ITV

Tag: Broadcast News

  • News market still has much room for growth: panel

    News market still has much room for growth: panel

    MUMBAI: News is here to stay and the market still has the capacity to absorb new entrants in a sector that has been witnessing explosive growth – and that applies to both print and television.

    That was the pivotal point that came through at the special interactive panel discussion held in Mumbai yesterday by CNBC TV-18 in association with DNA .

    The panel comprised Tam India CEO LV Krishnan, DNA editor-in-chief Gautam Adhikari, Broadcast News editor-in-chief Rajdeep Sardesai, Star News CEO Uday Shankar and MindShare South Asia CEO Vikram Sakhuja.

    Moderated by CNBC TV-18 anchor Anuradha Sengupta, the panel discussion titled – ‘News v/s News: Will Indian consumers get the best of both worlds?’ – had a certain amount of chutzpah and commanded the audiences’ rapt attention.

    The debate covered the manifold changes that had taken place over the media scenario in India over the last few months. A stark reality today is that with 16 news channels and 55,780 newspapers, Indians are flooded with information like never before. Gone are the days of the daily 9 pm news bulletin on pubcaster Doordarshan. The 24×7 news factor has set in the country and competition is hotting up.

    With the plethora of new players entering the media market and a vigorous marketing blitz (as seen in the case of DNA) announcing the new arrivals, the media scene has built up expectations of the reader and viewers to a great extent.

    But the fact of the matter remains that the market has not yet reached its saturation point. DNA’s Adhikari said that it would take at least another 10 to 15 years for the television news space in the country to cross the saturation point.

    Shankar, on the other hand said, “There are close to 30+ applications for news channels uplinking permission pending with the Information and Broadcasting (I&B) ministry today. Yet the time has not come for a flooding in the news channels’ space. It’s just a trickle. Three years ago Aaj Tak, Zee News and Star News were there in the market. At that time, the top two headlines on the channels were more or less same, but that’s where the similarity ended. Channels today have to position themselves more aggressively to survive in this industry.”

    Shankar also stressed on the fact that the regional space was one to look out for. Speaking about the recently launched Star Ananda’s success story, Shankar said, “We were market leaders in the Bengali news channels space in the first month itself. The audience was created overnight and we saw them lapping it up. There was this need gap that needed to be serviced and the demand was met by Star Ananda.” He also stressed on the fact that viewers didn’t want more news channels but wanted the kind of news that they were interested in.

    Adhikari said that the Indian economy was at an infant stage of growth. “The Indian economy is growing at the rate of seven per cent and at that rate, it can take in a lot of new activity and that includes newspapers. We are in the initial stage of development and there has been a spurt in not just in newspapers but media activities. The market in Mumbai has changed and I feel that there is space for two or three more newspapers here. The only thing that will make the newspapers different from each other is competition itself.”

    Talking about the much hyped and expensive marketing campaign of DNA and pondering over the question whether the paper would be able to live up to the hype, Adhikari said, “DNA is a fresh newspaper, which looks different and is more in-tune with citizens’ concerns. We are not trying to live up to the hype of our media campaign but to satisfy the curiosity, need and demand of the reader in a place where the demographics are very interesting.”

    The number crunching Krishnan began by saying that today the news channels in the country had an overall viewership of seven per cent. “India is one of the largest free news markets in the world with a whole lot of news channels and newspapers. The fact is that 45 per cent of homes in India read the newspaper and 50 per cent of individuals are able to get a cable connection. Hence there is a lot of scope and untapped market. Also there has been a good amount of growth in the advertising spends on news channels. In 2002, there were about 1700 brands advertising, today there are more than 2500 brands advertising on news channels,” he said.

    Talking about the fight between newspapers and news channels regarding breaking news first, he said that the fight is only a portrayed one and that they actually work in tandem. “When Sonia Gandhi resigned, 85 per cent of people who saw the headline in the newspaper that day spent an hour watching television news channels. On normal days, they don’t spend more than 15 minutes on news channels on an average,” he said.

    He also pointed out that a good time to launch a news channel in a particular place was just before elections. He cited examples of Star Ananda launching just before the municipal elections in Kolkatta and TV9 launching in Andhra Pradesh prior to the assembly elections. Both channels were launched at the opportune time and were doing well, Krishnan said.

