| BANGALORE:
Next year, Television transmission will reach an important milestone – 80
years since the first signal was beamed on 11 September, 1928 in the US. Closer
home, 25 years ago, on 21 June, 1982 to be more exact, the first Kannada program
was transmitted from DD Chennai. It was a half hour show, a family sitcom, interspaced
with film songs, directed by R N Jayagopal. The cast was mostly Kannadigas who
had settled down in Chennai. The
next year, saw DD Bangalore transmitting the first Kannada serial 'Sihikahi' or
Bittersweet (actual translation 'sweet-bitter') produced and directed by H NK
Murthy. DD
was the only fare available to the Kannadiga until the 90's saw the advent of
the Sun group's bouquet. ETV came in the early part of this first decade of the
new millennium. Zee Kannada came in just over a year ago, as did TV9, a news channel
initially with rumors abuzz about their starting regional entertainment channel/s.
Pundits estimate the size of the Kannada television industry to be about Rs.11-12
billion on an annual basis currently, and slated to grow fast. That
the Sun group with its bouquet now rules the roost in the rest of Karnataka, while
ETV commands better GRP's in Bangalore is known to most. However, overall the
Sun group has the lions share with around 58 per cent of viewership share. Newer
entrants have the opportunity to grab a share both in Bangalore and the rest of
Karnataka by offering quality fare for the 'housewife', and hence offer an option
to viewers. Though the newer entrants have been nibbling into the market share
of the older players to some extent, the market has been growing. Said
a source in the Kannada television industry, "Get the programming right –
it all boils down getting that extra tear from the female audiences eyes to grab
better ratings during primetime, a channel that does this will be able to equal
or beat the incumbents." The
Kannada entertainment and television industry has its peculiarities too –
Kannada dubbing of any serial or film and broadcasting is banned, and hold your
breath, this resolution was passed by the entertainment industry way back in 1970,
long before the advent of television. So
there no Kannada dubbed versions of popular national serials like Ramayana and
Mahabharata, or any other popular programs for that matter. What is allowed is
remakes, and that's how it works, though there are soaps based on original content
generated out of Karnataka, Sun and Udaya offer many of their Tamil and Telugu
remake programs to the Kannadigas. A lot of the fare is also movie based, rather
than TV specific content, but here too besides DD, Udaya has taken a lead to create
local programs Today
Kannada television boasts of 47 mega serials (so to say) on air, with Zee Kannada
and DD having 3 to 4 of them, the rest being shared by the Sun bouquet and ETV.
There are instances of serials running over one thousand episodes, and this list
includes a Balaji Telefilms Kannada offering too – 'Kumkumabhagya'. | 
