Kasthuri TV gears up with new shows, new look & new positioning

Kasthuri TV, one of the top 5 General Entertainment Channels of Karnataka is all set for a total revamp. Launched in 2007 as a General Entertainment cum News channel, it previously carried 60 per cent entertainment & 40 per cent news content. In November 2014, Kasthuri TV roped in Whitehorse Network (WHN), an organization floated by renowned media industry veteran P Kailasam to take over the channel’s operations for 5 years.

The core Management Team at Whitehorse comprises of P Kailasam – the Director and Chief Executive Officer, GV Krishnamurthy – the Business Head and Shivakumar – Chief Content Strategist. Together, they have been spearheading the new way forward for the channel with ‘New Shows’, ‘New Look’ and ‘New Positioning’ first on their agenda. They have even entrusted the channel’s ad sales duties to Aidem Ventures.

As a part of its re-launch strategy, the channel will feature a refreshed line-up of programmes. “Kasthuri is poised to get back its glory. We are completely revamping the channel and our USP is to offer differentiated yet mass-based content to the viewers”, says P Kailasam.

“Kasthuri TV at present enjoys a good reach that is comparable to the bigger platforms within its genre. The new content will bring in fresh audiences and improve time spent and stickiness of the existing base,” added Vikas Khanchandani, Director, Aidem Ventures Pvt. Ltd.

Based on the extensive research done in order to understand the Regional Television viewing habits in Karnataka, the new content strategy involves strengthening the prime-time viewing slot with a mix of fiction and non-fiction programmes. Of the non-fiction programmes that are slated for launch, ‘Mathandre Maathu’, starring Murali is a talk show that brings two polarised sections of the society onto one platform to share their views on social and political issues. Another non-fiction programme that is to launch next week is ‘PadhakondhuSaval’. This is an interactive game show in which callers can participate in the on-going game or contest to win prizes. Yet another interactive game show that first went on air last Monday is ‘Sakath Atte Super Sose’ hosted by Sushma K Rao. In this firs-of-its-kind TV show, a mother-in-law - daughter-in-law duo participates together as a team and is pitted against other mother-in-law – daughter-in-law duos. The weekend programming line-up includes ‘Aradirali Belaku’ which is a talk show discussing social issues faced by the common man today.

Here, Malavika Avinash, a well-known Kannada Television celebrity will host the show. Along with a panel of experts and the audience, she will debate over issues raised, help resolve them and suggest corrective measures to the victim & to the audience. ‘Nan Life Nal One Dhina’, is a celebrity talk show where the audience can take a sneak peek into the real life of popular Big Screen actors, politicians, sportsmen etc. as the host interviews them every Sunday from 7.30PM to 8.30PM. Another weekend programme called ‘Crime Alert’ brings to light the criminal minds behind innocent faces. This is an informative show for viewers in which each episode ends with an optimal solution for preventing crime. ‘Guggunanmaklu’ is a comedy fiction show in which the lead character has short-term memory loss which leads him into awkward & embarrassing situations.

This refreshed programming line-up promises its audience complete entertainment for the entire family. Team Whitehorse is confident that the channel will be able to captivate its viewers in such a way so as to soon make Kasthuri TV top the list of Kannada GECs.         

Apart from the new list of appealing programmes, WHN has strengthened the channel’s movie library by acquiring 50 A-category titles this financial year. Kasthuri TV will soon be donning a new look. Its refreshed packaging and new promotional strategy are also underway.