Kaumudy TV

About Kaumudy TV

Kaumudy TV is a Malayalam-language free-to-air television channel owned by the proprietors of the Malayalam daily newspaper Kerala Kaumudi. Based in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, the channel was officially launched on 5 May 2013, a year after its logo was unveiled by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh during the centenary celebrations of Kerala Kaumudi. Its programme menu blends news, talks, interviews and entertainment, extending into television a journalistic legacy that dates back to the newspaper's founding in 1911. The channel's official website is kaumudy.com.

History and Launch

The launch of Kaumudy TV was the culmination of the Kerala Kaumudi group's move from print into television. During the newspaper's centenary celebrations in 2012, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh unveiled the channel's logo — a high-profile endorsement that signalled the group's broadcast ambitions. The channel was officially launched on 5 May 2013, initially broadcasting in standard definition over satellite, and later upgrading to high definition.

Technical details published at launch placed the channel on Intelsat 17 at 66 degrees East, on frequency 4006 with a symbol rate of 14400, horizontal polarisation, FEC 3/4 and MPEG-4 8PSK modulation. The channel entered distribution through cable networks across Kerala and was subsequently added to DTH platforms, including Videocon d2h, widening its reach beyond the state's cable footprint.

Ownership: The Kerala Kaumudi Group

Kaumudy TV is owned by the owners of Kerala Kaumudi, the Malayalam daily founded in 1911 by C. V. Kunhiraman as a periodical; his son K. Sukumaran later served as the newspaper's editor. The newspaper is headquartered at Kaumudi Buildings, Thiruvananthapuram, with Darshan Ravi as publisher and Deepu Ravi as editor-in-chief. It is among the largest-circulated Malayalam dailies, publishing nine editions from Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Alappuzha, Pathanamthitta, Kottayam, Kochi, Thrissur, Kozhikode and Kannur, and circulating in the United Arab Emirates.

Over more than a century the group has diversified across media platforms: the flagship daily, the midday Kerala Kaumudi Flash, the Kerala Kaumudi Weekly — a popular literary journal long edited by K. Balakrishnan — the children's magazine Magic Slate, the glossy film magazine Flash Movies, an online edition of the newspaper, and Kaumudy TV. The television channel is the group's broadcast flagship.

Programming: News, Talks and Entertainment

Kaumudy TV's programme menu comprises news, talks, interviews and entertainment, a mix designed to carry the newspaper's credibility into television while serving family audiences. Regular short news bulletins run through the day, with news forming a substantial share of airtime, particularly in the morning hours. The channel's main programme at launch was identified as Tom and Jessy.

The entertainment slate has included a wide range of shows: Swayamvaram; Cinema Company, whose first season was hosted by Ranjini Haridas and second by Pearle Maaney; Devamrutham; Secret File; 4 the People; Haritha Sundaram; Salt and Pepper; Junior Chef Master; Snake Master; Puthiya Pattu; Film Box; Dream Drive; Get Set Chat; Saat; Tharappakittu; Ladies Hour; Straight Line; Arangaettam; and Devageetham, spanning cinema, cookery, music, devotional content and chat formats. Lifestyle and entertainment programmes such as Snake Master, Aliyans and Oh My God have been among its popular non-news offerings, alongside shows on religion and programmes for the Kerala community abroad.

News and Current Affairs

The channel's news operation draws on the Kerala Kaumudi newsroom's reporting network across the state. Short bulletins through the day keep viewers updated, while talk and interview formats provide space for debate and discussion of Kerala's politics, society and culture. The combination of a legacy newspaper's journalistic standards with television's immediacy has been central to the channel's positioning in a competitive Malayalam news-and-entertainment market.

The group's print strength underpins this operation: with nine editions published from Thiruvananthapuram to Kannur and circulation extending to the United Arab Emirates, the newspaper's district-level newsgathering gives the television newsroom a deep bench of reporters and stringers across Kerala. The midday Kerala Kaumudi Flash and the weekly and magazine titles in the group further extend the editorial resources the channel can draw on.

Digital Presence and Kaumudy on YouTube

Kaumudy TV has built a major digital presence through its Kaumudy YouTube channel, described as the digital version of the television channel and mainly an entertainment channel. The YouTube channel has amassed about 6.29 million subscribers and around 74,000 videos, making it one of the most-subscribed Malayalam media channels on the platform. Official enquiries for the digital operation are directed to the group's YouTube contact address. The group's main web portal is kaumudy.com, which serves as the online home for the newspaper and the television channel.

Distribution and Reach

Kaumudy TV is a free-to-air channel available on cable networks across Kerala and on DTH platforms. In 2013 it was added to Videocon d2h at channel number 617, at a point when that platform carried 24 Malayalam channels, giving the channel DTH visibility beyond its cable footprint. For international viewers it is available through the YuppTV streaming service, which lists the channel's availability across the United States, Canada, Japan, Australia, the United Kingdom, Malaysia, Singapore, Europe, New Zealand, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the Middle East and the UAE. This distribution gives the channel reach among the large Malayali diaspora in the Gulf, North America, Europe and South East Asia, alongside its Kerala home market.

Digital distribution has become a second pillar of the channel's reach. The Kaumudy YouTube channel functions as the digital version of the television service, and its large subscriber base means much of the channel's entertainment output travels well beyond the linear broadcast footprint — an important complement to satellite and cable carriage for reaching younger Malayalam speakers and the global diaspora.

Market Context

Kaumudy TV operates in the crowded Malayalam television market, competing with established entertainment and news channels from larger networks. Its differentiation rests on the Kerala Kaumudi brand's century-old journalistic heritage — a trust asset few competitors can match — and on a programming mix that balances news credibility with accessible entertainment. The channel's free-to-air status keeps it widely available, while its substantial YouTube audience gives it a second growth engine among younger, digital-first Malayalam viewers.

Brand and Identity

The Kaumudy TV logo, in use since 2013 and unveiled by the Prime Minister a year before launch, ties the channel visually to the Kerala Kaumudi masthead. The "Kaumudy" name itself carries the newspaper's identity into broadcasting, signalling continuity between the print legacy and the television venture. The centenary-year unveiling of the logo was a deliberate statement of institutional weight behind the new channel.

Key Facts

Kaumudy TV is a Malayalam free-to-air television channel owned by the proprietors of the Malayalam daily Kerala Kaumudi, headquartered in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, with its official website at kaumudy.com. Its logo was unveiled by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh during the Kerala Kaumudi centenary celebrations in 2012, and the channel was officially launched on 5 May 2013. The programme menu comprises news, talks, interviews and entertainment, including shows such as Tom and Jessy, Swayamvaram, Cinema Company (hosted by Ranjini Haridas and later Pearle Maaney), Devamrutham, Secret File, Salt and Pepper, Snake Master, Ladies Hour and Devageetham. It launched on Intelsat 17 at 66°E and is available on cable, DTH and internationally via YuppTV across the US, Canada, UK, Gulf, South East Asia, Australia and New Zealand. Its Kaumudy YouTube channel has about 6.29 million subscribers and 74,000 videos. The parent newspaper, Kerala Kaumudi, was founded in 1911 by C. V. Kunhiraman, publishes nine editions, and is led by publisher Darshan Ravi and editor-in-chief Deepu Ravi.