ITV

Category: People

  • Rupert Murdoch’s pay drops 5% in 2015 to $28 million; James’ down 19% at $15 million

    Rupert Murdoch’s pay drops 5% in 2015 to $28 million; James’ down 19% at $15 million

    MUMBAI: In his last year as CEO of 21st Century Fox, Rupert Murdoch took home five per cent less salary in 2015 as compared to 2014. The senior Murdoch was named executive co-chairman of the company in July this year. His pay in the fiscal year ended in June 2015 stood at $27.9 million as opposed to $29.24 million in 2014.

     

    While his base salary was steady at $7.1 million, his stock award fell 18 per cent to $5.15 million. On the other hand, his non-equity plan compensation fell four per cent to $9.77 million. The senior Murdoch also will be pocketing a bonus of $21 million for his contribution in growing the company’s brands and businesses domestically as well as his plans for future growth with continued investments in domestic cable networks and in international markets.

     

    Additionally, 21st Century Fox CEO James Murdoch’s total pay also saw a decline of almost 19 per cent at $15.05 million in 2015 as compared to $18.7 million in 2014. His salary continued to remain the same at $3 million, whereas his stock awards were down 18 per cent to $5.42 million. His non-equity incentive compensation too declined four per cent to $5.58 million.

     

    James Murdoch, who is slated to received a bonus of $12 million, played an important role during fiscal 2015 in developing the company’s key international businesses and investments. Moreover, the company said that he continues to champion the expansion of the company’s international sports portfolio, particularly with new rights acquisitions at Star Sports in India, positioning the company for greater profitability. Under his leadership, the company continues to expand its digital offerings of its library product and explores opportunities to obtain the digital rights to other key programming and to expand its digital advertising capabilities.

     

    In a proxy filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in 29 September, the company said that this was due to the decline in stock awards and non-equity incentive compensation.

     

    On the other hand, the company’s deputy chairman Chase Carey, who also served as the company’s COO with James until July, received compensation of $23.22 million for the year ended 30 June, 2015, which was down from $27.9 million in 2014. Carey’s salary remained the same at $4.05 million. Carey, who now serves as the 21st Century Fox’s executive vice chairman, will receive a bonus of $20 million for hisexceptional strategic leadership and management.

     

    21st Century Fox’s proxy filing also mentioned that the company’s annual meeting is scheduled on 12 November in Los Angeles, California.

     

    For the year ended 30 June, 21st Century Fox’s net income dropped 36 per cent to $4.51 billion, while revenues grew 15 per cent to $ 31.9 billion.

     

    21st Century Fox Business Highlights for 2015 are as follows:

     

     

    INDIA

     

    • The company continued its expansion of its international cable business, particularly at Star India. Star Sports’ broadcast of the ICC Cricket World Cup set an all-time viewership record, and the introduction of two new local sports leagues, Kabaddi and Indian Super League (soccer), provided strong ratings and present new opportunities.

     

    • Through Star India’s agreement to acquire the broadcast business of MAA Television Network Limited, the company initiated its expansion into the Telugu TV market.

     

    • The company expanded its non-linear advertising products and services through the launch of Hotstar, a digital video streaming platform in India.

     

     

    INTERNATIONAL

     

    • The company continued to grow its television and cable channel businesses through obtaining and increasing retransmission and affiliate compensation and securing key distribution agreements.

     

    • The company continued to strengthen its core domestic cable business with the growth of its national sports channel Fox Sports 1 by featuring additional sports events including the U.S. Open Golf Championship and Women’s World Cup events, and by growing its third branded FX channel, FXX, by featuring all episodes of The Simpsons and premiering an extensive slate of theatrical motion pictures.

     

    • The company’s filmed entertainment business continued to have leading worldwide box office sales while creating and growing new and existing film franchises such as The Maze Runner, Kingsman and Planet of the Apes.

     

    • The company created new hit series such as Empire and The Last Man on Earth and enhanced its key existing brands including The Simpsons, Family Guy, Modern Family and Homeland. In addition, the company is reinvigorating the broadcast network’s primetime line-up with the successful debuts of Gotham, Last Man on Earth and Empire, which was the number one new show and highest rated broadcast show in the 2014-2015 broadcast season.

     

    • The company expanded its non-linear advertising products and services through the acquisition of true[X], a leading engagement advertising company specializing in advertising formats for on-demand marketing campaigns in the U.S.

