Dighvijay TV

Overview

Dighvijay TV, also known on air as Dighvijay 24x7 News or Dighvijay News 24x7, was a Kannada-language 24x7 satellite news channel based in Bengaluru, Karnataka. It was launched on 5 April 2017 by VRL Media Private Limited, the media arm of the VRL Group best known in Karnataka for Vijayavani, the Kannada daily newspaper. The channel broadcast for a little over six years before Republic Media Network acquired VRL's broadcast news business in 2023 and relaunched the channel as Republic Kannada, ending the Dighvijay brand. This profile is therefore written in the past tense: Dighvijay TV no longer exists as a channel in its own right.

The channel presented itself with the slogan "Voice of Kannadigas" and a stated motto of social care, culture and national integrity. It was a free-to-air channel, carried on satellite and on major direct-to-home and cable platforms, and it competed in one of India's most crowded regional news markets.

Background: VRL Media and Vijayavani

Dighvijay grew directly out of the success of Vijayavani. The Kannada newspaper, guided by Dr Vijay Sankeshwar and spearheaded by Anand Sankeshwar, had become the No. 1 Kannada news daily in Karnataka, and it had itself been launched on Ramanavami, five years before the television channel followed on the same festival day. VRL Media argued that the trust the newspaper had built for its reporting on national issues, political questions and events in the state, the country and the world could be transferred to television.

At the launch, Dr Vijay Sankeshwar said he had always wanted to see a Kannadiga launch a Kannada news channel, and that with Dighvijay that wish had been realised. He also said the channel wanted to prove wrong the idea that families were harmed by watching television, positioning Dighvijay as a constructive, family-safe news service rather than a sensational one.

Launch on Ramanavami 2017

The channel's logo and theme were released on 7 February 2017 by Anand Sankeshwar, and early reports expected operations to begin that month. The formal launch took place on 5 April 2017, the auspicious day of Ramanavami. The channel was launched in Bengaluru by Dr Channasiddharama Panditaaradhya Shivacharya Bhagavadpadaru, in the presence of former prime minister H. D. Deve Gowda, Karnataka BJP president and former chief minister B. S. Yeddyurappa, former minister M. V. Rajashekaran, film star Ramesh Arvind, music director Ricky Kej and other dignitaries.

Speakers at the launch stressed integrity of culture and national interest. The Jagadguru praised the venture for having no commercialisation in its stated intent and for being committed to society, while Yeddyurappa expressed confidence that the channel would give direction to audiences searching for the truth. The breadth of political and cultural figures on the stage underlined how significant a new Kannada news launch by the house of Vijayavani was considered to be in Karnataka public life.

Language, Genre and Positioning

Dighvijay was a Kannada-language news and current affairs channel broadcasting around the clock. Its stated editorial values were integrity of culture and national interest, held, in the words of its launch material, to the highest esteem through its programmes. Under managing director Anand Sankeshwar, the channel said it would provide news faster and with the highest accuracy, supported by the latest technology, modern infrastructure and agile reporters.

Later channel descriptions added that Dighvijay aimed to go beyond reporting by celebrating the diverse culture of Karnataka, showcasing the heritage, traditions and languages of the state, and presenting itself as a platform for inclusivity and for the empowerment of the people of Karnataka. That combination of hard news, social commitment and cultural pride was its distinguishing pitch in a market dominated by established Kannada news brands.

News Gathering and Programmes

Dighvijay drew on VRL Media's news gathering network, which the group described as the largest network in the state because of its combination of the television channel and the Vijayavani newspaper's reporting base. Offices of Vijayavani across Karnataka gave the channel a ready flow of district-level stories, and the launch coverage noted that audiences were already reaching the channel through Vijayavani offices to air their views on current issues in the state, which the group treated as early testimony to its acceptance.

Its programming centred on live news coverage, political reporting and current affairs discussion, including live coverage of events such as Karnataka Assembly sessions. The channel described itself in later years as a fast-growing Kannada news service using modern, including 3D-enabled, studio technology, and it built its schedule around continuous bulletins and debate-led coverage of state politics, the dominant format of Kannada television news.

Availability and Distribution

Dighvijay 24x7 News was a free-to-air channel downlinked from the Intelsat 17 satellite at 66 degrees East, in C-band, in MPEG-4 standard definition. In its final period under the Dighvijay name it was listed on Tata Play at channel 1659, on Sun Direct at channel 289 and on Airtel Digital TV at channel 985, and on digital cable through NXT Digital at channel 322. Those listings ended when the channel was renamed: a DTH notice in September 2023 recorded that Dighvijay 24x7 News would undergo a name change to R. Kannada with effect from 29 September 2023, retaining the Tata Play position of 1659.

Business Performance

Financial reporting around the 2023 sale gave a rare public picture of the channel's economics. Figures cited from Tofler data put Dighvijay 24x7's total income for FY22 at about Rs 12 crore, with advertising revenue of Rs 11.71 crore, up about 9 per cent from Rs 10.70 crore in FY 2020-21. Expenditure, however, stood at about Rs 30.57 crore including depreciation, and VRL Media's news division reported a loss of about Rs 17 crore for FY22, while the wider group recorded a loss of about Rs 13 crore against Rs 6.36 crore the previous year. In other words, the channel's costs ran at roughly two and a half times its income, a gap that helps explain why a sale to a larger network became attractive.

Acquisition by Republic and Rebranding

In September 2023 Republic Media Network acquired VRL News Media's complete broadcast news division in an asset purchase whose value was not disclosed, and Dighvijay became the network's fourth channel. Republic Kannada was launched on 23 September 2023 with the tagline "Nimma Dhwani", meaning "Your Voice", and the launch slogan of straight talk, eye to eye. Arnab Goswami said he had great respect for the Sankeshwar family and described the deal as the culmination of a friendship with Anand Sankeshwar as well as a business acquisition. Anand Sankeshwar, in turn, said he was happy to hand the channel over and confident Republic would take it in the right direction.

Analysts commenting on the deal noted that Indian television news is highly fragmented, with more than 200 news stations, and that news is not paid for directly by viewers in India, leaving advertising as the only real source of monetisation. A smaller regional broadcaster such as VRL could gain access to larger corporate advertisers and network synergies by joining Republic, even at the cost of its own brand.

Legacy

Dighvijay TV's six and a half years on air completed VRL Media's transformation from a newspaper house into a broadcast news operator, and proved that the Vijayavani brand could sustain a television newsroom with a statewide reporting network. Its ending was not a collapse but an absorption: the channel, its licence, its distribution positions and its audience passed intact to Republic Kannada, which continues from the base Dighvijay built. The Dighvijay name, logo and "Voice of Kannadigas" identity, however, disappeared from screens in September 2023.