Jeevan TV celebrates its 1st Anniversary "Jeevan Ananthapuri Event" inaugurated
by R S Priya in Thiruvananthapuram and V M Sathish in Dubai
Thiruvananthapuram May 15: A grand and colourful ceremony was organized at the University Senate Hall here on May 15th by Jeevan TV, the youngest TV channel in Kerala, to celebrate its first anniversary. Celebrities from diverse cultural fields like cinema, music, and literature attended the glittering function. Even though the event entitled "Jeevan Ananthapuri Event" was to be inaugurated by Aranmula Ponnamma, she couldn't turn up and the event was inaugurated by the all-time popular actor, Madhu.
Others like the famous poet and lyricist P.Bhaskaran, Social thinker Guptan Nair and Jeevan TV Managing Director, Baby Mathew attended the inaugural function, which was attended by a celebrity studded audience. Among the programmes conducted for the event included Classical concert by Pranavam Sankaran Namboothiri, Kalamandalam Hyderali and team, Mohiniyattom by Gopika Varma and team and a musical treat by G.Venugopal, Unni Menon, Radhika Thilak, Arundhati and team. The event was attended by celebrities like the young actor Prithvi Raj and popular actress K.P.A.C Lalitha. There were also music personalities including Bichu Thirumala, P.Bhaskaran, M.G.Radhakrishnan, Kavalam Narayana Panickar, Poovachal Khader and singer Prathapan. Renowned filmmakers like Adoor Gopalakrishnan and T.V.Chandran were also part of the celebrity-packed audience. All these celebrities were honoured and given momentos during the programme. Baby Mathew, the young and dynamic Managing Director of Jeevan TV, expressed his happiness on the occasion and said that Jeevan TV plans to expand itself and reach more viewers. He said the long term plan is to make Jeevan a 'Family Channel'.
Click here for special photo gallery of Jeevan Anniversary ..Pictures by R S Priya
Jeevan TV, with a large viewership is progressing as an informative as well as entertaining channel. It has its bureau outside India in UAE and USA. Jeevan TV is also planning to open a Jeevan Club , through which, the channel plans to bring people together and encourage various cultural and social activities. Jeevan TV which was started initially as an evangelical mission to spread Christian gospel was sudden to grasp the market reality and convert itself into yet another Kerala specific TV channel, which cater to a secular audience. Its various programmes, especially the English News and Haritha Keralam focusing on the agrarian sector became quite popular in the state, which still remains predominantly agrarian. The channel has also been trying to reach the affluent Non Resident Keralites in the Gulf, Europe and America. Apart from Haritha Keralam, which has set a new trend in the Malayalam TV scene, its other popular programmes include Chocolates featuring young film talents and Camp Hangama for college students. Its media related reports too are commendable.
Baby Mathew Somatheeram was appointed as the Managing Director of Jeevan TV after Rev. Dr. Andrews Thazhath, former MD was appointed Auxiliary Bishop of the Thrissur Arch Diocese. Baby Mathew was earlier the Joint Managing Director of Jeevan TV. He is also the chairman of the Somatheeram Group of Companies, the vice chairman of the Global Kerala Foundation, the state vice president of the Kerala Children's Film Society and the editor-in-chief of the Millennium Journal. He is the son of the late A J Mathew of Aramban-kudiyil family in Kothamangalam.
V M Sathish adds from Dubai - A notable absence from the celebrity crowd was Joy Alukkas, who was one of the initial shareholders in the channel. KM learns that the Alukkas group is having some disagreements with the Jeevan TV board and some of the big plans drawn up under the control of Joy Alukkas are now shelved for the time being. The high profile office of Jeevan TV in the Dubai Media City is almost closed and some of the staff is on the look out for new jobs. However, Joy Alukkas continues to be a director in Jeevan TV. The current status of Jeevan Entertainment FZ LLC located in the Dubai Media City (Building No 8) is almost closed. Its senior staff including senior managers are on the look out for new job opportunities. The proposed plan to start a Gulf edition of Deepika, a related publication, is also learned to be delayed.
Joy Alukkas...Jeevan TV Director.
The newspaper recently advertised and recruited editorial staff for the maiden overseas edition from Dubai. The Muscat Bureau of Jeevan TV too was not doing as per expectation. A Malayali businessman who took Jeevan TV Franchise in Muscat is known to be facing severe liquidity crisis as the channel could not raise sufficient advertisement revenue. Thanks to stiff competition from Asianet, which has already established in the Gulf market, the Muscat Franchise could not encroach up on the limited advertisement market.The TV advertisement market in the Gulf is already saturated.According to earlier reports, Jeevan Telecasting Corporation was planning a multicrore expansion of Rs. 25 crores in two stages. In the first stage, Jeevan will invest Rs.10 crores for modernization of equipment and for improving the quality of News. In the second phase, the balance Rs.15 crores will be invested in its world wide network, for a new channel in other languages and for establishing a training center. However, the Joy Alukkas group is already passing through a difficult terrain after the group was split into various divisions due to infighting and dispute among brothers. It is learned that the Christian Church wanted to regain control of Jeevan TV from Joy Alukkas. -Keralamonitor.com