     

    • The company returned a significant amount of cash to stockholders through stock repurchases of approximately $5.9 billion during fiscal 2015, a 57 per cent increase over fiscal 2014 levels and through increasing the semi-annual dividend by 20 per cent to $0.15 per Class A and Class B share, resulting in an annual dividend for fiscal 2015 of $0.30 per share or approximately $610 million. In August 2015, the company announced that the Board approved an additional $5 billion authorization to the Company’s stock repurchase program intended to be completed by August 2016.

     

    • The company sold its direct broadcast satellite television (DBS) businesses, Sky Italia and its interest in Sky Deutschland AG (Sky Deutschland), to Sky plc (formerly known as British Sky Broadcasting Group plc) for approximately $8.8 billion, resulting in a gain of approximately $5 billion and creating a pan-European digital television leader.

     

    • The company and funds managed by affiliates of Apollo Global Management, LLC created Endemol Shine Group, a global multi-platform content provider bringing together the Shine Group, Endemol and Core Media Group.

  • Uday Shankar re-elected as IBF president

    Uday Shankar re-elected as IBF president

    MUMBAI: Star India CEO Uday Shankar has been re-elected as the president of The Indian Broadcasting Foundation (IBF) at the Sixteenth Annual General Meeting (AGM) for the second term running.

    The AGM was held in New Delhi today (29 September, 2015).

    The IBF Board also re-elected Zee Media Corp managing director Punit Goenka, Multi Screen Media CEO N P Singh and India TV chairman Rajat Sharma as IBF vice presidents, and Discovery Networks Asia-Pacific executive vice president and general manager, South Asia Rahul Johri as IBF treasurer.

    On being re-elected IBF president, Shankar said, “I am humbled by IBF members’ confidence in re-electing me. The broadcasting sector is going through a transition due to changes in technology and business environment and I hope to work with the government, industry and other stakeholders for realisation of the sector’s potential.”

  • Sony Pictures Television promotes Steve Mosko as chairman

    Sony Pictures Television promotes Steve Mosko as chairman

    MUMBAI: Sony Pictures Television president Steve Mosko has promoted as the chairman of the company. 

     

    Mosko will continue to oversee all television operations for Sony Pictures Entertainment worldwide. He will report to Sony Entertainment CEO Michael Lynton.

     

    “Under Steve’s leadership, Sony Pictures Television has become the industry’s largest independent television studio. Our media networks business has expanded to over 150 channel feeds around the world and the company is well-positioned for growth in both production and distribution. Steve is a remarkable executive and we are proud to have him at the helm of Sony Pictures Television,” said Lynton. 

     

    Mosko added, “I am honored to be named chairman, and grateful to Michael, my colleagues at Sony Pictures, and to the incredible team at Sony Pictures Television, whose hard work and dedication has built the successful global business we have today.”

     

    A Sony Pictures Entertainment executive for more than two decades, Mosko oversees global television production, distribution of feature film and television content, and the studio’s international networks available in 180 countries, reaching more than 1.3 billion cumulative households worldwide, including Crackle, SPE’s video streaming service, and GSN, cable’s game show network.

     

    Mosko joined Sony Pictures Entertainment in 1992, and was named president of Sony Pictures Television in 2000. In this role, Mosko built on the studio’s syndication business, overseeing first-run and off-network program sales in more than 200 markets and supervising efforts of regional offices in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Atlanta, and Dallas.

  • 92.7 BIG FM’s big green ganesha gains support from CM of Maharashtra and Ministry of Environment

    92.7 BIG FM’s big green ganesha gains support from CM of Maharashtra and Ministry of Environment

    MUMBAI: 92.7 BIG FM’s BIG Green Ganesha, in its eighth year garnered support from the Chief Minister of Maharashtra,  Devendra Fadavnis, Environment Minister  RamdasKadam, Environmnet Minister for state Praveen Pote,  Upper Chief Secretary of Environment Department Malini Shankar and  Member Secretary of Maharashtra Pollution Control Board P. Anbagalan who donated newspapers for the cause.

    In a press conference held to flag of the eco-friendly initiative, the government dignitaries shed light on the importance of ecological practices during the festival of Ganesh Chaturthi.

    This year, the eco-friendly drive was even bigger as Kapil Sharma one of the popular comedian and Bollywood actor, was the face of the property. The radio station also saw increased support from people and celebrities like Asha Bhosle, Imran Khan, Kangna Ranawat, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Kanika Kapoor, Ayushman Khurana, Sadhna Sargam, Anup Jalota and Rekha Bhardwaj among others who pledged their support by donating newspapers to create eco-friendly Ganesha idols to promote the noble cause.  

