In a media launch event in the city today, the country’s youngest full-play media organization Viacom18 announced the launch of its latest regional entertainment channel – COLORS Tamil. Scheduled to go on air on 19th February, 2018, COLORS Tamil will be the national media conglomerate’s first foray into the Tamil market. Viacom18 already operates general entertainment channels in 5 regional languages, under the brand name COLORS – Kannada, Marathi, Gujarati, Bengali and Odia apart from Hindi and English. At launch COLORS Tamil will be available in all leading cable networks catering to an estimated 11 mn homes in rest of Tamil Nadu through Tamil Nadu Arasu Corporation, and 3.5 mn homes in Greater Chennai through SCV, TCCL among others. Furthermore the channel will be available on all DTH platforms – Sun Direct, Tata Sky, Airtel, DishTv & Videocon D2h – reaching out to ~5.5mn households.
Speaking at the launch, Sudhanshu Vats, Group CEO – Viacom18 said, “After spreading our wings across 7 languages, India’s flagship general entertainment brand – COLORS – is entering the lucrative, fast growing and discerning Tamil entertainment market – in line with our stated strategy to drive regional growth aggressively. Our proven ability to break the clutter and disrupt the status quo will help us tell endearing stories to over 20Mn TV households in the state and a large global audience in the coming months and years.”
Ravish Kumar, Head, Regional Entertainment – Viacom18, said, “Tamil Nadu, the country’s 6th most populous state (per Census 2011) is among the bigger television content consuming markets, with a per capita daily viewership of ~3 hours which is more than that of the hindi speaking markets (~2.5 hours). With an estimated base of 1150 advertisers, Tamil Nadu is one of the more lucrative broadcast entertainment markets in India. Our biggest drive is to deliver new and never before seen content to the Tamil audience. We have invested big in conceptualizing programs that are inspiring, innovative, experimental and technically sound. With 22 hours of original content at launch, we are more than confident of COLORS Tamil becoming a blockbuster hit here.”
With a robust content strategy developed after thoroughly studying the consumer patterns of the region, COLORS Tamil offers several original shows in both the fiction and the non-fiction categories. Foraying into a market with existing predominant players, the channel aims at bringing together a range of shows spanning a diverse variety of entertainment genres catering to all demographics.
Mr. Anup Chandrasekharan, Business Head – COLORS Tamil said, “Idhu Namma Oru Coloru … the COLORS of our land. Our tagline encapsulates our vision of COLORS Tamil. It is a platform that aims to entertain, enrich and engage individuals across the length and breadth of the state. Our study of the existing broadcast entertainment market suggests that there is a need gap between what the audience wants to watch and the kind of content that is available to them. Therefore our focus on content that is differentiated, thought provoking and socially conscious. COLORS Tamil is a promise of optimism, celebration and hope!”
Launching with a well curated list of programs, COLORS Tamil will be available on all DTH platforms for audience viewing. The entire content of COLORS Tamil will also be available on VOOT for the on-the-go viewer. The channel will offer a range of fiction and non-fiction programs spanning from family drama, reality TV, comedy to fantasy to name a few. The four original shows of the channel will set new standards in the industry with its distinct content and sound technology.
As part of its fiction lineup, COLORS Tamil has curated three striking shows that portray strong women protagonists breaking the shackles of the society. Shot in native locations of Tamil Nadu with top-notch equipment, the shows are set to offer a movie-like experience to the viewers. Offering a refreshing break from the common soap operas, ‘Velunachi’ is an inspirational story of young girl who transforms herself into a strong woman carrying her father’s lineage in Silambattam. ‘Sivagami is a transforming tale of courage of a young woman tackling conflicts in society to bring up her daughter as a successful IPS officer. The story is set in rural TAMIL NADU with nativity and rustic, aims to create a positive change in mind-set among people. ‘Perazhagi’, is an uplifting drama that breaks the stereotype around skin color featuring a small girl who fights against all odds to become a celebrity.
Created as the flagship show of COLORS Tamil, the reality show ‘Enge Veetu Maapilai’ will feature the hunt for the ideal match for Brand ambassador & Kollywood Superstar Arya. Spanning over 40 episodes, the show will telecast the search for the heartthrob’s perfect match. Catering to the young ones, ‘COLORS Super Kids’ is a one of a kind talent show for children, offering them an equal and well-deserved platform to showcase their talents without the concept of competing against each other.
Viewers can catch the shows at following time slots:
Shows Days Timeslot
Velunachi Mon-Fri 18:30
Naagini 2 Mon-Fri 19:00
Sivagami Mon-Fri 20:00
Enga Veetu Mapillai Mon-Fri 20:30
Perazhagi Mon-Fri 21:30
Kaakkum Deivam Kali Sat-Sun 19:00
COLORS Super kids Sat-Sun 20:00
COLORS Tamil will launch on all cable and DTH platforms on 19th February, 2018. The entire content library of COLORS Tamil will also be available digitally on VOOT.