was the guest of honor at the foundation stone-laying ceremony for MediaOne's facilities.|alt=Refer to caption
Foundation On 16 June 2012, then-Kerala Chief Minister
Oommen Chandy presided over a foundation stone–laying ceremony for the MediaOne headquarters and studio complex at Velliparambu near
Kozhikode, and former Union Cabinet Minister of Overseas Indian Affairs
Vayalar Ravi unveiled the MediaOne logo at an event in Kochi. The channel was officially launched on 10 February 2013 at an event attended by the former defence minister
A. K. Antony.
Security issues and ban Madhyamam Broadcasting Limited, owners of MediaOne TV and connected to Islamic organization
Jamaat-e-Islami Hind, first experienced a dispute with regulators in 2015. At that time, Madhyamam proposed a second MediaOne channel, to be known as MediaOne Life. However, the
Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) denied the security clearance that was necessary to start the new service. Even though the
Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (I&B) had approved the technical aspects of its application, this was dropped in 2019 due to the MHA's denial. In March 2020, I&B prohibited the transmission or re-transmission of MediaOne TV, along with
Asianet News TV, for 48 hours for what it called for "biased" reporting of the
North East Delhi riots, stating that the channel was "airing attacks on religions or communities, promoting communal attitudes" and "inciting violence against law and order maintenance and promoting anti-national attitudes". In its ruling, I&B noted that the "channel's reporting on Delhi violence seems to be biased as it is deliberately focusing on the vandalism of CAA supporters [...] questions RSS and alleges Delhi Police inaction [... and] seems to be critical towards Delhi Police and RSS". On 31 January 2022, MediaOne TV ceased broadcasts at noon after the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting refused to renew the channel's licence to operate in the wake of the MHA's revocation of the security clearance for Madhyamam Broadcasting Limited. The company filed a writ petition to challenge the I&B order, which the
Kerala High Court dismissed on 8 February. Justice
N. Nagaresh held that the files from the Ministry of Home Affairs contained intelligence inputs that justified the denial of security clearance to the channel: An editorial in
The Hindu criticized the ban for being based on sealed, classified information, without MediaOne being made aware of its contents, as did another in
The Indian Express. On 2 March 2022, the division bench of Kerala High Court upheld the earlier order. It noted that "there are certain serious adverse reports by the Intelligence Bureau against Madhyamam Broadcasting Ltd and its managing director", and though the files did not provide much information as to the dimensions of the issue, the bench indicated that "there are clear and significant indications impacting the public order and security of the state". MediaOne appealed its decision to the
Supreme Court of India, alleging that the guidelines for uplinking and downlinking television channels did not require MHA permission at renewal but only upon application for new service. The Supreme Court stayed the ban and permitted MediaOne to resume operations under an interim order on 15 March 2022, at which time its management announced it would continue broadcasting as it had before the ban was imposed. The three-judge bench's ruling noted that the company was "surely entitled" to know the reasons for the decision; the central government was ordered to file a counter-affidavit by 26 March. On 3 November, the Supreme Court reserved judgment in the case after two days of hearings. A bench judgement, led by Chief Justice of India
Dhananjaya Y. Chandrachud, was issued in April; the court found that the government had used national security in a "cavalier manner" to refuse MediaOne the licence and noted that its action to deny broadcasting rights to a news channel had "a chilling effect on free speech and particularly on press freedom". It also chided the High Court for the limited information it gave the defendants in their case, noting that it had left MediaOne "attempting strenuously to fight in the dark".
Withdrawal from BARC In October 2025, MediaOne announced their withdrawal from the audience measurement system of
Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) India, citing a loss of trust in the ratings process and alleging that the sample size and meter placement were unscientific. MediaOne TV stated that despite holding a leading position in digital viewership metrics (including YouTube), its absence from BARC's published ratings raised questions about fairness and transparency. According to the channel, the BARC sample comprised fewer than 1,500 meters out of 8.6 million television households in Kerala, and the meter placements did not proportionally represent all regions and demographic groups. MediaOne thus became the second television channel in India to withdraw from BARC after
NDTV. == Criticism and controversies ==