Zee launches Tamil channel

CHENNAI: Zee TV launched its Tamil channel on Sunday at a glittering function here and announced ambitious plans to soon spread to Kerala.
 
G Ramaprasad, the company's chief executive officer for the southern region, said the Tamil channel, the 33rd in the Zee bouquet, possessed an inventory that covered 40 percent of the Tamil movies produced this year.
 
"We are here to stay and establish our credentials in a big way. At present, we cannot disclose our business plans, but can confidently say our plans are big and will be present in all areas south of the Vindhyas," Ramaprasad said.
 
Zee is already into Tamil movie production - the first one is to be released shortly. The company has already branched out into similar ventures in Karnataka, where its channel is second only to the Udaya channel, Ramaprasad added.
 
The channel would consider dubbing its existing software in other languages into Tamil, another top official said.
 
Tamil actress Khushboo, ace director K. Balachander and producer Prabhu Nepal are currently producing software for the channel, a press statement said.
 
Several leading actors and actresses were shown welcoming Zee's second foray into Tamil led by thespian Kamal Haasan.
 
The channel was being shown only on select multi system operators in Tamil Nadu as the major carriers - Sumangali Cable Vision and Tata Sky had blanked it out.
 
A few years earlier, the company had soft-launched a Tamil channel that telecast mainly dubbed versions of its Hindi software. It folded up quickly.
 
Zee hopes to fare better this time because of a better climate for showing its wares, the communiqué added.