Drop in viewership, losses force Udaya News closure
Bengaluru: Udaya News, the first television channel to step into Kannada journalism, has decided to shut shop due to “insurmountable losses” accumulated over time and continued losses.
In a letter attached to an application filed with Department of Labour, the company said it has made substantial investments in “building news business in the Karnataka market”.
“We have been operating Udaya News division for 19 years. Despite our best efforts, the news edition has been incurring substantial losses over the past couple of years,” it said.
The company noted that falling viewership in the face of increasing competition has forced it to shut down. “The (decline in) viewership share of Udaya News has worsened the situation. We are compelled to close down Udaya News division for business reasons as we are not able to justify the losses,” it added.
The registration of the channel is valid up to December 31, 2017.