Janam TV

About Janam TV

Janam TV is a Malayalam-language free-to-air news channel owned by Janam Multimedia Limited, launched on 19 April 2015. Headquartered in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, with its registered office in Thrissur and studios in Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram, the channel was promoted by veteran film director Priyadarshan as a news-cum-entertainment service with the stated aim of promoting national interest through what its founders described as impartial reporting and investigative journalism. Backed by around 5,000 shareholders and a paid-up capital of close to Rs 50 crore, Janam TV launched with the distinction of being billed as the first full high-definition channel in Malayalam. It is widely described in media coverage as aligned with the Bharatiya Janata Party's worldview in Kerala — a characterisation its promoters have consistently denied, pointing instead to its broad shareholder base. The channel also operates the Tamil-language sister channel Tamil Janam.

Origins and Promoters

The idea of Janam TV was publicly unveiled in 2014, when filmmaker Priyadarshan — one of Malayalam cinema's most commercially successful directors — announced that he would chair a new Malayalam satellite channel to be run by the public limited company Janam Multimedia Limited. The channel's logo was launched at a ceremony in Kochi on 20 April 2014, inaugurated by Priyadarshan with actor Suresh Gopi unveiling the logo, and its theme song was composed by noted music director M. Jayachandran. The company set up its registered office at Thrissur, with studio complexes planned for Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram.

From the outset, the channel's promoters framed it as filling a vacuum between reality and the common man, with a declared mission to protect national interest, educate viewers and inspire social transformation. P. Vishwarupan, a non-resident Indian based in the UAE, was named managing director, while chartered accountant U.S. Krishnakumar served as a director of the company. The promoters said the company's authorised capital was Rs 50 crore, with around 5,000 shareholders taking shares ranging from Rs 25,000 to a maximum of Rs 5 lakh, drawn from various walks of life.

Licensing and Launch

Janam Multimedia Limited's application for a television broadcast licence was approved by the government in 2014, clearing the way for the channel's launch the following year. Priyadarshan officially announced 19 April 2015 as the launch date, with the inauguration event planned at Kochi's Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium and Art of Living founder Sri Sri Ravi Shankar named as the chief guest.

The channel was launched on 19 April 2015 at a ceremony in Kochi — reported as held at the Bristol Ground on Willingdon Island — where Sri Sri Ravi Shankar inaugurated the launch proceedings and then Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore formally switched on the channel. Broadcasting began the same day, with the channel positioning itself as a news-cum-entertainment service telecasting in high definition. Priyadarshan told the IANS news agency at the time that he wanted the channel to be used for positive purposes, contrasting it with channels that, in his view, projected only negatives.

Ownership and Corporate Structure

Janam TV is owned and operated by Janam Multimedia Limited, a public limited company chaired by Priyadarshan. Unlike most Indian news channels, which are controlled by large media groups or corporate houses, Janam TV was structured from inception as a widely held company, with its promoters repeatedly emphasising the roughly 5,000-strong shareholder base as evidence of its independence. The company's paid-up capital was reported at close to Rs 50 crore at launch, matching its authorised capital.

The channel's registered office is in Thrissur, Kerala, with studios at Edappally in Kochi and at Chakkai in Thiruvananthapuram. Questions about the channel's political backing surfaced before launch, with critics suggesting links to the BJP and the RSS. Priyadarshan publicly refuted these charges, stating that neither the RSS nor the BJP nor any other political party was backing the channel, and attributing its funding instead to its thousands of individual shareholders. Media analysts and political observers have nevertheless continued to describe the channel as sympathetic to the BJP's positions in Kerala, making its editorial identity one of the most debated in Malayalam television.

Programming and Editorial Identity

Janam TV's programming line-up was conceived as a mix of news and entertainment, with the entertainment component intended to promote nationalism and culture alongside the news operation. The channel's news coverage follows the standard Malayalam news format of rolling bulletins, prime-time debates and special reports, with shows across the day including morning news, afternoon bulletins and evening analysis programmes.