    Speaking on the race among news channels to ‘break news first’, Krishnan said, “It’s not important to break news first. It is important to cover the news well. The advantage lies with the channel that gives the event the best coverage.”

    Sakhuja brought in a marketers’ perspective to the discussion. “Three years ago the amount spent on news channels in terms of advertising was Rs 4.5 billion. Last year the figure was Rs 7.5 billion and by the end of this year it is likely to reach Rs 8.5 billion. The print medium is also seeing an increase as the number of new markets and editions are coming up. But there is still scope for more. Both newspapers and news channels are growing well and print is acting as a catalyst to news channels. There is a constant need in people to be informed and hence new products will be lapped up well. The drivers in the news channels space will however, be the regional markets and the new advertisers will be seen on national channels such as retail houses, educational institutions and real estate sector.”

    He further added that while English news channels garner only 10 per cent of the total eyeballs, they grab a disproportionate one-third of the revenue. As far as the Hindi news channels were concerned, Sakhuja said that each of them did have a personality differentiating factor but stressed on sensationalism of news more than anything else.

    Sakhuja concluded by saying, “The bottomline is that we are backing this bull-run but anyone who wants to enter this space better have a good proposition. The market place couldn’t get better so people should get their thinking caps on.”

    The last speaker of the day, Sardesai, who is readying for the launch of his new news channel in collaboration with CNBC TV-18, started by saying that he was not going to hype the launch of his channel by a marketing blitz anywhere similar to that of DNA. “I would rather let our brand speak for itself. The consumer today is satisfied in terms of the quantity of news channels in the country but not in terms of the quality of content on these news channels,” he said.

    Speaking about NDTV’s foray into the news segment in 1994-95 with a half hour news based programme on DD, Sardesai said that the industry had moved forward since then to a market where there were a number of players. “A private company started the revolution then by breaking the government’s monopoly on news. Today the first phase of that revolution is coming to an end,” he said.

    Throwing light on the difference between Hindi and English news, he said, “Hindi news brought robustness, which English news lacked. It’s time to marry the two. The time has come to get your hands dirty because people don’t want journalists reporting from air when there are floods. They want them to be on the ground with them facing the reality. Specialisation is going to be the way forward by exploring new boundaries and hence bringing in new viewers.”

    Concurring with Adhikari, Sardesai too stressed on the fact that competition was always good in the space. “There is nothing like competition, which will give the Indian viewer what he wants – choice, expertise, involvement and exploring areas that affect him (‘glocalisation’ of news). Another way forward for the news channels will be in providing alternate platforms of news like Internet and mobile telephony. There is an enormous opportunity out there, which is waiting to be tapped.”

    While the industry at large still ponders over the overkill of news channels in the country (add to that the impending launch of the Times Now and Broadcast News channels this year)and newspapers in Mumbai; the verdict among the experts on the panel was clearly that there is still room for more.

  • NDTV’s Chaubey to head Broadcast News political bureau

    MUMBAI: Broadcast News, the newly-floated television company by Television Eighteen Ltd in association with Rajdeep Sardesai and Sameer Manchanda, has managed to lure away one of the key editorial professionals from the NDTV team, even as other journalists are expected to join the new entrant in the English news channel space.

    NDTV senior special correspondent Bhupendra Chaubey will be hopping on board Broadcast News as chief political correspondent, heading the political bureau. He will be designing and presenting special political programmes. He had a five year long stint at NDTV. Before joining NDTV, Chaubey dabbled in documentary film making.

    Others who are scheduled to join Broadcast News from NDTV include, anchor-cum-correspondent Anubha Bhonsle, business correspondents Sandeep Banerjee and Arijit Burman.     

    According to broadcast industry sources, the four of them have put in their papers at NDTV. Additionally, senior correspondent Suman Chakraborty is also likely to make a trek to Broadcast News.

    As Broadcast News editor-in-chief Rajdeep Sradesai has time and again said, the proposed news venture’s high point would be political news. Insiders say the slant is likely to be on views.

    Though the name of the first channel from Broadcast News stable is yet to be finalised, a source close to the development said Indian Broadcast News or IBN is a name being toyed with.

    Broadcast News is a venture that was set up earlier this year with TV 18 holding 74 per cent equity stake, while the remaining 26 per cent is distributed amongst senior people. The Raghav Bahl-promoted television Eighteen has announced that it plans to raise $50 million from international market for expansion and new products.

