It’s already known that the broadcast of two Telugu news channels has been stopped in Telangana since one month by the MSOs. The decision was taken by the MSO’S after KCR breaths fire on those channels for showing Telangana MLA elects in bad taste.Many felt that it was the unofficial ban on media by KCR government.
In spite of media people trying hard to convince the government to not go overboard and curb the media freedom the government's stand on these channels did not change and the chief minister did not revoke the boycott on the channels.
In a bid to protest the decision of Telangana government many of the media people and journalists organized a rally in Hyderabad.It was supported by political parties and many of the social activists also joined in the rally.
The two channels garnered huge support from many corners including their competitor channels.Some of the media persons made their protest at Telanagana secretariat.Situation turned worse with the entry of Police and they arrested media men and sent to custody.
They alleged that this type of ban was a blatant attack on the fourth estate and unethical. They claimed that controlling media will become threat to democracy.They demanded that the TelanganaGovernment lifts the ban immediately and save the freedom of press. This was the first jolt faced by KCR government after he voted to power. In a democratic country the media should be given its freedom.
On other side there are few supporters backing KCR decision by saying that biased media should face such kind of punishment.As of now, it is a huge business loss for the TV channels, especially the TV9, for it is the channel with the largest viewership.
While Hyderabad market alone contributes to 41 percent of distribution among the cable networks for TV9, cities with more than 10 lakh population like Vijayawada and Visakhapatnam contribute 15 per cent of viewership.