Big TV barges into Kerala with big bucks and a baffling line-up

MUMBAI: Kerala’s news market is about to get more crowded—and considerably more confusing, according to a report in online news outlet The News Minute. Big TV, a Telugu channel owned by Pravasa Media LLP, is launching a Malayalam unit with the kind of money that has made established players sit up and sweat. The channel has been scooping up talent with salary hikes of 50-70 per cent, fat signing bonuses and perks that would make a cricket star blush. In an industry where delayed wages were once as reliable as the monsoon, this is nothing short of revolutionary.

The headline catch is Sujaya Parvathy, the combative anchor formerly with Reporter TV, who is reportedly joining as chief editor. Sujaya made waves in 2023 when 24 News briefly suspended her for attending a Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh event—the trade union wing of the Sangh Parivar—only to reinstate her after protests. She then decamped to Reporter TV, where her on-air battles with left and centrist colleagues whilst defending right-wing positions made her a hero to Kerala’s BJP-RSS set. She will become only the second woman to run a channel in Kerala (the first was Veena George, now health minister).

Joining her is Venu Balakrishnan, a veteran anchor with stints at Asianet, Manorama News, Mathrubhumi and 24 News. Lakshmi Padma, formerly with Asianet News and News Malayalam, is also said to be aboard; she recently drew attention for her reporting on sexual allegations against Congress MLA Rahul Mamkootathil. The star reporter in the pack is Joshi Kurian, a senior journalist with years at Asianet News.

If that ideological cocktail seems puzzling, the ownership is even more so. Pravasa Media LLP, according to reports, allegedly has deep Congress roots. Its managing director and chairperson, according to The News Minute,  is Vijay Kanth Reddy Vennam, brother of Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee general secretary Sreekanth Reddy Vennam. Vijay Reddy also runs Winspire Campaigns Pvt Ltd, a firm that allegedly handles political campaigns and digital propaganda for chief minister Revanth Reddy and the Congress in Telangana. Industry chatter suggests the channel has also been crowdfunded by several newly minted Malayali millionaires, though this remains unconfirmed.

The timing is hardly accidental. The Congress is widely expected to do well in Kerala’s upcoming assembly elections. Whether Big TV’s peculiar mix of Congress cash and right-wing talent will pay off, or simply become the market’s most expensive identity crisis, remains to be seen. Media veterans are sceptical: in a state where even legacy players struggle to break even, the financial maths of this venture may prove as confusing as its editorial line.