News Broadcasting

User content sites will not replace television: BBC

Published

20 years ago

June 1, 2006

MUMBAI: A few days ago UK broadcaster BBC One controller Peter Fincham
delivered a speech to the Royal Television Society. The speech was called BBC One – Risk, Creativity, Challenges and Audiences.

He debunked the notion that video clips on the net would replace traditional broadcast television. He says that predictions that video on- demand and 30-second clips on the video content site YouTube would replace traditional viewing showed breathless over-enthusiasm. This he says is reminiscent in some ways of the dotcom boom of the late Nineties, when all conventional businesses were apparently heading for the scrap heap.

“It also reminds me of the late Sixties – yes, I can just remember them – when a bloke I met in a youth hostel assured me that Western civilization was on its last knees and the future lay in self-sufficient collectives living in Wales. The trouble is, it’s missing the point. Conventional television – old media, linear, whatever you want to call it – and new media don’t exist in opposition to each other. In fact, they’re perfect partners.”

“Any anthropologist will tell you that our ancestors, although they lived in caves, had exactly the same brains and bodies that we have. Evolution just doesn’t move that fast I guess the equivalent to those cave-dwelling ancestors is people who sat in front of cathode ray televisions with a choice of two channels, the BBC and ITV. Nowadays they’ve got hundreds to choose from. And yet the evolution of taste, like evolution itself, is a very different thing. YouTube’s great. Google’s great. It’s all great. But if the conclusion you draw – and some people love drawing it – is that television is over, I think you might just be wrong.”

He was responding to an article in the Guardian a couple of weeks ago, by Jeff Jarvis. The headline was ‘Television is dead’. Jarvis had argued that all the old definitions of TV are in shambles. Television need not be broadcast. It needn’t be produced by studios and networks. It no longer depends on big numbers and blockbusters. It doesn’t have to fit 30 and 60 minute moulds. It isn’t scheduled. It isn’t mass. The limits of television – of distribution, of tools, of economics, of scarcity – are gone.’ Jarvis had said that his teen son and his friends are getting hooked on new series not via TV but through the web and iTunes.’

Jarvis, Fincham points out assumes that where technology leads, our tastes will follow. “He thinks that to embrace the new, it’s necessary to reject all that’s familiar. I think he’s wrong”. Fincham points to the new adaptation of Jane Eyre. “It was watched by seven million viewers. Jane Eyre had been widely admired and acclaimed – quite rightly in my view. Adaptations of classic novels don’t come much better than this. Does Jeff Jarvis’ new world of television mean there’s no room for adaptations of Jane Eyre? And if so, is that something we’ve gained? Or something we’ve lost? ”

“People like programmes. Seems like a pretty obvious thing to say, but in our noisy and novelty-driven world it can’t be said often enough. They also like, in my view, an intelligently-balanced linear schedule. Yes, of course video on demand will enable us to create our own schedules and time-shift programmes at will. But we won’t want to do that all the time, will we? ”

“Video on demand is to linear viewing what the microwave is to conventional cooking. Quicker, more convenient, more attuned to a busy, modern life. But it won’t improve the flavours of the cooking. User-generated content is a wonderful thing, but it won’t simply replace the professional stuff. There’s such a thing as a user-generated garden shed – you buy it from Homebase and put it together yourself. Or there’s the other sort, which I must admit I prefer – you get somebody else to do it for you. The two markets don’t cancel each other out – they co-exist. In the future, a short clip on YouTube might be all we’ve got time for. Sounds plausible, doesn’t it, but the evidence doesn’t back it up.”

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News Broadcasting

Mukesh Ambani, Larry Fink come together for CNBC-TV18 exclusive

Reliance and BlackRock chiefs map the future of investing as global capital eyes India

Published

3 days ago

February 4, 2026

indiantelevision.com Team

MUMBAI: India’s capital story takes centre stage today as Mukesh Ambani and Larry Fink sit down for a rare joint television conversation, bringing together two of the most powerful voices in global business at a moment of economic churn and opportunity.

The Reliance Industries chief and the BlackRock boss will speak with Shereen Bhan, managing editor of CNBC-TV18, in an exclusive interaction airing from 3:00 pm on February 4. The timing is deliberate. Geopolitics are tense, technology is disruptive and capital is choosier. India, meanwhile, is pitching itself as a long-term bet.

The pairing is symbolic. Reliance straddles energy transition, digital infrastructure and consumer growth in the world’s fastest-expanding major economy. BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, oversees more than $14 tn in assets and sits at the nerve centre of global capital flows. When the two talk, markets tend to listen.

