Sony Launches Tamil Channel Vizha With Tamil Idol, Celebrity MasterChef and Ashwin

Sony Pictures Networks India (SPNI) launched its first Tamil general entertainment channel, Sony Vizha, at 8 pm on Sunday, 19 October 2026, BestMediaInfo reported. The channel, named after the Tamil word for celebration, leads with Tamil versions of two global reality formats: Tamil Idol and Celebrity MasterChef Tamil.

The launch takes SPNI, which runs 29 channels in India and says it reaches more than 700 million viewers, into one of the country's largest regional television markets, PTI reported when the channel was announced in September.

What's on

• Tamil Idol, produced by Fremantle, with AR Rahman as super judge and Andrea Jeremiah, Karthik and Benny Dayal as judges.
• Celebrity MasterChef Tamil, produced by Banijay Asia, with actor Samantha Ruth Prabhu as celebrity judge alongside chefs Venkatesh Bhat, Sashi Cheliah and Shreeya Adka, and 12 celebrity contestants.
• Fiction: Notebook 90's, a romance set in 1990s Trichy; Madam Police, about an all-women police team; and a Tamil Crime Patrol hosted by Rangaraj Pandey.
• Films including Sardar 2 and Meesaya Murukku 2.
• Cricket: former India spinner R Ashwin will commentate in Tamil on the five-match India–New Zealand T20I series.

The line-up and the shows' producers were detailed by Indiantelevision.com.

Distribution and advertisers

The channel is carried at launch on cable networks including TCCL, SCV and GTPL, with Sun Direct and Tamil Nadu Arasu Cable TV expected to follow, according to BestMediaInfo. Gold Winner, TTK Prestige and ATM are among the early advertisers.

SPNI's chief content officer for the South, Rajaraman Sundaram, has said the channel aims to reflect a modern Tamil Nadu that stays rooted in its traditions, and that its mix of formats, local stories and sport gives advertisers several ways to reach Tamil audiences. Sony has used big formats before to build audiences, including MasterChef India on Sony TV.

What to watch

The channel enters a market where Sun TV, Star Vijay and Zee Tamil are established, and rivals have been refreshing their prime-time fiction. Early ratings for Tamil Idol and MasterChef, and how quickly Sony Vizha gains direct-to-home carriage, will show whether the formats can pull viewers away from long-running local serials.