The Karunanidhi family has made arrangements to launch the new channel with the name Murasu.
Fearing that the Enforcement Directorate probing the 2G spectrum allocation scam may ask the ministry of information and broadcasting to cancel the licences of Kalaignar TV, its management has obtained license to launch a new channel the moment Kalaignar TV goes off the air.
With promoter Kanimozhi, daughter of DMK leader Muthuvel Karunanidhi, and managing director Sharat Babu cooling their heels in Tihar Jail on charges of hatching the 2G scam and money laundering, Kalaignar TV, owned by the Karunanidhi family, has gone into a major fire-fighting exercise.
The Karunanidhi family has made arrangements to launch the new channel with the name Murasu. “Yes, the ministry has given them the license to start new TV channels under the brand name Murasu. It is for the management to decide when to launch the channels,” said Atya Nand, under-secretary (broadcasting), ministry of Information and Broadcasting, told DNA. Atya Nand heads the section issuing licences to prospective television broadcasters.
To begin with, Murasu will beam two channels. “One will be an exclusive news channel and the other a general entertainment channel,” said a source in Kalaignar TV. “We will restrict Murasu to news and entertainment for the time being,” he said.
Meanwhile, the top management had convened a meeting of the programme staff late last week to inform them about possible fallout of the arrest of Kanimozhi and Sarat Babu. “The management has asked those of us interested in moving out are welcome to do so since the company is facing financial problems,” said an employee. He said 27 persons have already quit.
Karunanidhi and the DMK need a TV channel very badly in the backdrop of Sun Network, owned by the Maran brothers, cozying up to chief minister Jayalalithaa and almost blacking out Kanimozhi from its news bulletins.
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