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Asianet Communications was the first entertainment television company in Malayalam. It was promoted by Dr. Raji Menon. | Asianet Communications was the first entertainment television company in Malayalam. It was promoted by Dr. Raji Menon. | ||
Asianet’s story starts much earlier than in 1993, it starts in Moscow . Dr Raji Menon was a student there and Mr P.Unnikrishnan was the correspondent of PTI in Moscow. Dr. Raji Menon became a successful businessman based in Moscow and Mr P Unnikrishnan became the General Manager of PTI in India. When Mr Unnikrishnan initiated the idea of PTI TV, Dr. Raji Menon’s nephew Mr. Sashi Kumar was appointed. When the Central government scrapped Doordarsan’s monopoly, Mr Unnikrishnan was among the first to react and with Dr. Raji Menon they planned to start a National channel. Four of the leading newspapers and PTI itself, were to join in with Dr. Menon as the Chief promoter and Mr Unnikrishnan at the helm of the Channel ( after his retirement from PTI ). Dr. Raji Menon negotiated for a transponder on the Russian satellite Ekran, with a powerful beam over India , which meant that using a cheep spiral antenna the signal could be received all over India. In the absence of any cable connectivity in India, without the sanction to do terrestrial transmission, this was a good solution. The transponder was very costly, the satellite had the life span of two years and there were only two transponders on the satellite. | Asianet’s story starts much earlier than in 1993, it starts in Moscow . Dr Raji Menon was a student there and Mr P.Unnikrishnan was the correspondent of PTI in Moscow. Dr. Raji Menon became a successful businessman based in Moscow and Mr P Unnikrishnan became the General Manager of PTI in India. When Mr Unnikrishnan initiated the idea of PTI TV, Dr. Raji Menon’s nephew Mr. Sashi Kumar was appointed. When the Central government scrapped Doordarsan’s monopoly, Mr Unnikrishnan was among the first to react and with Dr. Raji Menon they planned to start a National channel. Four of the leading newspapers and PTI itself, were to join in with Dr. Menon as the Chief promoter and Mr Unnikrishnan at the helm of the Channel ( after his retirement from PTI ). Dr. Raji Menon negotiated for a transponder on the Russian satellite Ekran, with a powerful beam over India, which meant that using a cheep spiral antenna the signal could be received all over India. In the absence of any cable connectivity in India, without the sanction to do terrestrial transmission, this was a good solution. The transponder was very costly, the satellite had the life span of two years and there were only two transponders on the satellite. | ||
In India ill fate hit the idea. Mr Unnikrishnan was terminally ill with lung cancer and now the whole idea was in a limbo. Mr Sashikumar and Mr Madhavankutty of Mathrubhoomi ( Delhi ) suggested tuning down the idea to a Malayalam Channel and Dr. Raji Menon agreed and the first Malayalam Channel was born . Asianet’s logo is a derivative of Dr. Menon’s company logo. Dr. Menon’s office in Chennai became Asianet’s head office. To address the issue of cable networking a separate company called Asianet Satellite Communications was formed. Mr P Bhaskaran the renowned poet was the figurehead chairman. Dr. Raji Menon being not full time in India , on his behalf Mr Sashi Kumar (Dr. Menon's nephew) was in charge. Asianet Communications was registered with Dr C P Chandrasekhar and Mr Sashi kumar as the first directors as Dr Menon as a NRI needed RBI clearance to own a media company . Dr. Raji Menon bought Uma Studio from the famous Malayalam actor Mr Madhu and this became Asianet’s Puliarkonam Studio in Thiruvananthapuram. Mr Karunakaran the CM granted sanction to use the Electricity poles for cable networking. This was a mammoth effort. | In India ill fate hit the idea. Mr Unnikrishnan was terminally ill with lung cancer and now the whole idea was in a limbo. Mr Sashikumar and Mr Madhavankutty of Mathrubhoomi ( Delhi ) suggested tuning down the idea to a Malayalam Channel and Dr. Raji Menon agreed and the first Malayalam Channel was born . Asianet’s logo is a derivative of Dr. Menon’s company logo. Dr. Menon’s office in Chennai became Asianet’s head office. To address the issue of cable networking a separate company called Asianet Satellite Communications was formed. Mr P Bhaskaran the renowned poet was the figurehead chairman. Dr. Raji Menon being not full time in India , on his behalf Mr Sashi Kumar (Dr. Menon's nephew) was in charge. Asianet Communications was registered with Dr C P Chandrasekhar and Mr Sashi kumar as the first directors as Dr Menon as a NRI needed RBI clearance to own a media company . Dr. Raji Menon bought Uma Studio from the famous Malayalam actor Mr Madhu and this became Asianet’s Puliarkonam Studio in Thiruvananthapuram. Mr Karunakaran the CM granted sanction to use the Electricity poles for cable networking. This was a mammoth effort. | ||