Mumbai: Mahuaa Media Private Limited (MMPL), an associate company of Century Communication group, has launched India’s first 24 hours free to air general entertainment Bhojpuri channel called Mahuaa TV.
Minister for Railways Lalu Prasad Yadav launched the channel. Mahuaa TV will be on air from 11 August.
MMPL has bagged the satellite rights of 175 films and is in process of acquiring the rights of 25 more. MMPL has tied-up with Satpro, a Network 18 company for the distribution and channel placement for Mahuaa TV.
Mahuaa TV has a huge line-up of hit Bhojpuri movies starring stars such as Ravi Kishan and Manoj Tiwari. On weekdays, movies will be aired at 1:30 pm; and on weekends, they will be aired at 7:30 pm.
MMPL chairman and managing director P. K. Tewari said, "From our research and understanding of it we learnt that there is an unmet demand for Bhojpuri content across the Bhojpuri population, which led to the creation of Mahuaa TV. It is the first offering from our stable, as we intend to launch of a bouquet of other channels like Bhojpuri News, Bhojpuri Music and Bhojpuri Film channels in next 6-8 months to cover the entire gambit of offering for our viewers."
Mahuaa TV has an array of programs across genres such as comedy, drama, action, and thriller. Mahuaa TV has in its bouquet Bhojpuri blockbuster movies, daily soaps, song packages, food travelogue, religious discourses, morning shows, astro- predictions, and comprehensive news in Bhojpuri.
Speaking on the marketing endeavors, Tewari added, "We have already spent close to Rs 10 crores towards marketing to ensure maximum visibility for the newly launched channel. MMPL has a full-fledged set-up with over 150 people currently working exclusively on the Mahuaa Channel. Leading Indian and Multinational brands have tied- up with Mahuaa TV for advertisements from day one"
MMPL is concentrating is marketing efforts across seven main states namely Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Uttaranchal, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi and NCR, where the majority of Bhojpuri speaking population reside in the country. The advertising campaign will be carried out through all mediums like hoardings, television channels, local cable channels, and radio.
MMPL has roped in National and Filmfare award winner, Prakash Jha to produce Mahuaa TV’s flagship show a mega production called Bahubali. A saga of two feuding families, Bahubali is shot and treated like a motion picture. The show is designed to cater to the Bhojpuri audience as well as other urban audiences and will compete at prime time with other Hindi entertainment channels.
To begin with, the channel will have 10 hours of programming, including five half-hour news segments, six daily soaps, two weekly shows, and a movie each on weekdays and weekends. Some of the shows on the channel include women oriented, family soaps such as Chotki Dulhan and Sato Vachanva Nibhaib Sajna; other shows include Bahubali and Baliaa Kranti 1942.
