Left Front way ahead in channel wars

Whether it wins or not, the LDF certainly has an edge in battle for voters' eyeballs.

While the LDF has found it easy to reach out to the masses through not one but two TV channels, the Congress plans to launch its channels have failed to materialise in time for the elections.

While the Rs 50 crore Kairali channel, "sponsored" by the CPI(M), has been adding viewers, other "sponsored" channels are trying to follow.

India Vision was the first to join the race. It represents Congress' allies in the UDF, the Muslim League and CMP, a splinter group of the CPI(M). It is headed by a minister of the league, MK Muneer.

The Congress decided to take the plunge last year with a channel named Jai Hind. "The channel was to be launched in April but has not got the licence yet," says Chairman Aniyan Kutty, an NRI. "We are not an official party channel though the Congress is a promoter," says Executive Editor Sunny Abraham.

Aniyan Kutty, a businessman based in Dubai, is the main stakeholder. "We will soon have local stakeholders," he said from Dubai.

Kutty denies Congress links. "We have only an emotional attachment with the party. They have promised all possible help," he says, adding that the channel didn't lose much by missing the election-time launch. "We don't believe in propaganda. Even the Congress won't be disappointed if it was defeated as we all know that the CPI(M) can't perform and would be voted out soon," he said.

Another channel whose take off was keenly awaited but missed the polls is Manorama News, from the house of Malayala Manorama. The paper, which is known for its Congress leanings, announced the news channel soon after the Congress-led UDF lost all 20 Lok Sabha seats last year. This was despite predictions to the contrary.

Proprietor KM Mathew had later admitted in an interview to Kairali that there had been an erosion in influence of the print media.

Grandson of Manorama proprietor KM Mathew, Jayant Mamen, who now heads the Malayalam News channel denies links with Congress. "We are independent.'' he says

As for missing elections, he says, "When we initially planned there was no thought of elections. Later, we thought we will try to make it in time for the polls, but it was an impossible task.''

Meanwhile, the red channel is the pink of health with a monopoly over airwaves. Managing Director John Britas, who anchors a daily programme on elections denies the channel is CPI(M) property. "It is sponsored by CPI(M)'', he says, adding that half the shareholders are leftists.

"Our board has just one CPI(M) person, former minister Thomas Isaac, but that is because he is an economist," Britas says.

"We cannot play the CPI(M) card and throw away our credibility," he adds.

According to Britas, getting viewers in Kerala is tough as it has 100 per cent penetration of the print media. "It is hard to make people quit newspapers," Britas said.

While other political news channels are yet to make it, Kairali has managed to multiply overnight with a new channel, Peoples' TV, started just before the elections and a third one, mainly targeting the youth. It also plans to launch an entertainment channel soon.