Zee Kannada arrives

Zee Kannada arrives
Deccan Herald

Zee Telefilms will on Thursday roll out its second television channel in the south — Zee Kannada — with the promise of top-notch variety entertainment for the quintessential Kannadiga viewer. Zee Kannada, which kicks off at 5 am on Thursday, is a pay channel (around Rs 180 per year; exclusive of service provider charges).

An initiative of Zee South, the channel has been conceived after largescale advertising and direct contact programmes involving participation of around seven lakh Kannadiga homes across the State. The channel comes with the tagline Kannadigara Kanmani. “As per the findings of these initiatives, the programmes have been designed in a way to cater to the three or more Karnatakas within Karnataka, including the coastal regions of the State, northern Karnataka and Bangalore. They will be targeted at the conventional Kannadiga viewer, but will also appeal to newer, younger audiences,” Mr Ajay Kumar, Business Head, Zee South Channels, told reporters on Wednesday.

He said reception boxes had been set up at more than 2,000 centres and test signals were already on. The channel proposes to work closely with the Kannada film industry and has already procured rights of more than 30 films, including last year’s blockbuster Jogi. Mr Kumar said the scheduled April 20 launch of the channel was deferred as a token of respect to departed Kannada matinee idol Rajkumar. Zee Kannada does not have daily news bulletins, but Mr Kumar said the channel would soon launch them.

Mr Punit Goenka, Director, Zee Telefilms said the group looked at Karnataka as the gateway to south India and added that it would soon enter the Kerala market, before venturing into Tamil Nadu. Zee Kannada is the group’s 27th channel and second in the south after Zee Telugu, which was launched in May 2005.

Zee Kannada will host an event, Greeshma Vrishti, in association with the Kannada film industry as a dedication to Kannada films down the years. The event will be held on May 17 at Kanteerava Indoor Stadium from 6 pm. Top-line Kannada movie stars, including Ramesh Aravind, Vijay Raghavendra and Daisy Bopanna, are expected to participate in the event. It will also feature a retrospective programme in remembrance of Rajkumar. Entry will be restricted to invitees.