    Face of the property and comedian, Kapil Sharma said, “92.7 BIG FM’s initiative, BIG Green Ganesha is an amazing step towards embracing an eco-friendly way of life. I am happy to be a part of this noble cause. I appeal to all my fans to join this drive and actively be a part of BIG Green Ganesha.”

    Speaking about the initiative, 92.7 BIG FM’s spokesperson said, “I am delighted that BIG Green Ganesha, in its 8th year has now become an important part of the green crusade and has seen such tremendous support from government dignitaries, celebrities and of course, the people that participated in this drive. We are proud that this initiative and its objectives are helping us create a green environment for our future generations.”

    Birla White marketing services general manger Kedar Rele said, “Ganesh Chaturthi marks the start of the festivities in India which then initiates the purchase cycle. BIG Green Ganesha presents a unique branding opportunity as it drives sustainability at its core. The ideology behind Birla White wallcare products, of being environmentally sensitive, was the starting point of the association with 92.7 BIG FM’s most successful and award winning initiative, BIG Green Ganesha.”

  • AP Parigi steps down as Network18 group CEO; moved to advisory role

    AP Parigi steps down as Network18 group CEO; moved to advisory role

    MUMBAI: Network18 Group CEO AP Parigi will be stepping down from his post and move into an advisory role in the group with effect from 1 October, 2015.

     

    In his new role, he will be adviser to Network18 chairman Adil Zainulbhai.

     

    It may be recalled that Parigi was appointed as group CEO of the company only in January this year. Parigi was brought on board Network18 after B Sai Kumar quit as the company’s group CEO in May last year. Post that, the company witnessed a major manpower drain when Mukesh Ambani helmed Reliance Industries picked up a majority stake in it.

     

    While the company did not cite any reason for moving Parigi from his current role after a stint of less than eight months, the development does comes in the wake of Network18 appointing former Economic Times editorial director Rahul Joshi as CEO of news and group editor-in-chief. Incidentally, Joshi is slated to take over his new position in just a few days on 28 September, 2015.

     

    Thanking Parigi for his contribution, Zainulbhai said, “Parigi has strengthened the management team and helped stabilise the operations of the company. This has put Network18 on a sound footing for future growth. I look forward to his continued support in the new role.”

     

    Parigi added, “I wish to thank Adil and the Board of Directors of Network18 for the opportunity to be a part of the transition team at Network18.”

     

    In his professional stint spanning almost four decades, Parigi was ENIL (Radio Mirchi) managing director and CEO. He also had a brief stint with Eros International Media as MD and CEO.

  • Rupert Murdoch lauds Modi; US CEOs call for speedy TV digitisation

    Rupert Murdoch lauds Modi; US CEOs call for speedy TV digitisation

    MUMBAI: There are some leaders who leave a good impression and then there are those who leave a lasting impression on others’ mind, and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi definitely belongs to the latter type. 

    In his recent meeting with the Fortune 500 CEOs at the iconic Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York, Modi not only successfully brought up the burning issues of Indian media and digitisation to the world platform, but also instilled a sense of camaraderie amongst the executives, whose net worth, as per the media buzz, was $4.5 trillion!

    The proof of the pudding lay in the superlative address that 21st Century Fox chairman Rupert Murdoch gave Modi through his tweet after the event.

    “Great hour with Indian PM Modi. Best leader with best policies since independence, but massive task to achieve in most complex nation,” said Murdoch.

    Apart from the senior Murdoch, the CEOs present at the roundtable meeting chaired by Modi included 21st Century Fox CEO James Murdoch, News Corp  CEO Robert Thompson, Star India CEO Uday Shankar, WPP CEO Martin Sorrell, Discovery Communications president and CEO David Zaslav, Sony Entertainment CEO Michael Lynton, Interpublic Group of Companies CEO Michael Roth, Vice Media CEO Shane Smith, Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes, A&E Networks CEO Nancy Dubuc, Visy Industries chairman Anthony Pratt, Route One Investment Company’s William Duhamel and ValueAct Capital CEO Jeff Ubben.

    While the CEOs were enthusiastic about the digital transformation that is taking place in India through the Digital India initiative, they called for speeding up of television digitisation, and strengthening of the cellular (mobile) infrastructure.

    According to the head honchos, the current strong trajectory of the Indian economy made it at a unique moment to accelerate growth in this sector.

