Karnataka Chief Minister’s wife to launch television channel

The much-awaited Kannada television channel Kasturi, owned by Karnataka Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy’s wife Anitha Kumaraswamy, is all set for launch in the last week of January 2007.

Though the channel was scheduled for launch during latter part of 2006, the plans had to be put on hold as political developments over the corruption in mining scam had cast a shadow over the Chief Minister and his family members.

Now, the channel is all set to take off under the banner of Amogh Broadband Services. “It will be a Kannada channel. The content will be a mix of entertainment and news. Sixty per cent will be entertainment and forty per cent will be news”, Director of Amogh Broadband Services M V Prasad Babu told reporters.

The company, which is presently buying film rights, is scheduled to go on the air by the last week of January. According to sources close to Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy, the initial investment for the television channel amounting to Rs 300 million had been raised through banks.

To start with the channel is aiming at tapping the potential viewership in southern Karnataka comprising Bangalore, Mysore, Tumkur, Kolar, Hassan and Chikmagalur. Graudally, efforts will be made to make inroads into viewership in central and north Karnataka.

Kasturi will have to vie with at least three other Kannada channels viz. Udaya, ETV and Zee Kannada, which are already entrenched in the television business.

Starting a news channel had been a dream for Kumaraswamy and his wife Anitha for the last few years now. Though it was initially proposed to start a 24/7 news channel, Kasturi was later modified into a healthy mix of news, information and entertainment after the Chief Minister’s close associates advised him to have this mix for a wider audience.

“The process started more than a year and a half ago when Dharam Singh was the Chief Minister. It has nothing to do with him becoming the Chief Minister now”, JD (S) spokesperson Y S V Datta told reporters.
Kumaraswamy, who started his career as a film distributor for Kannada movies and later produced five Kannada movies, always had a penchant for infotainment business, he added. But, Kumaraswamy has no stake in Kasturi television channel