History of Raj Television Network Ltd.

Raj Television Network Limited [RTNLs] was incorporated on 3rd June 1994 as a public limited Comp. with the objective of carrying entertainment business. Our Comp. was promoted by Mr. M. Raajhendhran, Mr. M. Rajaratnam, Mr. M. Raveendran & Mr. M. Regunathan. The registered office of our Comp. is situated at 32 Poes Road, 2nd Street, Teynampet Chennai, Tamilnadu.

Raj Group consisting of all the four brothers commenced operations in 1983, primarily as a videocassette lending library, under the name of 'Raj Video Vision'. The group started acquiring rights for Tamil feature films from various producers from 1984 onwards. During this period, the group also started acquiring the television, cable, overseas & other rights associated with the movies.

In 1987, Raj Group ventured into the media & entertainment business with the setting up of an integrated studio viz. 'Rajendras'. The facilities in the studio were used by independent movie & serial producers. Raj Group also commenced the production & export of tele-serials, movies & other programmes using the studio & exported 35mm movies & tele-serials to various countries including Malaysia, Singapore, UK, U.A.E, & others. This helped the group to building up a brand image with the various overseas parties.

During the year 1992-93, the Raj Group was among the first private producers to be allotted airtime by Doordarshan Metro Channel [Madrass] by taking air time slots during the prime time slot from 8:00 pm to 8:30 pm, for three days a week by producing film & song based programmes which were very popular with the South Indian audience.

Raj Group next foray into Television broadcasting business was by launching its 24 hour Tamil channel viz. 'Raj TV' on 14 October 1994. The vast storehouse of film rights, which the Raj group built up over a period of time, is what sustained the channel in the initial years. Initially the channel was functioning with main revenues from airtime sales. With progress of time, as Raj TV viewership grew, the Channel built up significant capabilities in the content development area. The Channel grew from strength to strength, & today is positioned as the 'People Channel'.

Our Comp. launch 24 hours Tamil movie channel viz. 'Raj Digital Plus' on 14 March 1998 as an Analog channel, which was subsequently converted into a digital channel in 1999. Raj TV, the flagship channel of Company, was also subsequently converted into a digital channel in September 2000.

Currently we have about 13 production controllers on our rolls, & we develops a sizeable part of our content software library comprising of serials, shows & other programmes which have been developed in-house by Channel.

RTNL, today, is an established Television Comp. in the Tamil broadcasting industry in South India. The Company two 24-hour channels, Raj TV & Raj Digital Plus [RDPs], cater primarily to the entertainment requirements of the Tamil population in the area covered by footprints of channels. The broadcast of these two channels can be received in the whole of India,as well as parts of South East Asia, & the Middle East.

Key Events & Milestones

Year Key Events, Milestones & achievements

1994  Incorporation of our Comp. 'Raj Television Networks Limited' on 3rd June 1994 in the State of Tamil Nadu.  Company flagship channel 'Raj TV' was launched on 14th October 1994 1998  Second Channel 'Raj Digital Plus' was launched on 14th March 1998 in analog format 1999  Raj Digital Plus was converted into a digital channel & was amongst the first Indian channels to convert to the digital signal format. 2000  Raj TV, the flagship channel was also converted into Digital Channel 2001  Established its 5 Storied Studio Cum Corporate Office 2003  Entered into Transponder Service Agreement with Shin Satellite Public Comp. Limited to utilize their transponder on ThaiCom 3. 2004  Tie-up with SRLC in Srilanka for downloading RAJ TV & Raj Digital Plus in Srilanka. 2006  Our serial 'Geethanjali' completed 766 episodes.  Our Comp. organized award event felicitating the actors of yesteryears. The event celebrated 75 years of tamil movie entertainment. The event was well received by top actors of south Indian movie industry.