. His experience helped a lot and the planning is likely to prove that he can bring out his channel in January without burdening the promoters heavily with the unproductive pre launch expenses. ( Sakshi and HMTV are now spending huge sums on salaries without any tangible productive work.)

 

As for the other news channels waiting for the launch, Sakshi HDTV,  Zee 24 Gantalu, Asianet Telugu News are  likely to be aired in January taking into consideration the pace of work going on.  iNews and hmtv are planning for November launch, but insiders say that only test signal is possible since the content trials are still in a preliminary stage. Heads of these two channels are under pressure since the launch is getting delayed.

 

 

Reliance with 18 channels

Reliance group is coming out with 18 channels and the list of the channels approved by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting is given hereunder for your information.

                       1. BIG FAMILY     2. BIG BONDHON   3. BIG CHITRAPAT     4. BIG CHOBI    5. BIG FITNESS 24X7    6. BIG FOOD   7. BIG GAURAV  8. BIG HEALTH     9. BIG HITS 

                  

                     10. BIG HOLLYWOOD  11. BIG ISAI  12. BIG JUICE  13. BIG MAGIC  14. BIG MAUJA  15. BIG SANGEET  16. BIG SANJHA  17. BIG SPIRITUAL  18. BIG ULLAS

 

However, the list doesnt mention anything about the regional channels.

 

Attack on Kareem

Mr. Kareem of TV5 has been brutally attacked by his presentent wife Sireesha alias Noor's father and brother. It is said that he is out of danger but the doctors are not sure whether he could retain his eyesight. Mediapeople, mostly from the electronic media rushed to the hospital immediately on knowing this.

 

However, there were no breaking news, phones-in, updates, backgrounders etc...as is the usual practice of the channels. All the channels kept quiet and this is an interesting trend. Can anybody guess the reasons behind this silence ?

Sribala in NTV, Danny with Vanita

 

There are two important joinings in Rachana Television .

 

 Ms. Sribala joined NTV as the Programming Chief to take care of the News based programmes in the channel. She was earlier with Sakshi daily and was in the features department but later shifted to general news. She will be taking care of the creative and script writing side of the programming in NTV.

 

Another development is that Mr. Danny who has recently quit HMTV has joined Vanita TV. He will be incharge of the news bulletins in the channel. The exact designation is yet to be known.

Narne's News Channel in Dec ?

Narne group's telugu news channel is being planned for December launch. The staff recruited so far doesnt exceed 20 but they are confident enough to launch in December. The trainees of RV Prasad at Channel 4 office who joined the institute paying around 20,000 will be inducted as per the information available. Pooja was performed at the new premises located on the outskirts of the city, somewhere at Manikonda, about 8 km from Jubilee Hills Checkpost. This will be the third such experiment to go to a far off place, after HMTV and RTV. The management is said to be very particular on immediate launch keeping in view the Assembly elections.

Latest ratings

Ratings of  Telugu Channels in the order of ranks.

 

Entertainment Channels :

 

1. Gemini TV  2.  Maa TV  3. Teja   4.  ETV   5. Zee Telugu 

 

Music Channels :

 

1. Maa Music 2. Gemini Music

 

News Channels :

 

1. TV9    2. ETV2    3. TV5   4. NTV   5. Gemini News

 

Danny quits HMTV

 

One more senior staff member of HMTV left the organisation today. Mr. A.M. Khan Yazdany, popularly known as Danny has resigned. He was one of the Chief Reporters in the channel and was in the Programming Department. A journalist in English and Telugu, experienced in Print and Electronic media, Mr. Danny is said to be unhappy with the way things are are happening in the channel. Though some of  the insiders attribute the reason for the dissatisfaction  to the sudden decision of its CEO/MD/ Chief Editor to drop the programme entrusted to him,  others say that Mr. Danny was made to report to an upstart in the department and this was the  immediate reason. However, the development is said to be part of the dissatisfaction brewing among the upper strata of the staff due to delay in fixing up their designations, hierarchy and work division. The lower level staff are very much happy with their salary being fixed at Rs. 10,000 recently.

 

 

News Channels in December only

The much awaited Sitara, Vanita channels and the cable channel Local TV have been launched. Now it is for the people to decide the future of these channels. RTV is gearing up for launch, though the date is yet to be announced. After the crisis in its US Branches, the management has decided to go slow. However, the project is not shelved. The brochures are being distributed and the huge studios built in Uppal claim that the channel is coming in a big way.

 

On the news side, hmtv, iNews, Saakshi, Zee 24 Gantalu, Asianet News are trying hard to see the light of the day. However, the snail pace of work due to various reasons is keeping the heads under great pressure. Saakshi school gave Dasara holidays while the HM is strict enough to restrict it to a day despite his official announcement that it takes 2 more months for the launch. None of these five channels is ready for launch in November. Asianet may be an exception. The only possibility of ' launch ' is a test signal.

 

Of all these upcoming news channels, hmtv is claiming to be visible soon. However, practically it seems ambitious since the team is yet to move into its new premises. Same is the case with iNews. Zee 24 gantalu is also slow in the recruitments and is likely only after Decemer. Saakshi Tv cannot be launched before December since the building itself will be handed over to them in November. Asianet Telugu News is getting ready and it has the potential for launch at the end of November or, the first week of December.

 

Needless to say that Andhra Jyothi and IVR's New TV cannot be launched before elections at any cost. Mr. Sivaprasad is also suggesting the AJ management to go slow. Mr. IVR has selected a core team and is busy in planning...planning .... and planning.

Drastic drop in NTV's GRPs

 

TV5 celebrated its first anniversary on Thursday. It is a moment of celebration since it has achieved a lot. It crossed NTV which was a month ahead of it . Now TV5 is targetting to cross ETV2 also. But the management has given an impression that it is the no.1 channel and almost all the guests at the anniversary function repeated the same saying that the number one channel has to retain its position. They are kept in dark and the fact is : TV5 is still only half of the number one channel TV9. To make it more clear, let us see the latest ratings of these channels during the week ending with 27th Sept.

Among the news channels, TV9 has scored 139 Gross Rating points and its market share comes to about 5%. ETV2 has 76 points and the share is 3%. It is closely followed by TV5 with 72 points and 3%. There is drastic fall in NTV's performance as its GRPs are a mere 47 which comes to 2% market share. Gemini News is just less than 0.4%. It is imminent that Mr. Chowdary look back at his news channel though he is busy launching Vanitha TV.

Coming to the Entertainment Channels, Gemini ( 27%) , Teja ( 15% ) and Maa ( 14% )  continue to be in the first three positions while ETV ( 13% ) scaled up to 4th place, pushing back Zee Telugu ( 12% ) to the 5th place.

