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EENADU TO LAUNCH BENGALI TV CHANNEL
The Hyderabad-based Ramoji Rao-owned
Eenadu group will be launching a Bengali channel in
a few months. The Rs 10,000-million Eenadu group already
runs the successful Telugu-language satellite channel,
Eenadu TV.
"Work is progressing as per schedule
and, if everything goes well, we'll launch the Bengali
channel around October-November - which is the festival
time in Calcutta," a senior executive of the Eenadu
group said during a brief visit to Delhi.
The Eenadu executive pointed out that
initially the omnibus Bengali channel would air for
16 hours and have a programming mix consisting of entertainment
and news and current affairs.
According to the executive, Bengali
producers have already been commissioned to make programmes.
"Some of the guys are already shooting programmes in
the group-promoted Ramoji Film City in Hyderabad," he
added.
The executuive said launching a Bengali
satellite channel makes sense as there is enough advertising
money to support it from both India and Bangladesh,
citing the example of DD7, state-owned broadcaster Doordarshan's
Bengali-language regional channel. DD7 has immense popularity
not only in the east Indian states of Assam, West Bengal
and Orissa but also in the neighbouring nation of Bangladesh.
The Eenadu executive said that Eenadu
TV has proved to be successful and has raked in revenues
of about Rs 450 million in the last fiscal year ended
31 March 1999.
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