Asianet (TV channel)

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Asianet
File:Asianet(TVchannel)Logo.jpg
TypeMass Media
CountryIndia
Broadcast areaAsia Pacific & MENA
NetworkAsianet Star Communications
Slogan(Self Esteem Growing Day by Day)
HeadquartersThiruvananthapuram, Kerala
Programming
Language(s)Malayalam
Picture format1080i HDTV
(downscaled to letterboxed 576i for the SDTV feed)'
Ownership
Owner
Sister channelsAsianet Plus
Asianet Movies
Asianet Middle East
Asianet Music
Star Vijay
Star Vijay Super
Star Vijay Music
Star Suvarna
Suvarna Plus
History
Launched30 August 1993; 30 years ago (1993-08-30)
Links
WebsiteAsianet on Disney+ Hotstar
Availability
Cable
Asianet DigitalChannel 104 (SD)
Channel 802 (HD)
Kerala Vision Digital TVChannel 006 (SD)
Channel 652 (HD)
StarHub TV (Singapore)Channel 139
HathwayChannel 197
DEN NetworksChannel 601
YES DigitalChannel 103
Satellite
Airtel digital TVChannel 826 (SD)
Channel 827 (HD)
DishTVChannel 1902 (SD)
Channel 1901 (HD)
Tata SkyChannel 1807 (SD)
Channel 1806 (HD)
Videocon d2hChannel 603 (SD)
Channel 991 (HD)
Sun Direct DTHChannel 201 (SD)
Channel 854 (HD)
Streaming media
Disney+ HotstarWatch Asianet on Disney+ Hotstar

Asianet is an Indian Malayalam language general entertainment pay television channel operated by Asianet Star Communications. Asianet and its channels are owned by Star India,[1] Wholly owned by The Walt Disney Company India. The channel's headquarters in Thiruvananthapuram and its operates from Kochi, Kerala. Asianet HD is the first full HD television channel in Malayalam.[2]

Establishment[edit]

The channel was originally promoted by Dr. Raji Menon in 1993.[3] In late 2006, Dr. Raji Menon partially pulled out of Asianet Communications, turning over control to Rajeev Chandrasekhar (Jupiter Entertainment Ventures).[4] Star India bought a 51% stake in Asianet Communications and formed a joint venture with JEV in November 2008. In 2014, Star India took full ownership of Asianet Communications.

History[edit]

Established by Dr. Raji Menon in 1993[edit]

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.

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. 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.

Dr. Raji Menon increased Mr Sashikumar's share from the initial 2% to 45% in stages (It was Dr. Menon's gift to his nephew). 5% of the equity was with Mr Raghu Nandan (Dr Menon’ elder brother). Dr. Raji Menon bought back the shares earlier given to Mr Sashikumar in 1999 at an agreed price, and took over full control of Asianet.

Asianet started one more channel as Asianet Global on 6 July 2001 to cater to the Malayalees outside India, and this was later restructured into a News Channel.

Asianet aired its first news bulletin starting 30 September 1995. Under an arrangement with the Russian embassy with the help of Dr. Ratheesh Nair, the Gorky Bhavan was repaired and taken over by Asianet. Asianet news operated from Gorky Bhavan from 2000. The central Government sanction for a full-fledged news channel took time and hence it was launched much later than planned on 1 May 2003.

Rajiv Chandrasekhar Era (2006–2008)[edit]

In late 2006 Dr. Raji Menon partially pulled out of Asianet turning over control to Rajeev Chandrasekhar. At the time, Asianet was the leader amongst the Malayalam channels accounting for 35% of Kerala's total advertisement market. Chandrasekhar had acquired a 51% stake in the Asianet channels (Asianet, Asianet News, and Asianet Plus) through Jupiter Entertainment Ventures (JEV) in October 2006. While there was no official word from Asianet on the size of the investment, the figure is thought to range between INR 120–150 crore. The remaining 49% stake was still held by Dr. Raji Menon and Asianet MD K. Madhavan with Zee Group holding a small 3% stake. Madhavan continued as the MD of Asianet, while Chandrasekhar took over as the Chairman of the company. Asianet Communications soon launched its foray into Kannada and Telugu television industry with Asianet Suvarna and Asianet Sitara.

