Mahuaa Media Pvt. Ltd. (MMPL) launched MAHUAA TV - India's first dedicated Bhojpuri General Category Channel amongst much fanfare in the capital today. Present on the occasion were Bhojpuri superstars like Manoj Tiwari, Ravi Kissan, Shweta Tiwari, Dinesh Yadav, to extend their support to MAHUAA TV.
Speaking on the occasion P K Tewari, Chairman and Managing Director, MMPL 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 shortly to cover the entire gambit of offering for our viewers'.
MAHUAA TV boasts of an array of programs across a range of entertainment genres such as comedy, drama, action and thriller. Tailor made to cater the distinctive culture of Bhojpuri community and its diaspora, MAHUAA TV has in its bouquet some of the biggest Bhojpuri Block Buster Movies, Daily Soaps, Song Packages, Food Travelogue, Religious Discourses, Morning Shows, Astro- Predictions and comprehensive News in Bhojpuri.
Speaking on the marketing endeavors Mr. 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. Bhojpuri is currently a high-growth regional market, with total regional markets accounting for more than 24% of the total television advertising pie. As a first mover Mahuaa TV will enjoy the advantages like advertising revenues and creating a strong brand image.'
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. MMPL has planned its advertising campaign across these seven states and 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 with a stellar star cast which hitherto was seen only in Films. 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.
Mahuaa TV has gone on air from August 11, 2008. MMPL has tied-up with Satpro, a Network 18 company for the distribution and channel placement for Mahuaa TV.
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. Mahuaa TV has a huge line-up of hit Bhojpuri movies starring popular stars, 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. The target audience for the channel is the whole family, from kids to women and men. Hence, it is not a niche channel, targeting only a specified section of the audience.
Speaking on the occasion renowned actor Ravi Kissan said, 'Bhojpuri movies have done extremely well over the past few years and is a huge industry today. MAHUAA TV will definitely help to take it to the next level by giving it a medium to reach the masses across the globe and also attract the huge pool of untapped talent.'
Also present at the event Manoj Tiwari, Bhojpuri superstar exclaimed, 'Mahuaa TV is a great commitment from MMPL to compliment the voracious Bhojpuri talent and entertainment that did not have a medium to showcase itself. With stalwarts like Prakash Jha producing shows for MAHUAA TV it's sure to be an instant hit throughout the country.'
Amongst the population of more than one billion people and seven hundred languages spoken in the secular country like India, Bhojpuri is one of the widely spoken languages in the country. A survey suggests that an estimated 70 million people of Uttar Pradesh and 80 million people in Bihar speak Bhojpuri as their first or second language. Bhojpuri dialects and varieties are also spoken in various parts of the world for instance there are 6 million Bhojpuri speaking people living outside the Bhojpuri heartlands of Bihar and Purvanchal. These areas include Nepal, Mauritius, Fiji, Suriname, Guyana, Uganda, Singapore, Trinidad & Tobago, Great Britain, and United States. This makes the total Bhojpuri speaking population in the world close to 150 million.