 

Gemini News leased out

In an interesting development, the Sun Network has literally leased out Gemini News, a 24 hour news channel. All of a sudden the team of the lessees entered the premises yesterday ( 1st October ) and took control of the department, to the utter shock and dismay of the existing staff members. It is not clear as to how the management wants to settle the accounts of the present staff, including those who have been serving the organisation for ten years, eversince the news department started. The present arrangement, as per the information available is that the new organisation has to bear the maintenance charges including salaries and has to give Sun Network a monthly compensation of Rs. 20 lakhs. Thus the marketing of the channel will also be taken care by thenew team

However, the staff members got panick and started calling their Hyderabad office about their future. As a damage control exercise, Mr. Kiran ( Director/CEO ) called each and every reporter over phone and informed that the arrangement is basically aimed at marketing and at the same time " some feature stories as value addition " will be taken care of by the new team. However, the bewildered staff are in no mood to accept this theory.

ETV drops to 5th place

Eenadu Television was number one in the first two years but Gemini scaled up after SUN network's acquisition. The pity is, it is now in the 5th place in Andhra pradesh. Last weeks share of Gross Rating Points revealed the trend. Gemini and its Movie channel  Teja continued to maintain 1st and 2nd positions with 25% and 14% share closely followed by Maa TV ( 3rd ) and Zee telugu ( 4th ) . Then comes ETV in its 5th place. This falling trend is continuing despite having its reach and penetration throughout the state. Among the Music channels, Maa is better than Gemini Music as is evedent from the ratings.

While coming to News Channels, TV 9 continues to be number one and the number 2 ETV2 is only 60 percent of  TV9's share. NTV and TV5 are still fighting for the 3rd position and are almost equal. No need to talk about Gemini News since it always try to retain its last position.

This can be seen from the table given hereunder. Name of the channel, Gross rating points and their share are given in order.

 

Gemini   - 683 - 25%
Teja   - 377 - 14%
Maa TV  - 357 - 13%
ZEE Telugu  - 337  - 13%
ETV   - 310   - 12%

Gemini Music - 44 - 2%
Maa Music - 65 - 2%

TV9  - 189 - 7%
ETV2  - 103 - 4%

NTV  - 84 - 3%
TV5 - 84 - 3%

Gemini News - 15 - 1%

Siva Prasad Resigns

 

NTV's Output Editor Mr. Siva Prasad resigned today. He will be heading the proposed news channel of Andhra Jyothi. He has scaled to such a high position within a short span of about 8 years in Television and recorded fastest growth rate among his batchmates in journalism.

Local TV appoints News Chief

 

Local TV promoted by film producer Aswini Dutt has appointed Mr. Bhavannarayana as its news chief.  It is a cable TV concept extending its tentacles to all the districts with dedicated optic fiber lines and thus will have 23 channels. The project is ambitious considering its vast scope for development. Initially there may be hesitation from the media since it is a cable channel. However, the huge investment being pumped into this project may attract people slowly and the local concept " Your town and Your news " may catch the people in due course.

Maa Bhakti is now Maa Pooja

Maa TV has changed the name of its devotional channel recently. The change is seen in the latest updated list of channels permitted to be downlinked in India. Since there is another channel called Bhakti, Maa TV must have decided to change its name. However, when there is news that Sony is going to take over the channel, the sudden decision of the channel manmagement is very interesting.

 

In the new list of the approved channels, 13 names have been added while two have been removed from the earlier list. Satya TV continues to find place in the list even after 3 years of getting license. However, not a single Telugu channel is found in the latest 13 indicating that Saakshi, Asianet Telugu and Zee 24 Gantalu are yet to be approved officially.

Andhra Jyothi to go alone

Andhra Jyothi's efforts to launch a news channel in partnership with CNN IBN has failed and finally Mr. Radha Krishna has decided to go alone. The umpteen number of conditions laid down by IBN's Rajdeep Sardesai irritated Mr. Radha Krishna and he finally felt that he should own his channel 100 percent to implement his strategies. The decision to go on his own was taken a couple of days ago and things have been moving very fast.

Earlier when the idea of starting a news channel along with CNN IBN was mooted, Mr. Radha Krishna invited his old staff member and now the Output Editor of TV9 Mr. Arun Sagar. Even as some of the Andhra Jyothi staff members expressed their dissatisfaction over the way he was invited and offered a huge pay ( those who are in AJ say that Mr. RK was even very angry when Arun Sagar left AJ to join TV9 ), RK went ahead with his bargaining. However, Mr. Sagar, a close associate of Mr. ravi Prakash and who enjoys Number 2 position in the No 1 news channel rejected the offer.

Now it is the turn of Mr. Siva Prasad of NTV who was also in TV9 earlier. The preliminary discussions were over and it is learnt that he may take charge any day. Mr. Siva Prasad is unhappy with RK and Murthy in NTV and is said to have openly expressed his unhappiness with Mr. Chowdary. Though Mr. Chowdary promised him to see that he will be given due priority, nothing concrete happened. This unhappiness is said to be the main cuase of Sivaprasad's decision to move to Andhra Jyothi TV.Interestingly, Mr. Ramakrishna, Coordinator, NTV who has been eyeing the Output Editor's post for a long time is likely to get it while Mr. Sreeram of Andhra Jyothi is being asked by the NTV management for the Coordinator's post.

If everything goes well, the reporting network of Andhrajyothi will be busy with the additional burden of 'GOTTAALU' ( Courtesy : Dr. Y.S.Rajasekhar Reddy ). Mr. RK is planning to launch his channel by February. But the question is whether it can create any impact on the elections on the elections, considereing the short span of time available.

TV5 crosses ETV 2

 

TV5 is second among Telugu News Channels now. Ofcourse, it is only half of the leader TV9. Though it is closely followed by ETV2, its contemporary NTV is far behind. The consistent performance of TV5 is observed during the last two months.

 

When Chiranjeevi announced his Prajarajyam at Tirupati, NTV  got his exclusive interview and got good ratings also. It was the leader on that day. TV5 was very unhappy with this and was angry with Chiranjeevi. Later when Katti Padmarao's issue came up, TV5 has decided to dig TRPs out of it and finally succeeded. This was a signal to the PrajaRajyam camp that if exclusives are given, others will not spare them.

 

The war is likely to be fierce hereafter. Seems ETV2 has backed out and slowly moving out of the race. In the Entertainment channels also, ETV is in its 5th place in the latest TAM reports after Gemini, Teja, Maa and Zee Telugu.

 

Status of New News Channels

The new News Channels are gearing for early launch but there are certain unavoidable hurdles. We have the details of the status of various channels gathered by our team :
 
HMTV : Described as HAMSA TV with its new logo, the channel from Hyderabad Mediahouse has unofficially announced its launch date as October 9th, Vijayadashami but the current pace of work shows that it may officially be aired only in November. The editorial staff will be moving to the new premises after 25th of this month. 80 percent of the Recruitments are over and the team is confident of bringing out a good channel with their oft repeated slogan ' truth and nothing but truth'.
 
