MUMBAI: Kalanithi Maran is playing out his flanking strategy in the Malayalam and Telugu markets.

On 16 January, his Sun Network will launch Kiran TV to take on market leader Asianet in Kerala with movie and music content in its armoury. Maran hopes the new channel will add muscle to his flagship channel Surya TV, which is on an upward curve.

"Blockbusters will be first premiered on Surya TV and then on Kiran TV. Music programming will also be given equal importance on the channel," says a source close to the company.

In Andhra Pradesh, Maran is solidifying his leadership position with the launch of a fourth channel in February. The other three Telugu channels from Sun are general entertainment channel Gemini TV, movie and infotainment channel Teja TV and news channel Teja News.

Aditya TV is positioned as an entertainment channel targeted at youth and family. The channel has lined up content from leading production houses including Radaan Mediaworks, Yantra Media and Balaji Telefilms.