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 Political parties in Tamil Nadu
are in a mad race to win space in the satellite television
arena, with all of them vying with each other to float a channel
of their own. Ever since the
Maran brothers – Kalanidhi and Dayanidhi, who have built a
satellite channel empire over the years in Tamil, Telugu,
Malayalam and Kannada - fell from the good books of their
granduncle and DMK patriarch M Karunanidhi, the DMK had been
looking at starting a channel to air the party views.
Karunanidhi had asked DMK workers to start a channel and named
it Kalaignar TV. It will start beaming its programmes from
September 15, the birth anniversary of DMK founder C N Annadurai.
When 'Dinakaran', a Tamil daily
acquired by the Marans from former DMK minister K P Kandasamy’s
family, published the results of a survey putting Karunanidhi's
younger sibling M K Stalin ahead of his elder brother M K
Azhagiri as the successor to the DMK chief, the relationship
between the two families nosedived.
The demand for action against
Azhagiri for violent incidents at Dinakaran's Madurai office, in
which three workers were killed, further strained the
relationship between the families of Karunanidhi and late
Murasoli Maran, once described by Karunanidhi as his 'conscience
keeper.'
Karunanidhi’s decision to allow
the government start the Arasu Cable TV Corporation to
distribute the cable TV network, on the plea of generating more
revenue, has been viewed by political observers as a move to
break the monopoly of Maran brothers-owned Sumangali Cable
Vision (SCV) in the business.
The Chief Minister also
received a shot in the arm when D Rajendran, head of the Raj TV
network, joined the DMK. He has since been helping the party
with the propaganda.
The Congress is not lagging
behind with two prominent leaders, K V Thangabalu and H
Vasanthkumar, deciding to plunge into the business to propagate
the party's ideologies.
 Thangabalu, a former Union
minister and Congress MP, had announced that his channel ‘Mega
TV’ would start soon. A test telecast was done on August 20, the
birth anniversary of Rajiv Gandhi. Vasanthkumar’s Vasanth TV is
also making preparations for its launch.
Both leaders are waiting for a
suitable date from Congress president Sonia Gandhi to inaugurate
their channels.
The AIADMK, the main opposition
in Tamil Nadu, already has it own TV network - Jaya TV. Though
their earlier venture J TV came to an abrupt end a decade ago,
the present channel is doing well, as it has netted well known
anchors like actress Kushboo, Suhasini (wife of renowned director Mani Ratnam) and directors K
Balachander and Visu for their programmes.
The PMK is also not lagging
behind and had floated its own television channel. With the
party opposed to film stars as that they are 'spoiling' the
energy of the youth, the channel does not telecast any
film-based programmes. It has almost completed a year in
operation.
 The Dalit Panthers of India,
lead by Tol Thirumavalavan has floated the Tamizhan channel. Its
owner Kalaikottudasan joined the party recently and has been
giving prominence to Thirumavalavan in the programmes.
In a bid to win in the race,
all satellite channels have been contacting film producers for
purchase of telecast rights of their movies.
 Kalaignar TV has already
acquired telecast rights of the Rajnikant blockbuster
'Sivaji
- The Boss'
and Kamal Haasan’s yet-to-be-released
'Dasavatharam'.
They are negotiating with film producers for purchase of their
future movies.
Sun TV has roped in well-known
mega TV serial producers and changed the programme content in a
bid to woo the youth.
With the Lok Sabha elections
scheduled for 2009 and the Assembly poll in 2011, all political
parties want to establish their own space in the satellite TV
world and use it for campaigning. Whether they succeed in their
efforts is the moot point being discussed in political circles
in the state. (Agencies)
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