SAKSHI TV : Most of the recruitment part is over but the problem of space is yet to be resolved. Staff were paid one month salary even before they attended office and this month, they have been asked to attend in shifts, 3 hours a day. There is no chance for the channel's launch before November.
 
iNEWS : This is yet another channel which has not yet shifted to new premises. Insiders say that the shifting will be over by 20 th of this month.However, launch of the channel will only be in November. Only 60 percent of the staff have been recruited. The slow pace is being attributed to the completion of building.
 

ZEE 24 GANTALU : Since this is only an extension of existing News Bulletins in its mother channel, 30 percent of the staff are already working. Have recruited another 20 percent recently but stopped later. Delay in finishing the building work is said to be the reason. Likely to be aired in November if everything goes well.

ASIANET NEWS : This team was earlier identified as working for Sitara and there was some confusion whether it will be part of Star or not. Now that it is clear, the team is getting ready for its 24 Hour News Channel. With all the infrastructure already in place, the channel is likely to be on air in November.
 
STUDIO N : With a license on hand, this channel is unable to finalise whether to bring an English News Channel or to wait for a Telugu News Channel license and launch both at a time. Again there is the problem of its premises being ready. Currently in Jubilee Hills, the team is likely to shift to its new premises in Madhapur by the end of this month.Launch may be in January 2009.

Some more developments

Mr. Kareem, a senior journalist came back to Television once again. Needless to say that he joined seniors' channel - HMTV. He is learnt to have designated as Asst Editor and he will be second in command next only to the Managing Director cum Editor in Chief as per sources. Kareem's entry is sure to create ripples in the channel . It is not fair to describe the nature of ripples since most of them in the channel are not familiar with his style of functioning and time only tells. Only those who worked with him in ETV know about him.


Mr. Nagendra, eenadu product who later worked in Andhra Jyothi and Andhra Prabha has also joined HMTV.

Mr. Rammohan, senior among crime reporters has joined Sakshi TV. He was earlier with Gemini TV and later worked in CTV also for some time. Later moved to Print Medium and worked for Surya daily.

Mr. G. Anjaneyulu, leader of Working Journalists Federation joined RTV. He left Suprabhaatam. Likely to lead Electronic media journalists now.

HY TV coming soon

 

 

This is the info provided by one of our readers:

 

HY-TV- Hyderabad will fill a niche media void in the Greater Hyderabad metro area and target a lucrative 1 million potential population. The channel will deploy a successful dual-core strategy, as in the world's developed markets, with programming for and marketing to a 21st century highly cosmopolitan audience with a fast-paced lifestyle.
 

http://www.hytelevision.in/aboutus.html

HY TV, launched under the corporate HY MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENT Pvt. Ltd , marks yet another formidable foray into the powerful and growing regional television market by India's premier media group, POSITIV TELEVISION Media, comprising the flagship TV and Radio enterprises, POSITIV TELEVISION Pvt. Ltd. and POSITIV Radio Pvt. Ltd. POSITIV TV already boasts of operating several firsts in the country: India's first private teleport and private satellite television and radio channels in Northeastern India to cover and connect all the eight states of the region. We are an unparalleled brand name in the Northeast, based in Guwahati with a deep penetration of Northeast India besides being connected to the nook and corner of India with fiber optic, VSAT links and our own DSNG vans. We gave new meaning to Regional Language Electronic Media with our two television channels that have come to command the respect and love of our audience. NETV reigns supreme as the only 24 hour news network in the world with live bulletins in 17 languages of the region, and, NE Hi Fi has begun to enthrall families with general entertainment programming in different languages of northeast India, and from Bollywood to Hollywood. Radio Oolalala's private FM network extends from Guwahati to Shillong to Agartala and Itanagar. In 2007, the group launched NE Bangla that caters to East and Northeast Indian audiences in Bengali language and is fast emerging as a top 5 in the region. POSITIV TV is the first private teleport in the Northeast or for that matter any sensitive area of India. POSITIV TV Media's presence has grown from Guwahati with bureaus in over two dozen cities of Northeast India to now a national presence created through its newly announced television channel, FOCUS TV for the Indian women. & HAMAR TV, under the corporate Hamar Television Network Pvt. Ltd , yet another foray into the growing regional television market by India's premier media group . Hamar TV will capture an important regional language market - the Bhojpuri speaking people. Bhojpuri is not just the mother tongue but enshrines a heritage for many in Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal and Delhi, besides immigrants in countries such as Nepal, Mauritius and many countries spread through the 5 continents of the world that could number more than 18 crores .

Andhra Jyothi Madhav in Sakshi TV

 

Andhra Jyothi Bureau Chief Mr. Madhav joined Sakshi TV as Associate Editor. Though he got an offer from TV5 earlier, he rejected the proposal since he wanted to be Bureau Chief of one of the major newspapers for atleast one year, according to his close friends in the media. However, he has decided to quit following varoius signals indicating the deterioration of situation in Andhra Jyothi and opted to join Sakshi TV. He has vast experience in the print medium and is good at identifying stories on Governance.

 

Mr. Viswanath, working as Senior reporter at Chennai has also quit Andhra Jyothi. It is learnt that he joined hmtv. With his good contacts at chennai, he will continue to stay at Chennai and work for hmtv hereafter.

NTV celebrates 1st anniversary

NTV and its Bhakti channel are Celebrating their 1st anniversary today. The festive mood can be observed on the screen, ofcourse, a low key affair compared to the 50 lakh budget inaugural meeting.

 

Insiders say that there are three reasons for lack of enthusiasm. Initially Mr. Chowdary thought of launching Vanita TV also on this day but could not make it.  NTV has failed to keep atleast its 3rd position and had to give way to its junior, TV5. The revenues are also less compared to TV5 while the expenditure is more.All these reasons collectively impacted the mind of Mr. Chowdary. Despite providing modern equipment and offering reasonably high salaries he was unable to move up in the Ratings and this annoyed him greatly.

 

The only consoling factor is that Bhakti channel is ahead of Sanskruti ( sponsored by TV9).

 

Leaving aside all these financial matters to Mr. Chowdary, let us all wish our journos in NTV a happy anniversary.

