Safari TV

About Safari TV

Safari TV is a Malayalam-language exploration television channel founded by traveller and broadcaster Santhosh George Kulangara and launched on 1 November 2013. Based at Marangattupilly in Kottayam, Kerala, and owned by Safari Multimedia Private Limited, it is India's first 24x7 exploration channel in Malayalam — and one of the country's most unusual broadcasters, run as a non-profit, free-to-air service that does not accept advertising. The channel showcases the world through travelogues, explorations and programmes on history, art, lifestyle, health and music, growing out of Kulangara's long-running visual travelogue Sancharam. Its official website is safaritvchannel.com.

History and Launch

Safari TV was launched by Santhosh George Kulangara on 1 November 2013 — Kerala Piravi day — as the television extension of Sancharam (The Travel), the visual travelogue he had been producing since the late 1990s. The channel was set up under Safari Multimedia Pvt. Ltd., a subsidiary of the Labour India group headed by Kulangara. Production facilities and studios were established at Marangattupilly and at Marine Drive, Ernakulam.

The channel's history is distinctive: it grew from a half-hour travelogue telecast once a week into a round-the-clock exploration channel. After sixteen years of travelling and filming, Kulangara turned the Sancharam archive and format into a full channel — a transformation the group's launch publicity described as unique in Malayalam visual media. Early distribution included carriage on Sun Direct DTH, where the channel was placed at channel number 221, alongside cable networks across Kerala.

The No-Advertising Model

Safari TV operates without advertising — it does not accept ads — and is described as a non-profit, free-to-air channel. This sets it apart from virtually every other Indian television channel, which depend on spot advertising or subscription revenue. The channel is sustained within the Labour India group's resources rather than through commercial airtime sales, allowing its programming to run uninterrupted by commercial breaks. The model reflects Kulangara's stated philosophy of presenting the world to viewers without commercial interruption.

Ownership and the Labour India Group

The channel is part of Safari Multimedia Private Limited. Its founder, Santhosh George Kulangara, is the managing director of the Labour India group and of Labour India Publications Limited, the educational publisher based at Marangattupally, Kottayam. Labour India publishes educational monthly journals in three languages for students from pre-primary level to Plus Two and entrance examinations, and has planned university-level journals in subjects including physics, chemistry, mathematics, statistics, commerce and computer science. The Labour India group was inaugurated by former President of India K. R. Narayanan.

Santhosh George Kulangara: The Founder

Santhosh George Kulangara, born 25 December 1971, is an Indian traveller, television producer, director, broadcaster, editor and publisher. He began his career as a journalist in 1992, creating telefilms and documentaries, and took over the leadership of Labour India Publications in 1996. At 27 he began the solo journeys outside India that became Sancharam, first telecast on Asianet — initially on Sundays — and described as the first visual travelogue in Malayalam television. As of 2021 he had travelled through more than 130 countries across all seven continents with his camera, documenting scenery, lifestyles, cultures, traditions, history, food and customs.

Kulangara's Sancharam entered the Limca Book of Records, and he was enrolled in 2007 as the first space tourist from India. He is married to Soncy George Kulangara, and the couple have two children. He serves as the channel's chief explorer and managing director.

Programming: Sancharam and Beyond

The channel's flagship is Sancharam itself, the travel documentary shot, edited and directed by Kulangara. On Safari TV it airs at 9:30 pm and 10 pm Indian time every weekday, with retelecasts the next day four times on weekdays. An internet edition of Sancharam is also available free of cost and has been described as the first internet television in Kerala.

Beyond the travelogue, the channel's schedule spans travelogues, art, hospitality, lifestyle, health and music. One of its noted programmes is Charithram Enniloode (History Through Me), an autobiographical show in which notable Malayalis from around the world share their success and failure stories from their personal and professional lives; the show is produced and edited by Kulangara. Programmes highlighting history form a core part of the channel's identity, in keeping with its exploration remit.

The Name and Branding

The channel's name comes from the Swahili word safari, meaning journey, which itself originated from the Arabic word safar — words that came to be used for any kind of journey. The theme song, Neelakasha pookkal nullan, was written by poet P. K. Gopi and composed and sung by Nandhu Kartha. The branding reinforces the channel's positioning as a window on the world's journeys, cultures and histories.

Headquarters and Studios

Safari TV is headquartered at Marangattupilly, a village in Kottayam district that is also the base of the Labour India group, with additional production facilities and studios at Marine Drive in Ernakulam. The channel broadcasts in Malayalam in 576i standard-definition picture format.

Reach and Distribution

Safari TV is a free-to-air channel carried on cable networks and DTH platforms. At launch it joined Sun Direct, South India's leading DTH network, at channel number 221, a placement the group highlighted as part of its effort to expand reach among viewers and travel enthusiasts. Because the channel carries no advertising, its schedule runs without commercial interruptions — a viewing experience that distinguishes it from every other channel on the same platforms. The channel also streams online through its website safaritvchannel.com, extending its availability to Malayalam-speaking audiences outside its broadcast footprint.

Market Position and Significance

As the first 24x7 exploration channel in Malayalam, Safari TV occupies a niche with no direct competitor in the language — a factual, travel-and-history alternative to the fiction, film and news channels that dominate Malayalam television. Its ad-free, non-profit model is equally singular in Indian broadcasting, where even niche channels depend on spot advertising or subscription income. The channel's appeal rests on Kulangara's personal credibility as a globetrotter who has filmed across more than 130 countries, and on the depth of the Sancharam archive built over more than two decades of travel.

The channel's positioning also reflects a broader philosophy: that television can present the world's journeys, cultures and histories as knowledge rather than as commercial entertainment. By refusing advertising entirely, Safari TV keeps its exploration programming — from the flagship Sancharam travelogue to history shows such as Charithram Enniloode — free of commercial interruption, an approach that has won it a loyal following among travel enthusiasts and knowledge-seeking viewers in Kerala and the diaspora.

Key Facts

Safari TV is a Malayalam exploration channel owned by Safari Multimedia Private Limited, founded by Santhosh George Kulangara and launched on 1 November 2013, based at Marangattupilly, Kottayam, Kerala, with studios at Marangattupilly and Marine Drive, Ernakulam. Its official website is safaritvchannel.com. It is a non-profit, free-to-air channel that does not accept advertising, and is described as the first 24x7 exploration channel in Malayalam. Programming centres on the travel documentary Sancharam — shot, edited and directed by Kulangara, airing at 9:30 pm and 10 pm on weekdays with four retelecasts the next day — alongside travelogues, history programmes such as Charithram Enniloode, and shows on art, hospitality, lifestyle, health and music. The name comes from the Swahili word safari (journey), from the Arabic safar; the theme song Neelakasha pookkal nullan was written by P. K. Gopi and composed and sung by Nandhu Kartha. Kulangara, born 25 December 1971, began his solo journeys in 1997, has travelled through more than 130 countries on seven continents, leads the Labour India group (inaugurated by former President K. R. Narayanan), and was enrolled in 2007 as India's first space tourist. The channel launched on Sun Direct DTH at channel number 221.