BENGALURU: White Horse Network Services
Private Limited (WHN) recently had a soft launch
of its Kannada general entertainment channel
(GEC) Kalki Kannada on Vijaydashmi day,
October 22, 2015. The channel went on air
officially on Karnataka Rajo utsav day, November
1. The channel promises its audience 60 hours of
complete entertainment by way of all original
programmes in HD quality to grip viewers across
all age groups.
The channel says that its USP is that it offers
completely original shows with no remakes from
any other shows of any language. It claims that it
offers an interesting mix of shows across various
genres while catering to its diversified audience,
and it promises to soon launch a show completely
dedicated to women. WHN CEO P Kailasam says,
“We have a separate team dedicated towards
understanding and working based on the tastes
and demands of Kannada viewers across different
age groups as we at Kalki Kannada strive to offer
content with a unique approach while maintaining
the true Kannada culture at large”.
Distribution
Distribution has not been a major challenge for
WHN, given the fact that Kailasam is an industry
veteran from that branch of the industry. He was
once director at Zee Turner and then acted on a
consultancy basis for the MSO Atria Convergence
Technologies (ACT). The channel has placed 350
boxes around Karnataka, a number that is
probably more than even what Zee Kannada has
placed in the state says Kailasam. It is already
on Airtel’s DTH platform and Kailasam says that
talks are at an advanced stage with the other
DTH players in the country.
Advertisement revenue
As far as advertisement revenue is concerned, the
channel is awaiting rating numbers for at least a
month’s period, before it starts quoting rates to
media buyers. At present it has local retail ads
and ads through business obtained from a few
small deals done directly. “We will wait for the
next month before we start offering rates to
anyone. Our experience in the business tells us
that if we set the initial rates very low, there will
be no turning back, and we will be stuck in that
rut forever. We have had inquiries from a couple
of media buying agencies who wanted to block
some of our inventory for six months and more in
bulk. We have requested them to wait until
December,” revealed Kailasam.
From that context, the commencement of the
announcing of rural numbers monitored by the
Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) will
be a shot in the arm of sorts for WHN feels
Kailasam.
Marketing
The channel’s launch has been a low-key affair,
with the nucleus of the marketing team already in
place. It has placed half page ads in major
Kannada language papers and has had itself
written about locally.
Content
WHN says that it has a well-equipped state-of-
the-art studio and latest editing technology and
equipment, and is packed to offer complete
production packages with HD quality content.
Kailasam claims that after extensive research on
viewership habits, Kalki Kannada has launched
shows across various genres including a complete
morning band on devotional shows, afternoon
band on cookery shows, evening band on drama
and reality shows as weekend specials.
To name some of the non-fiction shows,
‘ Abhishekam ’, is an early morning devotional
show that offers a visual tour of some of the
exquisite temples of Karnataka along with ‘day
specific’ devotional songs and abhishekam based
on particular God of the day. ‘ Vishwaroopa ’, is a
devotional show on which philosopher and
astrologer Savithru Sharma interacts with the
viewers and covers every aspect of faith, coupled
with solutions for personal problems, daily
predictions and a guide to daily ritualistic
practices.
‘ Paddu’s Kitchen’ , is an exclusively vegetarian
cookery show on which Padmaja, a popular
onscreen mom, presents simple home cooking
with celeb chefs and signs off with her simple
recipes. Simple breakfast, main course and
dessert items are taught by yet another television
celebrity, Srinivas Prabhu who joins hands with
Paddu.
‘ Pani Puri with Murali’ , is a fun filled live chat
show hosted by popular television anchor Murali,
where he chats with celebrities and achievers
over paanipuri. Viewers can also interact with
guests and anchors over the phone in this live
show. ‘ Kalki Express’ , a reality game show
hosted by a popular comedian, M S Jahangir,
travels across thirty districts of Karnataka
reaching out to the viewers to try their Luck.
Simple games played by the participating families
can make them win money.
In the fiction genre the channel has stated off
with family dramas. ‘ Puttamalli’ is the story of a
young village girl who, in a turn of fate, marries a
man much older than herself and is settled in a
big city. The drama revolves around how the
entire family of the boy helps to transform the girl
to adjust to her new life. ‘ Sevanthi Sevathi ’, is a
half-sisters’ drama with a repenting father and
his two wives: the rich and arrogant second wife
and poor struggling first wife. The sisters’ paths
cross on various occasions while they are
completely unaware of their relationship with each
other. The plot revolves around how the two
sisters resolve all their family issues.
‘ Anubandha ’ is a story based on love, friendship,
relationships and of unspoken feelings hidden by
a mask. The story revolves around a mother and daughter who love each other a lot. In a turn of fate the mother loses her daughter but soon finds another girl almost like her daughter to whom she gives her daughter’s face so that the whole world thinks that her real daughter is alive. Besides family dramas, the channel will soon launch a socio-mythology serial ‘ Amnoru ’, that it says is an intense drama between good and evil.The show, while using elements of devotion, faith, black magic and mythology, is about a devout girl who has special powers and her immense faith in God that saves her husband’s life.Until May 2015, WHN managed operations at the Kannada GEC Kasthuri. Industry sources say that WHN had turned the channel around and helped multiply revenues many times over, before handing back the reins to the promoters of the channel.
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