ITV

Tag: Bloomberg UTV

  • Govindraj Ethiraj quits Bloomberg UTV

    Govindraj Ethiraj quits Bloomberg UTV

    MUMBAI: Bloomberg UTV Editor-in-Chief Govindraj Ethiraj has put in his papers at the business news channel. He will remain with the channel till the end of September,working with the business leadership team to ensure a smooth transition.

    Ethiraj will be joining Nandan Nilekani to be a part of the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) project being undertaken by the Government of India.

    Ethiraj was one of the founding members of Bloomberg UTV (then UTVi) and has played a crucial role in establishing Bloomberg UTV’s operations in the country and growing it from the pilot stage in 2006.

    UTV Group chairman and CEO Ronnie Screwvala said, “Since Bloomberg UTV’s inception, Govind has been one of the key catalysts in ensuring the genesis and birth of a new business entity and successfully navigating it though it’s pilot stage. His departure will be a loss for us, but we fully understand and support his decision to answer to a higher call of duty in being of service to our country. The strong leadership team that Govind has built on the editorial side will ensure that Bloomberg UTV is well set for its next stage of growth across television, internet and mobile.”

    Ethiraj added, “I have always wanted to work on a project that reflected ambition and scale and, at the same time, helped understand my country and its real issues better. The UIDAI project gives me the opportunity to do that and work with an exciting and committed team led by Nilekani.”

  • Reliance Capital to pick up 18% in Bloomberg UTV

    Reliance Capital to pick up 18% in Bloomberg UTV

    MUMBAI: Reliance Capital, part of billionaire Anil Ambani’s empire, is snapping up an 18 per cent interest in business news channel Bloomberg UTV for an undisclosed amount.

    Bloomberg has already applied to the FIPB (Foreign Investment Promotion Board) for a 15 per cent stake in the channel.

    Reliance Capital is buying the stake from the promoters of Bloomberg UTV. Founder-promoter Ronnie Screwvala and associates will, thus, hold the remaining 67 per cent stake. 

    Meanwhile, rumours spread that Ambit would also be picking up a stake. Ambit Group CEO Ashok Wadhwa, however, denied such a move. “We acted as the advisor to the transaction. We are not picking up any stake in Bloomberg UTV. That is not a business we are in,” Wadhwa told Indiantelevision.com.

    Reliance Capital has existing investments in Network18 (which operates CNBC TV18, CNN-IBN, IBN7, Colors and Awaaz channels) and TV Today network (which operates Aaj Tak and Headlines Today). 

    The Reliance Group has 15.49 per cent stake in TV Today, according to data available till 31 March 2010. It also holds 2.09 per cent in Network18 and 4.99 per cent in IBN18.

    The investment will form part of Reliance Capital’s exposure to the fast growing and high potential media sector. 

    Bloomberg UTV is a strategic partnership between Bloomberg L.P., the global leader in business information, and the founders of UTV, one of India’s leading integrated media and entertainment enterprises.

  • Bloomberg UTV targets the growth aspirants with bluntness

    Bloomberg UTV targets the growth aspirants with bluntness

    MUMBAI: Bloomberg UTV, the English business news channel, is eyeing a wider set of audiences with its new makeover.

    The channel, which has changed its tagline to ‘Blunt and Sharp’, claims that going forward, its focus will be on a larger audience who are growth aspirants, and not just on the stock markets.

    Talking to Indiantelevision.com, UTV Global Broadcasting (UGBL) CEO MK Anand affirmed that he is looking at an overhaul by practically measuring the way business news is being presented in India. “After a detailed eight-week survey of our SEC AB 25+ male audiences, we have come to know that only nine per cent viewers invest actively in the stock market. The business news should be much more than that and thus, we believe our focus should be on catering to the needs of the remaining 91 per cent audience.”

    The channel has been correcting its distribution post IPL, and changed its look and feel during May-end. Recently, it had also launched a new advertising campaign to promote its new programming strategy.

    Via the new ‘blunt and sharp’ campaign, the channel is addressing its various stakeholders, including viewers, traders and advertisers. The campaign is done by TapRoot India, the channel’s creative agency.

    Talking about content, Bloomberg UTV business head Deepak Lamba said that within the next three months, the channel will launch new shows with a complete refreshed perspective.

    “We will be using simpler terms, and launching new shows on smart money, real estate etc. Our aim is to simplify the things for our viewers,” Lamba said.

  • Independent TV gets new ops head

    Independent TV gets new ops head

    MUMBAI: The NDTV Worldwide and Beximco-owned Independent Television has found a new operations head as it readies to get going in Bangladesh.

    Biswajit Borkataky, who earlier had launched NDTV Profit and Bloomberg UTV, is taking up the position and will shift base to Dhaka beginning July.

    Sources indicate that the duo want the channel to be up and running by the end of year with NDTV Worldwide looking after the technology and operational setup.

    Currently, Borkataky is associate executive producer at Bloomberg UTV.

    Borkataky has nine years of broadcast experience and is known to specialise in new setups and process building. In his new capacity, he will be responsible for setting up and running all functions excluding content, at Independent Television.

    The NDTV and Beximco alliance includes channel planning and execution as well as NDTV assisting the Beximco Group with the operational and business management of the venture.

  • Bloomberg UTV sends defamation notice to CNBC TV18 managing editor

    Bloomberg UTV sends defamation notice to CNBC TV18 managing editor

    MUMBAI: Bloomberg UTV has sent a defamation notice to CNBC TV18’s managing editor Udayan Mukherjee, asking him to apologise on air for allegedly defaming the English business news channel.

    The channel, through counsel AZB Partners, accuses Mukherjee for making “inflammatory, derogatory and defamatory” statements during its segment Bazaar on 4 March.

    In its notice to Mukherjee, Bloomberg UTV has demanded Rs 5 billion as damages, for the “injury” the channel has “sustained and will continue to sustain” because of his (Mukherjee’s) “malicious acts”.

    The notice also accused Mukherjee of debasing Bloomberg UTV by saying “(Bloomberg ko) apni auqaat nahi bhoolna chahiye”.

    Mukherjee, in his show, had said that for the tenth year running, CNBC TV18 leads across all categories in the genre, and had remained the number one channel on the Budget day, based on Tam data. Earlier, Bloomberg UTV had given full page adverts and run a campaign, claiming leadership on Budget day viewership based on another monitoring agency aMap.

    Mukherjee was not available for comment till the time of filing this report.