    Post the meeting, Modi tweeted his pleasure in seeing the executives enthusiastic about being part of Digital India and the role of media in it. “Met top American CEOs from media & entertainment sector. They were enthusiastic about the change @_DigitalIndia initiative in driving,” he said before craftily leading in the major issues that were discussed among the executives in the congregation earlier.

    “My interaction with Fortune 500 CEOs was on investment opportunities in India & why they must come & @makeinindia! Digital technology has a vital role in making democracy stronger & in overall human resource development,” he tweeted.

    Modi painted the government's vision to connect the 600,000-odd villages in India with broadband and emphasised that digital technology will increasingly play a major role in further strengthening democracy and India's development narrative. He also highlighted how Digital India posed as a great opportunity for the international media companies.

    As evident from the PM’s tweets, foreign direct investment (FDI) formed a large chunk of the round table and the 90 minute soiree. “Foreign direct investment all over the world has fallen. But in India, it increased by 40 per cent. This reflects confidence in the Indian economy,” Modi was heard pointing out the executives right before they sat down for dinner. “Reform in governance is my number one priority. We are for simplified procedures, speedy decision-making, transparency and accountability,” he assured the prospective investors.

    The topic that dominated most of the evening was the role that the media and entertainment industry can play in development and generation of employment opportunities in India.

    Modi also touched upon the importance of a smoother Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) regime in the digital era.

    Pegging his argument on India’s value for intellectual property he said, “We are committed to protecting IPR, that's essential to fostering creativity.”

    He also upheld the importance of regional languages in India and suggested to the CEOs that India represents both the biggest opportunity and the biggest challenge for them. He also urged them to keep regional languages in mind, as they firm up investment plans for India. “Explained to media CEOs why India is a great opportunity for them & how many regional languages makes India even more special to invest in,” Modi tweeted.

    “The government has already undertaken a massive amount of reforms. Key message from the US companies was keep doing what you are doing. I had a great meeting, there was a constructive dialogue in the spirit of collaboration. We are looking at India trying to get foreign direct investment,” said J P Morgan CEO James Dimon.

    As per  India's foreign office spokesperson Vikas Swarup, Modi took keen interest to personally interact with every CEO, and understand the executives’ areas of concern that his government could address and resolve.

    The Prime Minister emphasised that he saw a key role for digital technology in further strengthening democracy, and in India’s development narrative.

  • Discovery taps DirecTV’s Paul Guyardo as chief commercial officer

    Discovery taps DirecTV’s Paul Guyardo as chief commercial officer

    MUMBAI: Discovery Communications has tapped veteran media and retail industry executive Paul Guyardo as chief commercial officer effective 5 October, 2015.

    Guyardo joins from DirecTV where he was executive vice president, chief revenue and marketing officer. 

    In this newly created position at Discovery Communications, Guyardo will oversee US ad sales, digital media, licensing and consumer products, consumer insights and data analytics. He will report to Discovery Communications president and CEO David Zaslav and be based at Discovery’s New York headquarters.

    “Amid a rapidly evolving industry and shifting audience behavior, Discovery has maintained a steady, long-term growth strategy of investing in quality content, launching new networks and products and diversifying our IP mix to strengthen our brands and offerings. Our go-forward success in a random-access world depends on how well we innovate and monetize our content and brands across platforms. Paul brings a track record of results in growing businesses and creating consumer-centric strategies to launch products, create new revenue streams and engage viewers. Adding him to the management team is a major win for Discovery, our business partners and our audiences, and I look forward to his leadership in creating new ways to drive value for our businesses across platforms now and into the future,” said Zaslav.

    In his new role with Discovery, Guyardo will be charged with leveraging his significant expertise to expand the ways Discovery monetizes its portfolio of valuable assets to distributors, advertising partners and directly to consumers. He also will be responsible for working with Discovery Networks International to drive its burgeoning international direct-to-consumer business, as well as overseeing emerging revenue streams including the company’s global licensing, consumer products and footage sales businesses.

    “Discovery Communications has tremendous content and brands, passionate consumers and a world-class leadership team that I’m honored to join. The potential for continued growth is enormous and I look forward to getting started,” added Guyardo.

    Guyardo joins Discovery following an accomplished career in the media, retail and consumer products industries. At DirecTV, he was responsible for all functions that drove the company’s $26 billion in annual US revenue including all sales and distribution channels, marketing, advertising, pricing & packaging, traditional ad sales and new addressable and digital ad platforms, directv.com, sports, premium channels and on-demand businesses, customer retention, product management, consumer research, business analytics, public relations and creative services.

