Mathrubhumi gearing to launch its News channel

Mathrubhumi, the second most read Malayalam daily of Kerala, going to launch a 24-hour channel and the group is taking help of NDTV consultant.

Sources told IANS that the channel will be launched ahead of assembly elections in May 2011. The channel will be based on Thiruvanthapuram once they get licenses expected anytime.

The channels launch comes at a time when the state has ample electronic media working in the area. Mathrubhumi News will have to face tuff competition from the already prevalent channels in Kerala.

People at Mathrubhumi believe that content has always been their core strength and unique selling preposition. The launch of the channel is scheduled to take place at the time of Assembly elections but the exact date has not been decided yet.

Apart from already established fishes in the media market, many a new entrants are also coming into the field. This is going to give stiff competition to Mathrubhumi in near future. There are speculations that the state could see a few more channel launches ahead of the Assembly elections. These include a channel from another leading media house, Kerala Kaumudi, and one by Janapriya Communications, promoted by K Muraleedharan, son of late K Karunakaran. It is also learnt that Chennai-based Sun Network’s Surya TV, which is an entertainment channel in Kerala, is also all set to launch its news channel.

Source: http://cablequest.org/news/channel-launch/item/387-mathrubhumi-gearing-to-launch-its-news-channel.html