TV9 faced Mohan Babu's ire

 

TV9 led other channels in scrolling a flash item saying that Mr. Mohan Babu's elder son Mr.Vishnu Vardhan is going to marry YSR's younger brother's daughter who works in the U.S. The news also clarified that it is a love cum arranged marriage. Irritated with this news, Mr. Mohan babu came rushing to TV9 office along with his sons Vishnu and Manoj and daughter lakshmi Prasanna. As soon as he entered the office, he asked for Mr. Alapati Suresh Kumar, the Input Editor and Mr. Arun Sagar, the Output Editor and started using all the dirty words. He has even mentioned the incident of Chiru's daughter's marriage and told them that he is not Chiranjeevi to keep quiet. " Donga lan....llaaraa, maa sonta vishayaalu ceppadaaniki meerevarraa ? nenemanna chiranjeevinanukunnaaraa naanaa gabbu cheste oorukovataaniki ? champi jailukelata" . The staff including the Input editor and the Output editor were taken aback at the gate crashing model of Mr. Mohan Babu. At that time, the channel's CEO Mr. Ravi Prakash was not in office. However, the team leaders immediately informed him about the incident. Pat came a suggestion from Ravi Prakash " Dont play the half an hour story planned for 7.30 pm . He wont leave us if we proceed further". The earlier indication on the screen that a special story will be telecast at 7.30 was also immediately withdrawn.

 

Journalists in the poll fray !

TRS party's probable candidates are in T Channel ...err HMTV as per the information. KCR's latest statement that three more journalists are going to get tickets in the next elections made them happy. Mr. Ramalinga Reddy, who was with Vaarta earlier was given a ticket from Medak district and he won the seat against a senior TDP leader Mr. Mutyam Reddy twice. Similarly, the TRS chief is hopeful of winning if some seats are allocated to journalists. So he has decided to give tickets to three journalists and all of them are in HMTV. ( No comments whether it is a sheer coincidence or the birds of a feather flocked together). Mr.Narayan Reddy, Chief Reporter, Political Bureau and Mr. Virahat Ali, Asst Chief News Coordinator are aspirants of tickets from Medak district while the Input Editor/Chief News Coordinator of the channel Mr. Laxmaiah is an aspirant of MP ticket from Peddapalli.

Interestingly, Mr. Sailesh Reddy of Zee Telugu who tried for a ticket both from Congress and TDP during last elections may also try his luck this time.But the name of the Party is still unclear. Mr. Madduleti of Vaarta from Kurnool district tried Congree ticket to fight against Mr. B.V. Mohan Reddy last time. He is trying once again.Mr. Khuda Baksh of Andhra Prabha tried Kadiri (Anantapur dist) Congress ticket last time but missed. He is again on his efforts this time.

News is that there are three aspirants in Chiranjeevi's Praja Raajyam too. Mr. Satti Babu, a senior photo journalist from East Godavari has already entered the inner circle of the party. He is now incharge of the media at Chiru's office and has been overseeing the arrangements for the media. Mr. Parameswar Rao, a senior journalist from Srikakulam dist has also joined the party though his aspirations are not clearly spelled out. Mr. Kanna Babu and Mr. Narasimha Rao of Eenadu are already named by the so called inner circle as the probable candidates.APUWJ president Mr. Somasundaram is also trying for a ticket. However, he is in a dilemma whether to join the party directly or wait till Lok Satta ties up with Praja rajyam and contest on Lok Satta ticket.Though the name of Mr. Murthy (NTV)is also doing rounds in Media circles, his friends dismiss it as a mere rumour.

Earlier, Mr. K. Keshava Rao, a journalist became Minister, PCC Chief, and later Rajya Sabha member in Congress. Mr. Laxma Reddy, a close relative of Marri Channa Reddy and the founder of NSS ( a news agency ) contested from Hyderabad Loksabha Constituency unsuccessfully. From TDP side, Mr. Kalva Srinivasulu became MP and now one of the General Secretaries of the party after being defeated in 2004. While the owners of the media organisations are keen on Council and Rajya Sabha tickets, journos are interested in fighting the polls with their field experience.

Sivaram Prasad for English News Channel

 

Mr. Sivaram Prasad of Studio N will be confined to the proposed English News Channel of the Narne group while Mr. Kommineni Srinivasa Rao is the likely candidate to head their Telugu  News Channel. Though they got  Licenses for Studio 1 ( Entertainment ) and Studio N ( News ), initially the work for the  English News Channel  is going on. They are yet to get a license for the Telugu Channel and once it is through, the work for Telugu News as well as Entertainment will take off. Mr. Kommineni was already contacted and he is waiting for the license to come. He is also very particular that the management spends huge amounts so that the channel is aired before elections.

Influence of REACH on Ratings

 The availability of a TV channel influences its Ratings according to the TAM Data. The cooperation of the MSOs and Cable Operators makes all the difference. The figures for the month of June 16 to July 15  show  this trend. The figures indicate the percentage of  houses with cable connection in the country which have the facility to watch the particular channel on their TV.

 

The national level data show that TV5 reaches 6.86% of houses while TV9 reaches 9.46%, ETV2  8.64%, NTV 6.95 % and Gemini News 5.35%. The Ratings are in the order of TV9, ETV2, TV5, NTV and Gemini News. Here, the reach of NTV is more than TV5 but the ratings are slightly lower. This is a plus point for TV5. There is scope for enhancing its reach.

 

When we see the reach in Hyderabad City alone, TV9 reaches 82.29% of houses with Cable connection while ETV2 is available to 79.05%, NTV 62,41%. TV5 63.27% and Gemini News to 35.13%. The ratings of TV5 in Hyderabad city are far better than NTV and the reach is also one of the factors.

 

Hence the role of the MSO/Cable Operator has become very much important. First, he has to give the channel thus keeping it available for browsing. Then only the there will be a possibility of watching it. It is then the burden of the channel to keep him attracted to the channel. That is why the MSOs are demanding huge sums of Carriage Fees.

 

HMTV Studio inauguration on 27th

 

HMTV, earlier known as ttv has completed civil and electrical work of its studio at A.S.Rao Nagar near ECIL and will be inaugurating the same on 27th. To see that the staff do not feel dissatisfied with the slow pace of work, the management has decided to infuse confidence among them and arranged this ' Gruhapravesham ' event on a large scale.The equipment procured so far will be installed and is likely to be completed in a month after which there will be trial runs throughout October.

 

Though the launch date was announced as 9th October,  it may slightly get delayed according to the insiders. If the management is very particular, the soft launch ( test signals ) will be on 9th October, Vijaya Dashami day and the final launch by the end of October or 1st November.  Movement of vehicles and cameras is very minimal at this stage and they are scarcely seen outside indicating that the preliminary work didnot gain momentum so far. More than 30 reporting staff have been inducted and they are kept busy browsing the internet in search of special stories. The stories ' on paper ' will be shot once cameras and vehicles are available.

Yama Donga loots Ratings for Maa

 

The latest ratings of the Telugu channels are really interesting. Maa TV could get 2nd place with 12 percent of market share, next only to Gemini TV. This is made possible with the help of  the blockbuster movie " Yama Donga " . However, this is the last " astram " of Maa TV. One more interesting result is that Zee Telugu could surpass the ratings of ETV. The variety programmes including its reality shows brought considerable ratings for Zee. Infact, the staff at Zee have even celebrated this achievement in a big way. This is for the first time ETV dropped to 4th place. Gemini, Maa, Teja, Zee Telugu and ETV are in the descending order of their market shares. Among  the News Channels, TV9 continues to be the leader while ETV2 remains in a distant second place. TV5 protected its 3rd place for the 5th consecutive week challenging its arch rival NTV.

