The sudden resignation of P Murali Krishnam Raju from the post of chairman of popular Telugu television channel AP 24X7 has exposed the ugly politicking and sorry state affairs in the media, especially a section of electronic media.
Raju, who has been the chairman right from the inception of the channel, said in an open letter to the viewers that the channel had plunged into an unprecedented crisis, because of the freehand given to certain individuals and his decision not to interfere in the day-to-day activities of the channel.
“The channel has plunged into an unprecedented crisis due to slump in the media market and also and immaturity in running the channel administration. As a result, the staff had not been able to get salaries for several months, the overhead expenses had gone up and the clashes within the management reached a new high, even to the extent of filing police cases,” Raju said.
He said he had realised that the state of affairs in the channel had gone to an irreparable stage and under these circumstances, he thought it was better to step down, as he had failed to rein in the management.
“I conveyed my decision to the management long ago, but there was no change in its attitude. Hence, I am stepping down from the post,” he said.
Though Raju did not mention it in his resignation letter, he reportedly told his close friends that he had lost nearly Rs 20 crore in the channel.
And the main reason for Raju’s resignation and the sorry state of affairs in the channel is said to be popular anchor Venkata Krishna, who is virtually calling the shots in the channel.
Though majority of the management members wanted the channel to take a neutral stand on political news coverage, Venkata Krishna, with the support of a few of the investors, virtually converted into a “yellow channel” taking a blatant pro-Telugu Desam Party stand.
Of late, Venkata Krishna has turned aggressive against YSRC and is adopting the style of Arnab Goswami of Republic TV – shouting down the guests who are invited to take part in debates on political issues and who question the TDP and support YSRC.
As a result, the channel has lost its credibility and also viewership gradually. Unable to bear his unilateral decisions, many investors are said to have decided to follow Raju’s route and get out of the channel with whatever returns they could get.
There were a couple of buyers who wanted to take over AP24X7 channel recently, but Venkata Krishna is learnt to have stalled the attempts of the management to sell the channel.
He has allegedly forced some of the management members to quote a very high price for the channel, so that buyers backed out.
Reason is obvious: once the channel is sold out, he would not only lose his job, but also be deprived of the backing from the Telugu Desam Party!
