On April 18, 1997 a new era in news broadcasting began in Odisha with the birth of Odisha Television, better known as OTV. What started as a small venture went on to become the biggest brand in media and has been growing by leaps and bounds with time, completing 20 years of operation.
The revolution began with the broadcast of legendary leader Biju Patnaik’s funeral on April 18, 1997. In 1998, as its first news bulletin. Then in 1999, OTV brought to fore the high-profile gangrape case of Anjana Mishra to the public eye and the very same year the whole country was stunned after the telecast of brutal murder of Graham Staines, who was burnt alive with his two sons inside a vehicle.
The people of Odisha saw the first pictures of devastation wreaked by the Super Cyclone of 1999 on OTV.
Then OTV underwent a big change in 2000.
In October 2004, the telecast of the Maoist violence from Koraput sent shivers to every corners of the State and in 2006 the whole country came to know about the Kalinganagar episode.
OTV launched its talk show ‘Khola Katha,’ in 2007, the year which brought the issue of female foeticide in Nayagarh before the whole country.
Popular program – News Fuse took birth in 2008 with an aim to spread awareness. OTV kicked of the trend of election coverage in the State during 2009 general elections. Whether it was the kidnapping of the Malkangiri Collector in 2011 or the abduction of Italian tourists, OTV’s coverage was comprehensive.
While the midnight operation of May 2012 was sending ripples within the political landscape, Odisha had the tab on the sequence of events. In 2013, OTV was there with the people of Odisha when cyclone Phailin lashed the State.
In 2015, during the Nabakalebar of Lord Jagannath, OTV was at the forefront of dissemination of awareness of Jagannath culture. In 2016, the truth behind Gumudumuha firing incident was uncovered by OTV while it exposed the gross administrative lapses through the pictures from Nagada.
OTV’s broadcast has been able to bring comprehensive coverage across a plethora of topics including Crime, Sports, Entertainment to its audience and as we step into the 21st year of our association we thank you for keeping us in front.