Anniversaries or Instalment nightmares ?

 

NTV and its devotional channel Bhakti are going to celebrate the completion of one year on 30th of this month. Mr. Chowdary is now ready with his third channel Vanitha. For want of auspicious days, the launch of vanitha is slated for 9th September. The anniversary celebrations of the existing channels will also take place on 9th. But this is not a cheerful moment for Mr. Chowdary since he has to pay huge amount towards Carriage fees to the cable operators. Apart from paying for Vanitha, he has to pay another instalment of around 4 crores for the earlier channels also. The amount he paid last year was meant only for one year and the operators are demanding fresh payment.

 

 Last year Mr. Chowdary estimated that his channel would be popular among the audience in one year and that the people would demand their operators to show NTV. Basing on this assumption,  he thought that he would not be required to request the operators. But the things are entirely different. The channel dropped from 3rd to 4th position among the 5 News Channels. Under these circumstances, Mr. Chowdary is forced to urge the operators to show his channel. He is now prepared to forego an amount of 7 crores for NTV, Bhakti and Vanitha this year.... The anniversary gift to the Cable operators.

 

The situation at TV5 is no different. Though Mr. Naidu is happy with the performance of the channel scaling to 3 rd position surpassing its nearest rival NTV, he is under pressure from the operators as he is also completing 1 year on 2nd October. With about 5 more news channels coming up and are ready to pay carriage fees, the operators are asking for an additional amount this year. They are even threatening to stop the channel and allocate the space to the new channels willing to pay huge carriage fees. Its no wonder if the cable Operators openly call for an auction and see that they carriage fees of more than 5 crores in the near future.

 

It is also learnt that the operators are unhappy with TV5 for its inclusion in Tata Sky which is against the interests of the cable operators. Though TV5 boasts itself for finding place in DTH, which its rival NTV is deprived of, it has become a negative point from the operators point of view.

What do Maa Directors get ?

 

As already informed, Sony is going to take over Maa and the due deligence ( physical verification and evaluation of assets and liabilities ) has already started. A formula for finding out Goodwill apart from valuation of Movies on hand is also arrived at.

 

Now the point is, how much do the Directors get ? Maa TV was valued at Rs.100 crores when new partners came in during 2006. Mr. Akkineni Nagarjuna Rao ( Nagarjuna ) and his brother-in-law Mr. Chalasani Ramesh were together given 20 percent share. However, share of 10 Rs was offered to them only @ Rs. 7 as a special price.Hence the duo were able to get 20 percent stake in Maa just for 14 crores. Later Mr.Chiranjeevi and Mr. Aravind also together took 20 percent but the price was at par, ie, 20 crores. Then entered Mr.Nimmagadda Prasad alias Matrix Prasad. He took 20 percent on paying Rs 20 crores. He offered 2 percent to his Finance Director Mr. C. Rama Krishna. This is what happened when the new partners came in. After this, the share of Mr. MuraliKrishnam Raju is reduced to 30 percent. However, he continued to be the one with the highest share and thus the post of Chairman. Some of the early promoters and investers were reduced to nominal shareholders and all of them put together constitute the remaining 10 percent.

 

Now the company is being valued at Rs. 400 crores. Hence Mr. Nagarjuna and his brother-in law's share will be valued at 80 crores and hereafter they will hold 10 percent in the company. So, Mr.Nag will be getting Rs 40 crores back and yet continue to be a 10 percent stakeholder ( 40 crores ) in Maa.In less than 2 years of his investment to the tune of just 14 crores. Similarly, Chiranjeevi and Aravind will get back 40 crores and still hold Rs 40 crores in Maa for their 20 crore investment. Same is the case with Matrix Prasad.

 

Murali Krishnam raju, the man who got name and fame with maa TV also got huge anmount of money at two stages.He has invested around 30 crores by the time of the Cinema gang's entry and got it valued at 100 crores. He took away the 60 crores brought in by the new comers and still hold his 30 crore share in the company.Now he gets Rs 120 crores and still have 15 percent stake ( 60 crores ) in the company.However, the saddest part of it is that he ceases to be the Chairman of Maa TV. 

TV5 Sreedhar in iNews

 

Mr.Peddi Sreedhar of TV5 has finally landed in iNews proving that those who have the habit of jumping do not stop with a single hop. Particularly the Executive Producers/Chief Producers. All the news channels are encouraging such jumps. Mr. Vinay who was initially a product of ETV has joined IVR's channel after completing one year in NTV. He has promised Rajasekhar but finally opted to join IVR's new venture. With this, Mr. Sreedhar who was unsuccessful with all other channels found this opportunity. He is also the one who completed one year in TV5 launched last year and is yet to celebrate its anniversary. Zee 24 Gantalu has roped in Mr. Bharat Reddy from TV9 and now the cycle is almost complete. It has to be seen as to who will replace these three Executive producers in NTV, TV5 and TV9.

SONY to take Major Share in MAA TV

SONY has decide to take 51 pecent share of MAA TV.
This was agreed in Principle.
Due deligence will start either on 21st or 22nd of this month and a team of Auditors will start the evaluation process of the MAA TV.
This process may take four to five months.
By this time, the NEWS department will be closed.

Radha Krishna frustrated ?

    

       Confused Radha Krishna is trying to confuse the people with his writings in Andhra jyothi on the forthcoming channels. In the name of analysis, he gave all the wrong information and analysed the wrong data. when we contacted some of the seniors in this field, they have ridiculed the figures mentioned in the report.

 

     The recurring expenditure for a news channel doesnt cost more than 18 crores per annum at any cost, even if the current rates of salary are taken into consideration. But Andhra Jyothi calculated it at 25 to 30 crores. Similarly, the report said there are as many as 10 OB Vans working for the Telugu Channels in New Delhi. Its also false. There are only four such live vans now. The income of the news channels has been estimated by Andhra Jyothy at 50 to 60 crores per annum but the actuals do not cross 30 crores even for the no.1 News Channel. If there are any indirect benefits, the rule is applicable to Mr. Radha Krishna also.

 

Interestingly, the timing of the report is also interesting. Amidst news that Andhra jyothi and CNN IBN are entering into an agreement to run a channel, the news item started criticising the channels. The report didnot even spare the owners. However, it chose to differentiate good money and bad money.

 

    The whole report seem to have come up only out of his frustration that seniors like Sekhar Reddy, Umamaheswar Rao and Ramarao deserted him. On knowing that some more are likely to quit soon, he preferred this news item atleast to see that some of them stop going out. He also tried to enhance the morale of those who are still continuing. What an idea !

Who is behind IVR's Channel ?