    During his 10 years at DirecTV, Guyardo’s leadership drove annual US revenue from $12.2 billion to $26 billion and the US subscriber base from 15 million to 20 million customers, due in large part to a relentless focus on customer segmentation and data analytics.

    Prior to DirecTV, Guyardo served as Kmart’s chief marketing officer following the retailer’s emergence from bankruptcy, and was part of the senior management team that quickly returned the mass retailer to sales growth and improved profitability. Before Kmart, Guyardo was executive vice president of television and marketing for HSN.

    Guyardo began his career in advertising and brand management, working on major businesses and accounts including AT&T and Johnson & Johnson amongst others.

     

  • Colors CEO Raj Nayak is new Ad Club president

    Colors CEO Raj Nayak is new Ad Club president

    MUMBAI: Colors CEO Raj Nayak has been elected as the new president of The Advertising Club. 

     

    Nayak steps into the shoes of outgoing president Pratap Bose, who is chairman & co-founder of Social Street.

     

     The new Advertising Club office bearers elected at the Annual General Meeting held in Mumbai are: Zee Media Corporation group CEO Bhaskar Das as the vice president, Madison Media’s Vikram Sakhuja as secretary, Aditya Birla Group Financial Services chief marketing officer Ajay Kakkar as joint secretary and  IPG Mediabrands India CEO Shashi Sinha as treasurer. 

     

    The other members elected to the Managing Committee are: –

     

    · Multi Screen Media president, network sales, licensing and telephony Rohit Gupta

    · Google India agency business director Punitha Arumugam

    · Viacom18 Media national head sales, English cluster Namrata Tata 

    · Percept director & strategic brand consultant Ajay Chandwani

    · Dainik Bhaskar group chief corporate sales & marketing officer Pradeep Dwivedi 

    · AIDEM Ventures & Zirca Digital Solutions director Vikas Khanchandani

    · Twitter India head of TV partnerships Viral Jani

     

     

    Advertising veteran and industry leader Ramesh Narayan was co-opted to the Managing Committee.

     

    McCann World Group India CEO and chairman (Asia Pacific) Prasoon Joshi was inducted as special invitee and creative advisor to the Ad Club.

     

    L’Oreal India consumer product division director Satyaki Ghosh was also inducted as a special invitee.

     

    Nayak said, “I am humbled by the faith and trust that my friends and well wishers in the industry have bestowed on me. It will be my sincere endeavour to work towards strengthening and building upon the foundation on which the club has been built over the last six decades.” 

     

    Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAA’s of I) president Ambi M G Parameshwaran added, “Ad Club is a wonderful institution with a great legacy of achievements. I am delighted to hear that Raj Nayak is taking over as its next president. I am sure he will bring his own brand of energy, excitement and innovation to take The Ad Club to greater heights. We at AAAI look forward to a great partnership with the Ad Club in all our joint industry efforts.”

     

    IAA India Chapter president and IAA Asia Pacific Srinivasan Swamy said,  “With Raj Nayak as president, we can expect to see a new phase in Ad Club’s history, which will be more vibrant, more purposeful, more relevant and more classy. IAA India, if invited, would be happy to partner with Ad Club on initiatives that build the competencies of the industry at various levels. There are a few events/properties that are exclusive to Ad Club or IAA, but clearly there are opportunities where cooperation between the two will be synergistic. IAA looks forward to this interesting phase with great enthusiasm.”

     

    Nayak, an industry veteran, has been on various industry bodies including the Indian Broadcasters Foundation, Advertising Standards Council of India & The International Advertising Association – India Chapter. He was chosen earlier this year to lead the Indian delegation to Ad Asia 2015 to be held in Taipei in November.

  • Indian cricket’s Rocky Balboa – Jagmohan Dalmiya passes away

    Indian cricket’s Rocky Balboa – Jagmohan Dalmiya passes away

    MUMBAI: The man had a lot of problems with India not hosting any big cricket tournament in its own backyard, the man who actually understood how big a business cricket is, the man who played a pivotal role in making the Board for Control of Cricket in India (BCCI), the richest cricket body in the world, the master of comebacks, the real politick – Jagmohan Dalmiya, president of BCCI, aged 75 died due to gastro intestinal bleeding on 20 September. He had been hospitalised since Thursday following a cardiac arrest.

     

    In the year 1979, Jagmohan Dalmiya – the son of construction tycoon Dalmiya and Co family joined BCCI, but he came in the forefront after winning the holding rights of world cricket’s biggest tournament – the World Cup in 1987. 

