MUMBAI: When the Indian government decided to flag off the formation of a new state-Telangana- it made several happy but it meant many had to change their business operations. One of the earliest to set up a TV network in the state, the Ramoji Rao led ETV group has decided to rechristen its two news channels.

Starting 1 May, the recently launched ETV3 has been renamed to ETV Telangana while the existing ETV2 will now be called ETV Andhra Pradesh (AP). “The decision to change the names was taken only after the announcement was made to separate the two states,” says Eenadu TV CEO Bapineedu Chowdary.

News depictions on the two channels will now be respective state focused. Will this hamper the channel’s existing operations? Bapineedu says “No.” The main bureaus for both ETV AP and ETV Telangana will still be located at Hyderabad with the existing bureaus being separated between them. “For television broadcasting, place is not an issue. The bureaus will now report to the respective channels depending on their location” he says.

While some of the ETV AP people have been shifted to ETV Telangana, additions have been made to the latter. A print ad, informing the rechristening of the channels was released in sister newspaper Eenadu on 1 May and 2 May while TV promos are running on ETV AP, ETV Telangana as well as ETV (the flagship Telugu GEC).