 

This is a million dollor question haunting the media people, the tv journos in particular. An impression was given earlier that some NRIs were behind the scene. Later, suddenly Madhucon's Nama Nageswar Rao's name came up. But now Madhucon people seem to be shocked to know that their name has been dragged into this issue without their involvement. The finger of suspicion is now on Mr.Murali Mohan. Earlier there were news that he was busy in planning for a newspaper. However, sources analyse that he might have changed his mind and must be investing in a channel. But none of the people close to Chandra Babu Naidu are able to confirm the name of the investor. One thing is sure - Mr. I.Venkata Rao could keep the name of the investor secret till now and kept everybody guessing. He is a little bit uneasy on hearing enquiries from the fellow journalists who are more curious about the investors than wishing him success in his new assignment. 

Radhakrishna in a dilemma

 

Andhra Jyothi MD Mr. Radha Krishna is in deep trouble now. He has entered into an agreement with CNN IBN for launching a Telugu channel but had to pay more than 50 percent for his 50 percent share. Apart from losing money, there are numerous problems with his own staff. Some of them are willing to move to the channel with a view to get more salary while he wanted some of them to stay put with the newspaper. The unhappiness among the staff grew when an ex employee of the newspaper ( now in a leading channel ) was invited with a salary more than 1 lakh. Though there is no indication of acceptance of the offer, the print seniors are worried about working under him and the thought itself caused resentment among the staff. Now Mr. RK is unable to solve the problem of recruitments. On the otherhand, Mr. Sekhar Reddy and Mr. Ramarao at NEW TV haveprepared a list of probable staff to be poached from Andhra Jyothi and are said to be waiting for the final nod of their boss Mr. IVR

IVR's channel is NEW TV

 

The channel being floated by Mr. I.Venkata Rao is named as NEW TV as per the latest information. It is already known that Mr. Sekhar Reddy and Rama Rao of Andhra Jyothi have joined this channel. Though some are of the opinion that Mr. Vinay has left NTV and joined this new channel as its Chief Producer, sources in the channel are not confirming the news. The office of the channel is located somewhere in Jubilee Hills. The latest information is that Mr. Jayaprasad of CTV is going to join this team. He was earlier with Andhra Jyothi when I.Venkata Rao was its Editor. Later he worked for Andhra Pradesh magazine during Chandrababu's regime and immediately after elections, took shelter in CTV. Though Mr. Chowdary is not willing to releave him at this juncture,  it is learnt that he has convinced him.

ttv to change its name

       ttv has once again decided to change its name.The Hyderabad Mediahouse got permission for its channel in the name of "ttv '' . But later, the visiting cards of the staff indicated the name as T CHANNEL. However, after a few more months, the name got changed as Channel T. Again some of the key members of the channel felt that ttv is a better choice. But, the attribution of TELANGANA to the letter ' t ' started haunting them despite their efforts to tell every Tom Dick and Harry that t stands for Truth and Trust. 

 

       At the end of a marathon  Medhomadhanam, the Heads have come to a conclusion that a new name is selected immediately. Peoples TV and Praja TV were suggested by some of them. It is learnt that most of them preferred the new name to be  HMTV. Dont interpret as " His Master's TV " or " Head Master's TV . HM stands for Hyderabad Mediahouse. The channel Heads will now take up the logo finalisation and the mikes will start appearing in the field in a week.

 

      It is interesting to note that one channel with a name close to it ' HYTV ' is getting ready in Hyderabad itself. Promoted by NETV group, the channel's office is located in Road No.11 somewhere between Local TV office and iNews office.

I.S. in Zee Telugu 24 Gantalu

 

     Zee Telugu 24 gantalu is treading a steady and careful path in recruitments. It seems Mr. Sailesh reddy is very much selective. As we have already mentioned in one of our earlier posts, Mr. Bharat Reddy of TV9 has joined Zee Telugu. And now,  news is that Mr. I.Satyanarayana, Input Editor in TV5 is going to join Zee Telugu as its Output Editor. He was earlier with Eenadu, ETV, Vissa, Andhra Jyothi and  NTV. Within a couple of months after joining NTV, he had to come out to take up the same post in TV5. But later, there were some internal changes and he was given the Input responsibilities, entirely new to him. Obviously he is not happy and has decided to quit. Mr. Sailesh knows the working style of Mr. I.S. when both were working for ETV. 

 

     Some more people are joining Zee. Mr. Rammohan from NTV has resigned to join Zee Telugu. But his designation and salary are yet to be known. Two more from NTV desk, who were earlier with Zee have also decided to go back to Zee. The recruitment is likely complete by this month end.

IVR in Madhucon's channel

 

           Andhra Jyothi Journalism College Principal Mr. Katta Sekhar Reddy resigned and joined his ex boss Mr. Inaganti Venkata Rao. It is learnt that Mr. Venkata Rao has convinced Mr.Radha Krishna not to start a news channel and asked Mr. Sekhar reddy to join him. With the 'permission'of Mr.Radhakrishna only this has happened. However, news is that RK came to know about the consultationa and he himself asked Sekhar Reddy to take an immediate decision.
 

           Mr. Sekhar Reddy is known for his organisational skills, though some of his close associates compare his skills to a ' Muthaa Maestri'. He will search, investigate their background and get people for IVR. He can also bargain for a lower salary and can give false promises on behalf of the management. The Guru and Sishya must have drawn their inspiration from Mr. Ramachandra Murthy who has quit Andhra Jyothi to launch TTV.

          With Mr. Nama Nageswara Rao, an industrialist from Khammam District and an unsuccessful contestant from Khammam Lok Sabha Constituency (TDP) during the last elections coming forward to launch a channel for Telugu Desam, Mr. I.Venkata Rao has been a natural choice for him. Interestingly, Mr. Radha Krishna  of Andhra Jyothi also hails from the same district and is a known friend of Mr. Nama Nageswara Rao. Popularly known as ' Madhucon '  Nageswara Rao, Mr. Nama has Power Projects and even contracts of some Irrigation projects in Mahaboobnagar district even during this Congress government. It is worth mentioning that Mr. Chowdary of NTV and Mr. Ramachandra Murthy of TTV are also from Khammam district.

 

P.s : The earlier version " Sekhar Reddy joins IVR " linking IVR to Narne Group is incorrect. The source immediately corrected the version and hence the revised news is given within an hour. However the Telugu TV News apologises for the wrong info.

Exodus from Andhra Jyothi

 

    Its again the time for poaching. The competition is between Mr. Ramachandra Murthy and Mr. I.Venkat Rao. Interstingly, both are targeting Andhra Jyothi staff. Mr. Radha Krishna is said to be very much unhappy with the developments.

  

   Mr. Sekhar Reddy has already left Andhra Jyothi while a senior reporter Mr. Ramarao from guntur has also decided to join Mr. I.Venkata Rao. He has worked in gemini TV for a short period during the period of closure of Andhra jyothi. He commands respect and has a vast experience in journalism, and very good contacts, particularaly in Guntur district.