Fink’s appearance marks his third India visit, a signal of the country’s rising strategic weight for the Wall Street-listed firm, which carries a market value above $177 bn. His earlier 2023 trips included an October stop in New Delhi, where he met both Ambani and Narendra Modi.

India is now central to BlackRock’s expansion plans, notably through its joint venture with Jio Financial Services. Announced in July 2023, the 50:50 venture, JioBlackRock, commits up to $150 mn each from the partners to build a digital-first asset-management platform aimed at India’s swelling investor class.

The backdrop is robust. BlackRock ended 2025 with record assets under management of $14.04 tn, helped by $698 bn in net inflows, including $342 bn in the fourth quarter alone. Scale gives Fink both heft and a long lens on where money is moving.

He has been openly bullish on India. At the Saudi-US Investment Summit in Riyadh last year, Fink argued that the “fog of global uncertainty is lifting”, with capital returning to dynamic markets such as India, drawn by reforms, demographics and durable return potential.

Expect the conversation to range beyond balance sheets, into technology’s role in finance, access to capital and the mechanics of sustainable growth in a fracturing world order. For investors and policymakers alike, it is a snapshot of how big money is thinking about India.

At a time when capital is cautious and growth is contested, India wants to be the exception. When Ambani and Fink share a stage, it is less a chat and more a signal. The world’s money is still looking for its next big story, and India intends to be it.

News Broadcasting

NCP’s Sunetra Pawar to be Maharashtra’s next deputy chief minister

Published

1 week ago

January 30, 2026

indiantelevision.com Team

MUMBAI: Sunetra Pawar, wife of the late Ajit Pawar, will take oath as Maharashtra’s deputy chief minister on Saturday, media reports say, two days after his death in a plane crash.

According to reports, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) has summoned a legislature party meeting at 2pm on Saturday, where Sunetra Pawar, a Rajya Sabha member, is expected to be elected as leader. She is then likely to be sworn in as deputy chief minister at around 5pm at Raj Bhavan, as preparations are underway at the governor’s residence.

Ajit Pawar, Maharashtra’s deputy chief minister and a veteran NCP leader, died when a chartered Learjet 45 carrying him and four others crashed near Baramati on 28 January. The aviation regulator confirmed that all on board were killed when the aircraft burst into flames during a second landing attempt.

The sudden loss of one of Maharashtra’s most experienced politicians has prompted swift consultation among NCP leaders. Party figures, including working president Praful Patel, have been involved in talks on succession and organisational continuity. Reports suggest that several senior leaders support Sunetra Pawar’s elevation, viewing it as a unifying choice at a fraught moment.

According to party allies, Sunetra Pawar may also be considered for additional responsibilities within the state government. Some sources indicate that she would oversee portfolios such as excise and sports, while the finance brief could move to chief minister Devendra Fadnavis. Observers see this as a pragmatic division of duties intended to balance governance and political stability.

The transition unfolds against the backdrop of wider speculation over the future of the NCP, including talks about reconciling rival factions that split in recent years. Close aides of Ajit Pawar had been exploring avenues to bring the party’s different strands back together before his death, and that conversation may now gain fresh impetus.

Ajit Pawar’s demise has left a notable vacuum in Maharashtra politics. As a long-serving deputy chief minister, he had overseen key portfolios, including finance and planning, and played a central role in the state’s coalition government. His unexpected death has triggered intense reflection among allies and critics alike on both his legacy and the path ahead.

As Maharashtra prepares for Sunetra Pawar’s swearing-in, the NCP faces its most urgent test in years: turning tragedy into cohesion and navigating a new chapter in state leadership.

News Broadcasting

Binoy Prabhakar takes charge as chief content officer at Firstpost

Published

1 week ago

January 29, 2026

indiantelevision.com Team

NEW DELHI: According to media reports, Firstpost has appointed senior journalist Binoy Prabhakar as its new chief content officer, bringing seasoned editorial expertise on board as the digital news platform embarks on its next phase of growth.

Prabhakar joins from Hindustan Times, where he spent nearly three years as chief content officer, shaping editorial strategy and guiding content for a rapidly evolving digital audience.

Earlier, he served as editor at Moneycontrol and CNBCTV18.com, and spent over a decade at The Economic Times in senior editorial roles. His career also includes leadership positions at Network18, The Indian Express and The Times of India.

A fellow of the Tow Knight Center for Entrepreneurial Journalism in New York, Prabhakar combines newsroom experience with a keen understanding of digital storytelling.

At Firstpost, he is expected to strengthen editorial depth, sharpen the platform’s voice, and drive content innovation as readers increasingly look for clarity in a crowded news landscape.