Popular Tamil magazine group Vikatan, which was founded in 1926, owns some of the top and widely circulated publications in Tamil Nadu. The media group, which has 15 different periodicals being regularly published, has now decided to shut down the print edition of four of its publications – Chutti Vikatan, Doctor Vikatan, Vikatan Thadam and Aval Manamagal. This news confirms week-long rumours.
A circular issued by Vikatan to its agents reads: “Due to unavoidable administrative circumstances, the following issues will be stopped on the said dates.”
BTVI Shutdown from now on and
— Anbarasan Elango(@ElangoAnbarasan) August 31, 2019
Vikatan will Stop Publishing four Magazines.#Media #btvi #vikatan pic.twitter.com/3u8RgKmIbn
While the last issue of Chutti and Doctor Vikatan will be published on September 15 and 16 respectively, Vikatan Thadam and Aval Manamagal will conclude on September 30. However, these magazines will continue to be available online. Vikatan went online in 1997 making its print editions availabe on the internet. Later in 2005 it began following the online subscription model which turned out to be profitable.
Doctor Vikatan, a health special, and Chutti Vikatan, a children’s special started 20 years ago, were published fortnightly; Vikatan Thadam, an arts and literature special, was a monthly magazine and Aval Manamagal was printed once every three months.
Part of director, writer and business tycoon SS Vasan’s Vasan Publications, the Vikatan magazine group has been publishing magazines like Junior Vikatan, Chutti Vikatan, Aval Vikatan, Naanayam Vikatan, Sakthi Vikatan, Motor Vikatan, Pasumai Vikatan, Doctor Vikatan, TimePass, Aval Manamagal, Aval Kitchen and Vikatan Deepavali Malar. Interestingly, Ananda Vikatan was a struggling magazine in 1928 when it was bought by SS Vasan. Originally started by Pudhoor Vaidyanadhaiyar in February 1926, Ananda Vikatan was about to be discontinued in December 1927 only to be revived by SS Vasan.
Over the years, the Tamil publication group has branched out into multiple media avenues and also runs Vikatan Televistas, a television production company that has made some popular Tamil TV serials such as Kolangal, Tirumathi Selvam, Nayaki and more; Vikatan Talkies, a feature film production house that produced Siva Manasula Sakthi; a YouTube channel called Vikatan TV that includes Cinema Vikatan, Timepass Online and more.
With a strong Tamil literary base, Ananda Vikatan has nurtured several writers from Kalki Krishnamurthy, Gnani, S Ramakrishnan, Jeyamohan and more.