 

   Mr. Umamaheswar Rao, incharge of Rayalaseema area editions of Andhra Jyothi daily has joined TTV. Earlier he was incharge of Sunday Andhra Jyothi and his writing skills may go waste if he is confined to Tirupati. It is not known whether he will be stationed at Tirupati or Hyderabad.  He is a good writer and a knowledgeable person.

 

   It is learnt that some more Andhra Jyothi journalists are trying to shift to the television medium. This is very much annoying Mr. Radha krishna and he is said to be  thinking of an alternative to this exodus.

 

Sakshi, Zee and CBC yet to get licenses

 

Sakshi TV , Zee Telugu 24 Gantalu, CBC News and Sitara News channel are yet to get Uplinking and Downlinking permissions as per the updated list of permitted channels given in the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting's website. The list is updated everymonth and the latest updation revealed this fact. Ofcourse, it doesnt mean that License is denied. It is a continuous process and may be obtained anytime before the launch.

 

Additions in this list include Vanitha TV of Rachana Broadcasting, Studio 1 and Studio N of Narne group and STAR Telugu. It is more than 3 months that ttv and iNews got their permissions.The license given to Satya TV lapses on 5th September 2008, ie, in less than a month. One has to see that the channel is operational within one year from the date of getting license. Two more extensions were given to Satya and at any cost it has to go on air before this September  5th, or has to forego the license. Raj Telugu and Maa News are the other channels which require an extension soon.

Chief Producers change channels

 

     Its now the turn of Executive / Chief Producers to change channels. Mr Jagadish from Maa to Asianet's Sitara, Mr. Akbar from NTV to Sakshi TV and Mr. Mahesh from Satya to TTV.The list doesnt end here.

 

    Mr. Vinay of NTV joined iNews. Earlier he was with ETV and later shifted to NTV. With this experience at NTV where he independently carried out the installation of the channel, he opted to join his old ETV friend Mr. Rajasekhar. Mr. Vinay's junior got an offer from Sakshi for a higher salary and this is said to be one of the reasons for his quitting Mr. Chowdary's NTV.

 

   On the other hand, Mr. Bharat Reddy of TV9  has decided to join Zee 24 Gantalu as its Executive Producer. He is close to Mr. Sailesh Reddy eversince they were in ETV. Though Mr. Bharat Reddy is comfortable in TV9 with the recent hike reaching Rs.40K , it is learnt that Mr. Sailesh offered him  50 percent extra.

 

   The only exception in the race is Mr. Sridhar who tried everywhere including TTV but had to stay put in TV5.

TV5 demands a BOND

 

To avoid staff from going out as and when they get a higher pay, TV5 has decided to ask for an undertaking from its staff.  Those who are joining the channel have to sign a bond to the effect that they will serve the organisation atleast for two years. In fact, Asianet has already been implementing this in an other form by taking staff on a 2 year contract basis. However, there is no mention about the periodical revision of salaries and hence those who wish to join are in a dilemma whether to accept the bond condition or not. Since one way bonds are legally invalid, journalists who have already signed such bonds are violating very casually.

Its Training time for Channels

Almost all the forthcoming channels are busy with their training plans. To see that their staff members are engaged until the equipment is in place ready for use, the bosses have decided to have training camps.

 

Sakshi TV is waitng for the premises to be ready, leave alone equipment. Those who have joined are also not able to sit in the office and hence were asked to come only when they are called. So, without doing anything, they are eligible for salary. However, there will be training from 18th as per the sources inside the channel. This is possible only if the premises is ready.

 

TTV has almost completed its recruitment and is now training the senior and district staff. The 3 day camp is being run at the Press Academy premises since the facilities at the Banjara Hills Road No.10 office are not sufficient. The staff are gearing up for their October launch and the programming work is going on a war footing.

 

iNews is also training its junior level staff while other arrangements are going on. The pattern of recruitment shows that 50 percent of the staff are freshers and the other 50 percent have experience. This must be either to avoid extra cost or to mould the freshers according to the needs of the company.

 

Zee 24 Gantalu is now processing the applications since the last date for receiving applications is over. Once the processing is over, there will be training for those who are freshers and are selected. The aim of the channel, as indicated in its advertisement, is that the average age of the staff will be around 30. this shows their idea of depending on youngsters.

 

CBC is continuing its training even though the managemnt has decided to postpone the launch of the channel. About 30 trainees are confident that the management will soon air the channel and are sailing with the existing senior staff. Some of them are anchors for the channel.

Satya TV still hopeful ?

Even after 4 years of its changing hands and 3 years after getting license, Satya TV is still able to attract journalists. Though there was a news that the channel has been closed permanently, the management seems to be confident and is still working out on the project. Those who have left the channel including seniors are pessimistic but the channel people are not accepting their defeat. On the other hand, they say taht the firmness of their resolve has increased.

Interestingly, one Mr. Satyanarayana, claiming himself to be the News Chief of Maa TV is said to have approached Mr. Gnaneshwar and convinced him that he would take care of the channel. If everything goes well, he is likely to head the channel (Satya TV). Its sheer coincidence that the channel's name and the proposed Head's name are the same.

Enquiries revealed that Mr. Satyanarayana was a student of Eenadu Journalism School and he joined Maa TV as a trainee sub editor. All of a sudden the new management of Maa TV wanted to show the world that any Tom, Dick and Harry can be made the Bureau Chief. And thus this Harry was made incharge of the reporting section. But they had to admit their mistake in no time and this man was again sent back and is now in the Desk. It is learnt that he has approached Mr. Kasani Gnaneshwar and requested him for Editor's post.

IVR too in the channel race ?

 

Mr. Inaganti Venkata Rao, known to many as I Venkatrao, is also said to be busy in planning a news channel. The promoters are NRIs as per the information available.His recent visit to the United States of America is also being refeered to establish this news. Some of the NRIs close to TDP have met him and urged him to start a newspaper to support Chandra Babu Naidu as per the sources. However, Mr. Venkat Rao convinced them that a channel would be cheaper, viable and also easier.The promoters convinced and gave him a go ahead signal.

 

Mr. Venkata Rao hails from Krishna District and he started his journalistic career as a proof reader in Andhra Patrika. Later he joined Andhra Jyothi in the reporting department and later became Bureau Chief and was Editor at the time of its closure. He was instrumental in getting some advertisements to see that the paper survive for some more time. However, the paper was closed down and he became the Chairman of Press Academy. Even after the end of his tenure, he was in the post for almost an extra year since no one was appointed. Later he started writing a column in Andhra Jyothi and appearing on the news channels to give his expert opinion on the latest political developments.

