From Kudappanakkunnu, in Trivandrum, Doordarshan, the state-owned television broadcaster, began broadcasting commercial television programs from the channel DD Malayalam on January 1, 1985. The initial phase of Malayalam broadcasting on Doordarshan was limited to a one-hour slot daily followed by a 10-minute news bulletin in the Malayalam language. During that time, Malayalam programs that originated from Doordarshan could only be viewed within a 15km radius of the station.

Currently there are multiple television operators in Kerala supplying Malayalam, English, and international channels. Asianet was the first group to enter the television sector in 1993, followed by Surya TV in 1998, and Kairali TV started broadcasting in 2000. There were several channels broadcasting from then on, including general entertainment channels such as (ACV NEWS), Jeevan, Amrita, JaiHind TV, Asianet Plus, Surya Movies, Kairali We, Mazhavil Manorama, Flowers, and news channels such as Indiavision, Asianet News, Reporter TV, Manorama News, Kairali People, Mathrubhumi News, Media One TV, 24 News Channel, Janam TV, as well as religious channels such as Harvest TV, Harvest USA TV, Harvest Arabia, Harvest India, Shalom, and Powervision TV.