In a distinctive programming choice, Janam TV began offering news bulletins in Sanskrit — described at launch as a first for Indian television — reflecting the channel's emphasis on Indian cultural heritage. The channel's stated editorial philosophy centres on national interest, positive journalism and investigative reporting, and its founders positioned it as an alternative to what they characterised as the negativity-dominated coverage of existing channels.

Technology and Broadcast Standards

At launch, Janam TV was promoted as the first full-HD channel in Malayalam, a notable technical claim in a market where high-definition broadcasting was still nascent in 2015. The channel transmitted via the Intelsat 17 satellite at 66 degrees east — the workhorse satellite for Malayalam channels — with reported downlink parameters including a frequency of 3966 MHz and horizontal polarisation. The HD positioning required viewers on direct-to-home platforms to use MPEG-4 HD receivers to receive the signal.

The channel's technical infrastructure was built around its studio complexes in Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram, supporting news production, live transmission and electronic news gathering. Its early emphasis on high-definition production distinguished it from older Malayalam news channels that were still operating primarily in standard definition.

Distribution and Availability

Janam TV launched as a free-to-air channel. At launch it was available on Asianet Cable Vision's digital platform and on Sun Direct DTH, and it subsequently expanded its carriage across cable networks and DTH platforms serving Kerala and the Malayali diaspora. The channel's free-to-air status has kept it accessible to a broad base of viewers without subscription barriers.

The channel maintains a digital presence through its official website janamtv.com and its social media handles, extending its news coverage to online audiences. Its news bulletins and debate clips are also distributed through video platforms, where the channel has built a following among Malayalam-speaking viewers in Kerala and the Gulf.

Political Debate and Public Perception

Janam TV's place in Kerala's media landscape has been defined as much by the debate around its ownership as by its journalism. Supporters of the channel point to its shareholder structure and its stated mission of positive, nation-first journalism, while critics — including rival media houses and political opponents of the BJP — have characterised it as a platform for the party's viewpoints in a state where the BJP has historically been electorally marginal. The channel's coverage of communally sensitive stories and its editorial line on national issues have repeatedly drawn both praise from its target audience and criticism from media watchdogs.

The promoters' position has remained consistent since before launch: that the channel is funded by its thousands of shareholders and operates independently of any political party. This dispute over the channel's identity continues to shape how its journalism is received in Kerala's highly politicised and competitive news market, which includes entrenched players such as Asianet News, Manorama News, Mathrubhumi News and MediaOne.

Sister Channel: Tamil Janam

Janam Multimedia's expansion beyond Malayalam came with the launch of Tamil Janam, a Tamil-language news channel serving as Janam TV's sister channel. The Tamil channel extends the group's news-cum-entertainment model to the Tamil Nadu market, operating under the same corporate umbrella and sharing the group's emphasis on national-interest journalism. Together, the two channels give Janam Multimedia a footprint in two of South India's most competitive television news markets.

Market Position

Janam TV entered a crowded Malayalam news market dominated by Asianet News, Manorama News and Mathrubhumi News, with Reporter TV and others competing for the same audience. As a relatively late entrant backed by a novel ownership structure, the channel carved out a distinct niche with its nationalist editorial positioning and its HD-first technical proposition. Its free-to-air availability and culturally pitched entertainment programming helped it build recognition beyond the core news audience.

Over the years the channel has maintained its presence in Kerala's news genre while expanding its digital footprint, and it remains one of the few Indian news channels structured as a widely held public limited company rather than a promoter-controlled enterprise.

Headquarters and Operations

Janam TV's registered office is located in Thrissur, Kerala, with its main studio complex at Edappally in Kochi and a regional office and studio at Chakkai in Thiruvananthapuram. The channel is headquartered for operational purposes in Thiruvananthapuram. Its newsroom, studios and transmission operations support round-the-clock Malayalam news production, with correspondents and stringers covering Kerala's districts alongside national and international news drawn from agency feeds and the group's own reporting resources.