24-hour Telugu news channel
Television channel
TV9 Telugu
(formerly
TV9
) is an Indian
Telugu
-language 24-hour
news channel
focusing on the states of
Andhra Pradesh
and
Telangana
.
[3]
It formally launched on 1 February 2004 with a 15-day trial run before the formal launch.
[4]
It is headquartered in
Hyderabad
. Along with its rival
ETV2
(now
ETV Andhra Pradesh
), it is the oldest 24-hour news channel in Telugu.
[4]
[2]
[5]
The founding CEO was Ravi Prakash who served in the role till May 2019.
[2]
[6]
The channel was founded with seed capital from serial entrepreneur
Srini Raju
's iLabs Ventures.
[7]
Srini Raju exited the company in August 2018 by selling his 80% stake to a group of investors including promoters of My Home Group and Megha Engineering & Infrastructure Limited (MEIL).
[7]
Rajinikanth Vellalacheruvu is the current Managing Editor of the channel.
[8]
[3]
History
[
edit
]
TV9 was launched as a 24-hour
news channel
in
Telugu
with its headquarters in
Hyderabad
. It formally launched on 1 February 2004 with a 15-day trial run before the formal launch.
[4]
[5]
It is promoted by Associated Broadcasting Company Pvt. Ltd (ABCL).
[9]
[10]
ABCL was backed by serial investor
Srini Raju
's iLabs Ventures with seed capital.
[7]
It was reported that TV9 received
?
15
crore
funding from Srini Raju's iLabs and Chennai-based Unify Wealth Management.
[5]
The founding CEO Ravi Prakash mentioned that they launched TV9 as a news channel targeting the youth and women. By June 2014, TV9 had 125 reporters across India.
[5]
The 2004
Andhra Pradesh Assembly elections
and the
Indian general elections
helped TV9 and its rival ETV2 to become established in the market.
[11]
As of December 2011,
[update]
Srini Raju's iLabs and other investors held 80 percent stake in ABCL, while CEO Ravi Prakash and other management team held 20 percent stake.
[12]
In September 2016, it was reported that
Zee Group
would likely buy a majority stake in ABCL.
[2]
TV9 Network
[
edit
]
Over a period of time, the parent company launched news channels in other
Indian languages
. Its sister channels include
TV9 Kannada
(in the state of
Karnataka
),
[13]
TV9 Marathi (in the state of
Maharashtra
),
TV9 Gujarati
(in the state of
Gujarat
),
[13]
TV9 Bharatvarsh
(
Hindi
news channel),
[14]
TV9 Bangla
(in the state of
West Bengal
).
[15]
[3]
After the launch of other language channels, TV9 was renamed as TV9 Telugu.
Channel
|
Language
|
Year
|
TV9 Telugu
|
Telugu
|
2004
|
TV9 Kannada
|
Kannada
|
2006
|
TV9 Gujarati
|
Gujarati
|
2007
|
TV9 Marathi
|
Marathi
|
2011
|
TV9 Bharatvarsh
|
Hindi
|
2019
|
TV9 Bangla
|
Bangla
|
2021
|
TV9 MP CG
|
Hindi
|
2024
|
Change of ownership
[
edit
]
In August 2018, a group of investors including promoters of ALANDA media picked up the nearly 80% stake held by Srini Raju in Associated Broadcasting Company Ltd (ABCL) which owns TV9 Telugu and its sister channels.
[7]
From 2004 till 2018, the investor had pumped in close to
?
200
crore
in tranches into the company. The company was valued at
?
456 crore for the transaction. It marked the exit of Srini Raju from the company.
[16]
In April 2019, Srini Raju agreed to pay
?
65 crore to SAIF Partners (now Elevation Capital), who were also the investors in the company (ABCL). It was also reported that film actor
Sivaji
who had previously bought around 9% of ABCL from founder CEO Ravi Prakash had raised objections to the sale of 80% equity to My Home Group and Megha Engineering & Infrastructure Limited (MEIL).
[17]
Ouster of Ravi Prakash
[
edit
]
Ravi Prakash served as its CEO from founding till May 2019 when he was sacked due to accusations of forgery.
[18]
Ravi Prakash later alleged that after the company's takeover its editorial and operational independence had been compromised. He also noted that he was kept in the dark about the involvement of Jupally Rameswar Rao of My Home Group among the investor group, to whom he would have never sold his company to. Ravi Prakash alleged that the closeness of Rameswar Rao to Telangana Chief Minister
K. Chandrasekhar Rao
and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy has eroded the unbiasedness of TV9 and that the channel is now being used to further the agenda of
Telangana Rashtra Samiti
government and Chandrasekhar Rao.
[19]
References
[
edit
]
|
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Hindi-language news channels
| |
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English-language news channels
| |
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Bengali-language news channels
| |
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Telugu-language news channels
| |
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Other language news channels
| |
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Business news channels
| |
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|
|
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Public channels
| |
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GECs
| India
| |
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Malaysia
| |
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United States
| |
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|
---|
News
channels
| India
| |
---|
United States
|
- TV5 USA
- ETV America
- TV Asia Telugu Vaarthalu
|
---|
|
---|
Devotional
| Hindu
| |
---|
Muslim
|
- Ruju Margam
TV
- Sphoorthy
TV
|
---|
Christian
| |
---|
|
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Music
| |
---|
Movies
| |
---|
Youth and Tollywood based
|
- Xtra
- Tollywood
- E
TV
Plus
- Studio YUVA
|
---|
Lifestyle
|
- Vanitha TV
- CVR
Health
- E
TV
Life
- TV 7
Health Planet
|
---|
Kids
| |
---|
Comedy
| |
---|
Shopping
|
- Naaptol Telugu [
Cine 21
]
|
---|
HD channels
|
- ETV HD
- Gemini HD
- Star Maa HD
- Zee Telugu HD
- Star Maa Movies HD
- Star Maa Music HD
- Zee Cinemalu HD
- Gemini Music HD
- Gemini Movies HD
- Gemini Comedy HD
- Gemini Life HD
- TV9 HD
- Star Sports Telugu HD
- BCN HD
(local)
- V HD
(local)
|
---|
Infotainment
| |
---|
Channels having
Telugu audio feed
| Kids
| |
---|
Infotainment
| |
---|
Shopping
| |
---|
|
---|
Others
| |
---|
Local channels
(
city/cable based
)
| Guntur
|
- Siti Telugu
- Siti Music
- Siti Text
|
---|
Ongole
|
- V Channel
- V Music
- V Info
- V Movies
- SATYA Channel
- SATYA Cable
- SATYA News
- SATYA Gold
- UR Choice
|
---|
|
---|
Defunct channels
| GEC
|
- RVS
TV
- R
TV
- A
TV
- Local TV
|
---|
News
| |
---|
Devotional
| |
---|
Movies
| |
---|
Kids
| |
---|
|
---|
Sports
| |
---|