AP govt to launch own TV news channel

Vijayawada: The state government will soon launch a Telugu television news channel of its own, to highlight Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy-led government's initiatives, ahead of the next general election due in early 2024.

The AP State FiberNet Limited (APSFL), a state government entity, will launch the channel under the brand name 'AP Fiber News'. At its recent meeting, the board of APSFL cleared the proposal to launch AP Fiber News, highly-placed official sources said.

To begin with, the channel will beam all news related to the state government through its Fiber-to-Home (FTH) network. "We are looking into various aspects related to the other content that could possibly be aired through the channel. We are also yet to decide the modalities of the news channel, whether to run it on our own or outsource it," the sources said.

The Chief Minister currently owns Sakshi television news channel and a newspaper in Telugu. The government, as well as the ruling YSRCP, have been highly critical of three major Telugu news channels, implying they are biased towards the main opposition TDP. However, two other top two Telugu TV news channels have been accused of ostensible tilt towards Jagan Mohan Reddy. Against this backdrop, the government has decided to foray into the media space to tell its own stories to the people.

The APSFL currently has 10 lakh subscribers to its FTH triple-play services that include television channels, a fixed telephone line and broadband Internet. It plans to increase the subscriber base to about 50-60 lakh connections by the end of this year.

If the plan fructifies, about 50 per cent of the households in the state will have been covered by FTH. "Our news channel will start with such a massive base. That will give us a distinct advantage of taking the government programmes to the people without any distortions," a top official of APSFL noted. While AP Fiber News will initially be aired through APSFL's FTH network, plans are also afoot to rope in the other multi-system operators to beam it on their networks. "Since it is a government channel, the MSOs will be required to air it. We will later take it to the Direct-to-Home networks as well," the official added.