     

    At an early stage of his administrative career, he understood the value of making money, from advertisements between the overs to on-field sponsors, Dalmiya was instrumental in playing out every such initiative. 

     

    His opponents took many routes to oust him but true fighter that he was, Dalmiya made a come back each time. In 2006, he was accused of “misappropriation of funds” and was thrown out of all BCCI administrative posts. Media pundits claimed his administrative career to be clinically dead and a new era was welcomed under politician Sharad Pawar. 

     

    However, the game of the king of comebacks, was anything but over. Dalmiya overcame all obstacles with ease, hunger and political smartness. A year later in 2007 he made a comeback as president of Cricket Association of Bengal. In 2013 he took up the role of BCCI acting president when N Srinivasan was forced to step aside. In 2015 he became BCCI president again.

     

    His fights were not limited to cricket administration. Even off the field, whenever needed he made notable appearances to fight for his players. In the 2001 South Africa tour, several Indian players were reprimanded by English referee Mike Denness, which was backed by ICC chief executive Malcom Speed. But Dalmiya decided to back his players and it turned out to be a war between Dalmiya and rest. The result was overwhelming. The third test for which the players were reprimanded became an unofficial one, other than the ban on Virender Sehwag, all other bans were lifted. The most important and notable outcome of the entire Denness Affair was that the Englishman managed to officiate in only two test matches and three ODIs. Post that, his contract was never renewed by the ICC.

     

    Dalmiya was at the forefront of many creations but what arguably will remain as one of the biggest creation of his would be cricketer Sourav Ganguly. Many still say that the master class batsmen would have never worn the national jersey if Dalmiya was not there in the administration. It was he who played a vital role in Ganguly’s debut.

     

    Many BCCI leaders will tweet and give news bytes condoling his death, but the only way to respect his contribution will be by bringing utmost transparency in the board’s administration. 

     

    Rest in Peace Mr. Dalmiya!

  • Sheena Bora murder case hogs headlines on news channels

    Sheena Bora murder case hogs headlines on news channels

    NEW DELHI: Even as the Sheena Bora murder case dominated prime time coverage on all television news channels consuming one third of the 8 to 10 pm slot, an interesting message was doing the rounds on WhatsApp.

     

    Addressing some prominent anchors and heads of news channels, the message agreed that no one should die the way Bora did, but stressed that such news did not add value to the nation. After highlighting other issues that faced the nation like price rise, corruption, floods or One Rank One Pension (OROP), it ended with the line, “Government is happy that the nation’s attention is diverted as the media is not talking about the real issues.”

     

    That said and done, the fact remains that our sensation-hungry news media, which dishes out more entertainment than some general entertainment channels (GECs) were totally taken over by this one case for over two weeks.

     

    According to a study by CMS Media Lab, English News channels gave more coverage to the murder case compared to Hindi News channels. Sheena Murder Case coverage dispelled the myth that Hindi News channels are more sensational compared to English News channels.

     

    CMS Media Lab analysed 15 days of coverage of six national TV news channels from 25 August to 8 September, 2015. The channels included in the study were Aaj Tak, ABP News, Zee News, DD News, CNN IBN and Times Now.

     

    The channels carried 113 stories and 61 special programs on the Sheena Bora murder case. These six TV channels broadcast 2282 minutes (38 hours) of special programs and stories during this period. Among the monitored news channels, two English News channels – Times Now and CNN IBN – between them contributed 60 per cent of the total coverage minutes.

     

    Times Now, which generally dwells more on political or terrorism-related stories, alone devoted 40 per cent of the total coverage time. The channel topped in the coverage by devoting 948 minutes to the case followed by CNN IBN, which allotted 424 minutes.

     

    Among Hindi News Channels, Aaj Tak led in the coverage by giving 341 minutes, closely followed by ABP News and Zee News. Both Zee and ABP News gave equal importance by showing 268 minutes and 263 minutes of coverage respectively.

     

    Expectedly, DD News gave the least time to the case by allotting only 36 minutes during the entire study period.

     

    The study shows the following: 

     

    Prime Time (8-10 PM) Coverage of Sheena Bora Murder Case

    (25 August – 8 September 2015)

     

    One wonders if private news channels, which dwell hours on each story with endless repetitions, and create debates on stories that do not need any discussion, will learn anything the lessons of the past when channels had to admit they had made mistakes in coverage.

     

    Perhaps the note doing the rounds on social media summed up the general message to the channels very aptly – “Focus on issues that concern us. Do not take us for a ride.”