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A war of the airwaves is on cards with a string of news channels being launched in Andhra Pradesh. The existing players—Etv, TV9, Gemini News, Zee Telugu and Maa TV—are set to face competition from the more technology-savvy and ambitious newcomers NTv and TV5. The electronic media industry has come a long way from the near-monopoly status enjoyed by Etv, owned by media baron and publisher of the largest circulated Telugu daily Eenadu, Ramoji Rao, in the mid-1990s. Now, the struggle for catching the eyeballs is going to get tougher. Though AP has not seen television channels going into the hands of political parties, unlike neighbouring Tamil Nadu, it has not been completely free from political leanings either. Etv, arguably the most influential media player with largest network and a bouquet of 12 regional channels, has come to represent anti-Congressism. Launched in 1995, Etv, the first private channel to produce daily news bulletins, carries a daily dose of "exposes" and reports highly critical of the Congress government. It launched round-the-clock news and current affairs channel "ETv2" in 2003. Its shrill, campaign mode of reporting, personally targeting chief minister Y. S. Rajasekhar Reddy, has prompted the ruling party to dub it as a "mouthpiece" of Telugu Desam Party. On his part, Ramoji Rao, whose affinity towards TDP and its leader N Chandrababu Naidu is well-known, has been accusing the government of being "vindictive"and targeting his business interests, including Margadarsi Financiers and Ramoji Film City (RFC), as part of "political vendetta" to silence criticism. Though Ramoji Rao has not openly associated with any political party, anti-Congressism has been the central point of Eenadu’s editorial policy over decades. With the leading channel running a campaign against it, the Congress government has, of late, found an ally in TV9, a 24-hour news and current affairs channel launched in February 2004, with a youthful but a raw packaging. The channel, promoted by venture capitalist Srini Raju’s i-Labs, has tied up with the government for telecast of a weekly-programme "Mr Chief Minister", a face-to-face with Rajasekhar Reddy. The programme serves as a platform for the government to publicise its development and welfare activities. The battle for the control of the airwaves is set to intensify in the months to come. A new entrant in this arena is NTV, promoted by city-based real estate businessman Narendra Choudhary, which was launched on August 30. Another new entrant in the news arena is TV5, hitting airwaves on October 2. Sporting a modern look with state-of-the-art studios, a fleet of DSNG vans for live telecast of events and latest automation systems, the new channels boast of adding a new technological dimension to news presentation. Along with the news channel, NTV also launched Bhakti, said to be South India’s first devotional channel. "Our USP lies in our presentation and content which is different from the existing channels. We will appeal to the younger viewers in particular. NTV does mean Next Generation TV," its Chief Executive Officer S.R. Ramanujan said. While the channel maintains that it would not have any political leanings, its promoter Choudhary is considered a close friend of Congress leader and minorities welfare minister Mohammad Ali Shabbir. Another news channel TV5, promoted by local businessman B R Naidu, is gearing up for launch in first week of October. "We are not aligned with any political party. We will maintain an independent line," said B. Surendra Nath, Vice-Chairman, TV5. In the newspaper segment, while Eenadu and Andhra Jyothi, the two leading dailies are now dubbed as anti-Congress, three other dailies, Vaartha, Andhra Prabha and Andhra Bhoomi are owned by Congress politicians. Significantly, the newspapers owned by politicians have poor circulation while Eenadu, which sells over 10 lakh copies, continues to be the market leader, followed by Andhra Jyothi. To counter the campaign of the two leading dailies, Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy’s son, Jagan Mohan Reddy, an industrialist based in Bangalore, is launching a daily of his own Saakshi. He is also planning to come out with a new news channel Indira to serve as a voice of the Congress, or rather, his father. — R.C.
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