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The Rediff Business Special: / Shobha Warrier

Sun rises in the west!

The legend is that Keralites may be willing to miss a meal but not a news bulletin. Here films stars are not adored like demi-gods as elsewhere. Some people say Keralites are pretentious and egoistic. They dismiss film-based shows on Asianet as pulp and appreciate Doordarshan fare.

So much so DD commands a 93 per cent viewership. DD News registers nearly 100 per cent viewership. According to a local DD source, after the news come other programmes. Then, the Saturday film, if it is ''very good''. Otherwise, it is news, current affairs, documentaries and serials based on bestselling novels all the way.

Sashi Kumar of Asianet admits the News at 8 is very popular in spite of paucity of visuals. ''Viewers in Kerala are different. They are the most enlightened viewers. They are not satisfied with just film-based shows. You need a mix of programmes to cater to the entire household.''

But Shanmugham, chief manager of Sun TV which has recently launched its Malayalam channel Surya TV, is unfazed y all this. He says confidently, ''We are definitely going to have film-based programmes. Our survey revealed that Keralites also like film-based programmes. It is a myth that people of Kerala prefer only current affairs programmes, talk shows, etc. We are planning more serials. We will find out what our viewers want and then change our format.''

It is a totally different scenario in Tamil Nadu. In Madras, Sun has 92 per cent viewership and DD a mere two per cent! Perhaps, the phenomenal success of Sun has been the reason why Kalanidhi Maran wanted to launch Sun in all south Indian states before crossing the Vindhyas.

But the talk is that their Kannada channel, Udaya TV and the Telugu channel Gemini TV are not doing as well as Sun, which of course Shanmugham refutes. ''Of course, Sun is doing very well. Udaya TV (58 per cent viewership) has no competition at all in Karnataka. Initially, Eenadu TV had a better rating. Now, within 18 months after taking over Gemini (55 per cent), the channel is close to ETV.''

But Kerala will be different, observers say. ''Asianet has been here for such a long time. But it did not become a threat to DD. DD has in fact improved. Surya TV may be a threat to Asianet but it will never be able to come anywhere near DD,'' says an avid TV viewer.

The cable and satellite penetration in Kerala is only 12 per cent while it is as high as 53 per cent in Tamil Nadu. So, now both Sashi Kumar and Maran have to share the 12 per cent of C & S viewership in Kerala. Sashi Kumar claims, ''We are the leading channel in Kerala's C&S homes like Sun is in TN and ETV in Andhra.''

He says Asianet was expecting Sun TV for the last two years and hence not unduly perturbed. An outsider like Sun is preferred to a powerful insider. ''Competition is good'' for expanding the market and improving oneself. ''Two is company anyway.'' Perhaps, Asianet will start a Tamil channel.

Asianet is planning to go digital to match the sharp images of Sun. The former has a good thing going in the ground distribution network it has developed along with the satellite channel. The cable grid covers nearly 25 per cent of the state.

Sun is planning to square up against Asianet by launching serials in a big way. Shanmugham says only DD offers them now -- so slick Surya serials are bound to be a big hit. Surya will air news at the same time as DD. ''Our news will be the best as we will have more visuals and a professional newsgathering unit.''

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