 

Mr. IVRs passion for Telugu Desam is never a secret. He wrote books on both NTR and Chandrababu Naidu. Interstingly, the names of the books are ... OKKADU and OKE OKKADU. The promoters have well thought of the requirement and confirmed IVRs appointment. However, the complete plan of action is yet to be finalised. 

Maa TV Reporters lose 'Staff' status

 

      The management of Maa TV seems to have decided to close down its news department. In a sudden move, the district reporters and cameramen who are on the payrolls have been summoned to Hyderabad and were asked to forego their employee status. All of them were asked to sign the papers saying that they are not the employees of the channel and are only freelancers working for it. With this, the emplyer-employee relationship ceases to exist between them and the management is empowered to remove all of them without assigning any reason.

   During the last two years, the number of news bulletins have been halved and almost all the senior staff left the channel. some of the vacancies have been filled up by less qualified and less experienced stuff from mana Telugu including its News Chief. 80 percent of the Reporters, Subeditors, Video editors and Cameramen left the channel during this period. This shows that the management is not interested in continuing the news bulletins.

  The present situation hints that their news channel doesnt come at all, despite the fact that they have a license.

AJ and CNN IBN to bring out a channel

 

Andhra Jyothi management has almost finalised the understanding with CNN IBN on starting a News Channel on 50:50 partnership basis. CNN has been searching for media partners in other states and it has even succeeded in three languages so far. Now it is the turn of Telugu. In fact, the management is said to be in touch with Rajdeep Sardesai  for more than 3 months and his column in Andhra Jyothi is also considered part of their close relations. With Andhra jyothi having a good network throughout the state, the investment may also come down considerably. Ther is every possibility of showing professionalism if this combination works out properly.

'Narne' not in a hurry

 

Narne group's proposed channels may get delayed due to some confusion. Earlier, they planned for an Entertainment Channel ( STUDIO 1 ) and a Telugu News Channel. They have even started recruitment also. But all of a sudden,  the plan of Telugu News Channel has been dropped and they have now decided to start an English News Channel ( STUDIO N ) involving huge investment, just to be different from other regional channels.

 

Mr. Narne Srinivasa Rao, promoter of this venture, is a business man and a close relative of Chandra Babu Naidu. He also owns Janmabhoomi Real Estates. This young entrepreneur roped in Mr. Sivaram Prasad and worked out this special idea of being a national level player. It is learnt that Mr. Kandula Ramesh, Associate Editor, TV5 who is equally good in english journalism was requested to join as Executive Editor but his close friends say that Mr. Ramesh is not willing to go.

 

But some of the close associates of Mr. Sivaram Prasad say that the work of telugu Channel is going on and it is kept secret. Some of the the staff members who have come out of TV5 are already involved in the work.It has to be seen whether Studio N is the name of their Telugu channel or the English channel.

News Presenters change channels

 

Now it is the turn of News Presenters to change channels. Ms. Lakshmi Priya from ETV2, Ms. Krishnaveni from TV5 and Ms. Deepa from TV9 and Mr. Srinivas from Gemini News joined Asianet's Sitara. Ms. Roja from TV5 joined iNews. While Ms. Pragathi from Maa TV joined NTV in the place of Ms. Naveena to host the daily programme Rachana, another presenter Ms. Pravalika ( Maa TV ) has opted for  TTV. Ms. Sireesha ( wife of Kareem ) has already visited TTV but the appointment is yet to be finalised. Ms. Sushumna, who was with Gemini Film News, 24 Frames and then in Gemini Main News is now taking care of Presenters' Dept in Saakshi TV.

TV5 excludes producers

 

TV5 too hiked its salaries. The general rate of hike is 30 percent. Though it is not on par with Sakshi and TV9, most of the staff members are convinced since there are no openings in other channels which can offer more. However, staff in the production department ( panel producers ) didnt get any hike. They were asked to sign agreement to the effect that they will work in the organisation for atleast 2 years. Only after getting the agreements signed, the management wants to hike their salaries.

NTV hikes salaries

 

NTV has hiked salaries of its employees and it reflected in the salary of July paid on 1st of August. Though the Heads of various wings are happy with their own hike and their favourites also getting good amounts, some of the staff are left out despite their abilities and are said to be disappointed. most of them feel that the salaries are on the expected lines but not as they desired. Now it is the turn of TV5 and its staff are waiting for the hike which is likely to be reflected in this week's  salary account.

Vanita on 8th August

 

Vanita TV , Women's channel of NTV is going to be launched on 8th August, coinciding with the Women's Day. Though, the earlier proposal was to launch on 30th, the first anniversary of NTV and Bhakti, the management has changed its mind and felt that this occasion is more apt for a women's channel.

Market share of channels

 

Since some of the friends are asking for the market shares of various channels, we have decided to present here from next week onwards. Even on earlier occasions, we tried to furnish the data of news channels as and when we got it. However, we thought that only journalists are reading this blog and that they are interested in News Channels only. As requested by some of the readers, it has been decided to get the details of entertainment channels also hereafter. We have contacted our sources and two of them have agreed to part with the data. Usually it is possible for us to get the TAM data by Thursday evening. At any cost, we'll see that it is posted on this blog atleast on Friday.

English and Urdu Bulletins

 

News channels are trying to be different from other competitors. Sakshi TV wants to air a couple of English Bulletins and hired English journalists too.TTV is one step ahead and it wants to introduce both English and Urdu bulletins. Definitely these moves are going to be innovative and aimed at attracting a section of the audience.

 

However, TV9 is going to launch an English channel from Bangalore soon while TV5 has been announcing its decision to start an English channel. TV9 wishes to make it a national channel but TV5 wants to project the news from the southern states. But giving limited bulletins in English and Urdu concentrating on the happenings in AP is an experiment.

Narne Group channels get license

 

Narne Group got licenses for its proposed two channels. One of them will be  Entertainment Channel and the other , a 24 hour News Channel. The News Channel is likely in December and the Entertainment Channel may take a couple of months after the launch of the News Channel. The names of the channels are yet to be known.

Mr. Sivaram Prasad, once the Managing Director of TV5 is again the Managing Director for  Narne's News Channel according to sources close to him in TV5. Advertisement calling for applications is likely to appear by 1st August.

ETV2 continuously losing

The latest TAM data shows that ETV2 is continuously losing while NTV and TV5 are closely competing with each other.

TV9 recorded 3.7 market share while ETV2 got 1.94. NTV could maintain at 1.31 while its counterpart TV5 secured 1.27 percent. Gemini News is at its usual 0.28 percent.

In Hyderabad city alone TV5 recorded 1.86 percent of viewership while NTV could get only 1.39 percent.This is contributing greately for TV5s competition with NTV. People at NTV are unable to digest this phenomenon.

We are coming back soon!

Friends,
We have an attack on our blog and we lost each and every post of our blog.
But, we are working to fix it as soon as possible.
Please be patient and remain with us.

Thanks for your continuous support and the visits you paid in the mean time.

- Team Telugu TV News.