EE has finally succumbed to the sizzle of the south. It has launched Alpha Telugu, its fifth regional brand after Alpha Marathi, Gujarati, Punjabi and Bangla. On the anvil is Alpha Kannada for viewers in Karnataka.

It will not be easy to crack the already cluttered Telugu television market though. There are at least eight private Telugu channels, with Gemini from the stable of SUN TV leading the pack. Together, Gemini, Eenadu TV and Teja TV account for 85 per cent of the audience share in Andhra Pradesh (source: TAM Media; target: C&S; 4-plus age group in 1-lakh-plus towns). ... more