Star India Acquisitions (2008–2014)[edit]

Asianet was restructured into four companies in June 2008 (general entertainment, news, radio and media infrastructure). This move was to allow separate investments in each company.[5] Star India started talks with the owners of the Asianet channels in August, 2008.[3]

Star India eventually bought a 51% stake in Asianet Communications and formed joint venture with JEV in November, 2008.[6] The joint venture, called "Star Jupiter", comprised all general entertainment channels of Asianet 8 October 2013 bombay 12 March Communications (Asianet, Asianet Plus, Asianet Suvarna and Asianet Sitara [7]) and Star Vijay. Star India had reportedly paid $235 million in cash for the 51% stake and assumed net debt of approximately $20 million.[3][5] It's not clear how much stake Dr. Raji Menon held in the new Star Jupiter venture. Prior to forming the JV, it was known that the original founder had held about 26% stake.[4]

Star India increased its stake in Asianet Communications to 75% in July 2010 (for which Star India paid around $90 million in cash), and to 87%, by acquiring 12% stake for $160 million in June, 2013. The later move was by virtue of acquiring a 19% equity stake in Vijay TV from Chandrasekhar and Asianet Communications MD Madhavan. Following the June, 2013 investment, Asianet Communications was valued at $1.33 billion. Star India acquired 100% stake in Asianet Communications (buying the remaining 13% stake) in March 2014.[5][6]

Star India was a subsidiary of 21st Century Fox. Upon The Walt Disney Company acquiring most of 21st Century Fox on March 20, 2019, Asianet Star Communications, along with all of Star India's subsidiaries, became subsidiaries of The Walt Disney Company, and restructuring put them under Disney India.

Coverage and Viewership[edit]

Asianet has a presence in over 60 countries worldwide including the Indian sub-continent, China, South East Asia, Middle East, Europe, United States and the lower half of the former Soviet Union.[8][9]

Channels[edit]

Channel Category Logo SD/HD Availability Notes
Asianet General Entertainment SD+HD
Asianet Plus Asianet Plus Logo.jpg SD
Asianet Movies Movies Asianet Movies.png HD Feed Launching Soon
Asianet Middle East General Entertainment

Asianet Middle East.jpg

available only in Middle East

Asianet HD[edit]

Asianet HD is the first full HD television channel in Malayalam. It offers HD visuals and Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 sound quality. Its image format is 1080i HDTV. Asianet HD launched on August 13, 2015.[10]

Programming[edit]

Direct Television Premiere[edit]

Due to COVID-19 pandemic situation, Malayalam movie Kilometers and Kilometers released directly through Asianet on 30 August 2020 on occasion of Onam.[11]

Award Functions[edit]

Asianet Film Awards[edit]

Asianet has an award ceremony for films presented annually by Asianet. Asianet says that awards ceremony has been instituted to honour both artistic and technical excellence in the Malayalam language film industry.

Asianet Television Awards[edit]

Awards for the Television Serials were started with this name, every year best serials were nominated and presented awards to them.

References[edit]

  1. Disney's $52.4 billion acquisition of 21st Century Fox includes Star India too, Medianama, 14 December 2017, retrieved 8 September 2020
  2. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 12 January 2015. Retrieved 27 January 2015.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 "Rupert Murdoch's grand takeover in Kerala". Archived from the original on 6 November 2018. Retrieved 13 February 2014.
  4. 4.0 4.1 "Star buys majority in Asianet; forms JV with Rajeev Chandrasekhar". Reuters. 17 November 2008. Retrieved 27 July 2019.
  5. 5.0 5.1 5.2 "STAR India acquires 100% Stake in Asianet Communications – MediaNama". medianama.com. Archived from the original on 27 July 2019. Retrieved 9 November 2018.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  6. 6.0 6.1 Kulkarni, Raghuvir Badrinath & Mahesh (17 July 2013). "Interesting tussle on to gain control of 'Kannada Prabha'". Business Standard. Archived from the original on 27 July 2019. Retrieved 28 July 2019.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  7. Reporter, B. S. (16 November 2008). "Star TV buys majority in Jupiter Entertainment". Business Standard. Retrieved 27 July 2019.
  8. "Star buys majority in Asianet; forms JV with Rajeev Chandrasekhar | Reuters". In.reuters.com. 17 November 2008. Retrieved 16 July 2010.
  9. VCCircle (17 November 2008). "M & A Star Buys Majority in Asianet; Forms JV With Rajeev Chandrasekhar". contentSutra. Archived from the original on 7 October 2011. Retrieved 16 July 2010.
  10. "Asianet Launches Malayalam HD channel - Exchange4Media". www.exchange4media.com.
  11. https://www.thenewsminute.com/article/tovino-s-kilometers-and-kilometers-premiere-television-onam-131472

External links[edit]

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