Religious TV – The next Gold rush
Spirituality Sells!
Indian Cable TV is entering a new phase. A slew of religious channels are going to be launched shortly. Such spirituality channels can give the mega-serials a run for their money as they normal cater to the same audience - the Indian home-maker and the senior citizens.
- Tirumala Tirupathi Devasthanam (TTD) plans to launch Balaji TV
- Mata Amritanandamayi plans to launch Amrita TV in Malayalam
- Bennett Coleman & Company Ltd (BCCL is the publisher of ToI and ET) also plans to start a Spirituality Channel
posted by Kaps at
11:53 PM
8 Comments:
As if the existing ones are not enuff!!! :)
I wonder how will the advertisements be for such channels???;)
By
IBH, at 1:08 AM
hey have blgrolled u!!! hope u dont mind!!
By
IBH, at 1:44 AM
for spiritually inclined ppl (esp. elders) it wd be a gud break..
hope the likes of siva sankara baba don't start a channel.. i was fuming thru' the ears when he got lot of airtime way back in 97-98.
By
Chakra, at 2:36 AM
someone has to take care of spirituality given that morning shows have become a series of astrology, gemmology and name-ology (donno how to spell that) shows.
and if u arent aware Maharishi channel has been beaming for a while w/o much watchers.
By
Harish, at 2:41 AM
hi kaps...
no problems...i totally enjoy ur posts on sambharmafia! its an insight into home from ur perspective with a generous mix of topics i have interests in.
i'm singaporean, born and bred these 24 years, the last three spent in the uk for studies.
and i'm probably way too tamil for my own good ;)
By
caleb, at 3:57 AM
I too saw an article sometime back that with the hectic modern world and its many stresses, people are turning to spirituality and since the traditional discourses (kathaa kaalatchepam) are dying, they have now assumed the TV avatar. But how are they going to get ads? And what kind of ads? Agarbathi? Religious conducted tours? Hopefully the ads won't be out of sync with the concept. Worst case scenario I am thinking is something like a Viagra ad before a discourse on TV saying "now for your upliftment" :-)
By
Krish, at 6:12 AM
@IBH,
Thanx 4 blogrolling me. I too thought about the ads part. I guess people like TTD are aflush with resources and hence may not look at these channels as a source of revenue. However, knowing the commercial inclinations of Bennett Coleman Group, they will come up with some gimmicks as they won't get into such a venture if it is not a money spinner.
@Chakra,
I guess Siva Shankar Baba is not in the race these days. Vivek did the right thing by featuring Siva Shankar Baba and Yaghava Munivar in one of his comedy tracks.
@Harish,
Morning shows give us the message that, there is nothing interesting in TV, you better get more sleep or go out for a jog. Tamil channels in particular have run out of ideas of the breakfast shows and hence throwing some garbage at us.
@Caleb,
Thanx 4 dropping by. How is the election fever in the UK? If you have time read NewsWeek dated 25th April, it carries a nice article about London is the right model for a multi-cultural modern metropolis of 21st Century.
@Thennavan,
Viagra Ad - ROTFL! I don't think Agarbathi firms can be a source of ad revenue for these firms. I guess firms like T-Series which bring out lot of Devotional CD's can be major advertisers. People & TTD and Mata Amritanandamayi may already have enough financial banking and hence may not look at these channels to earn substantial revenue. They might use these as a medium to drive their religious philosophies to a wider international audience. However BCCL will definitely be looking at making money with this venture.
By
Kaps, at 6:33 AM
Spiritual channels are bound to appeal to the older audience and might create a niche market for themselves.
So is TOI creating a spiritual channel to atone for its sins ?
By
Cogito, at 11:38 PM
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