  • Broadcast News seeks uplink permission

    Broadcast News seeks uplink permission

    MUMBAI: Broadcast News, Rajdeep Sardesai’s new venture in collaboration with Television Eighteen Group, has sought permission to uplink a news channel.

    A government source confirmed the move, but did not give a time frame for the clearance of the proposal. “A working name (of the proposed channel) is mentioned in the uplink application,” the official admitted, when quizzed on the issue, adding that the permission would be given subject to clearance from other government agencies.

    After obtaining a green signal from the I&B ministry, the proposed channel will have to get several other clearances from various agencies, including the department of telecommunications.

    The yet-to-be-named channel is targeting a launch later this year. It is also expected that the new channel would be in English, while another news channel is being planned for an early 2006 launch, according to information available with Indiantelevision.com.

    The proposed channel’s operations will be carried out from an office-cum-studio complex to be located in the Film City in Noida, on the outskirts of Delhi.

    At the moment, Sardesai and associates are scouting professionals for the news channel. Some production people, associated with NDTV 24×7’s Big Fight that used to be hosted by Sardesai, have already quit to join forces at Broadcast News.

  • NDTV Media’s Rajnath Kamath joins CNBC as director sales

    NDTV Media’s Rajnath Kamath joins CNBC as director sales

    MUMBAI: Another defection from NDTV to CNBC-TV18. Rajnath Kamath, NDTV Media’s vice-president ad sales, has put in his papers and is moving to CNBC-TV18 Network as director sales.

    While his services will be used across the network, Kamath’s principal focus will, however, be on Broadcast News, the new venture that ex-NDTV stalwarts Rajdeep Sardesai and Sameer Manchanda have floated in collaboration with Raghav Bahl’s TV18 Group.

    Kamath, who will be based out of Delhi, will be reporting directly in to CNBC-TV18 vice-president sales & marketing B Saikumar.

    Kamath joined NDTV Media three years ago as part of the core team that went along with chief executive Raj Nayak when he quit Star India. Before his stint with NDTV Meida, Kamath was 10 years at Star India in different ad sales capacities.

    As regards a replacement for Kamath at NDTV Media, information available with Indiantelevision.com indicates that no one will be taking his place, at least for the near term. Kamath’s ambit of responsibilities will reportedly be re-allocated among the three regional ad sales heads within NDTV Media – Rohit Gopakumar, Vikas Kanchandani and Hemant Arora.
        
          

  • NDTV India production head Garabadu quits to join Broadcast News

    MUMBAI: Among The first to leave the NDTV fold after Rajdeep Sardesai is one of the two NDTV India channel heads (production), Rajen Garabadu , who has just put in his papers after nine years at the helm. Garabadu will now proceed to Broadcast News to take over as executive producer at the newly floated Rajdeep Sardesai-Sameer Manchanda venture which is backed and funded by Raghav Bahl’s TV 18.

    Garabadu will be in charge of all production related activities including designing the work floor, deciding on the state of art technology, manpower, training and editing graphics. Sources say Garabadu is scheduled to join Broadcast News after a fortnight.

    During his nine year stint at NDTV, Garabadu was part of the invigorated Big Fight and was part of the team responsible for mopping up several awards for Prannoy Roy’s company like the Asian Television Award 2003 for Best Talk Show for three consecutive years, and the Indian Telly awards for the same category in 2004.

    Garabadu took over as channel head (production) at NDTV India in December 2004. Previously, he was the producer and director of the Big Fight since the first show aired on NDTV 24X7.
    He joined in as production assistant, junior- assistant producer, assistant producer, associate producer, programme producer to producer and later elevated as channel head (production) of NDTV India.

    He played a key part in the rejuvenation of Big Fight managing its look and feel of the show, although the core aspect remained the same. He was also part of Nation-Wide on Star News (which has been discontinued after NDTV ceased being a content provider to the Rupert-Murdoch’s Indian news broadcast arm).

    Garabadu was also involved with Question Time India, which airs on BBC World. This show was earlier commissioned to NDTV. At present it is being produced by Karan Thapar’s company ITV.

  • Not yet decided whether it’d be a content company or a channel: Rajdeep Sardesai

    Not yet decided whether it’d be a content company or a channel: Rajdeep Sardesai

    MUMBAI: As Rajdeep Sardesai embarks upon a different role as an entrepreneur too, he insists that his forte is journalism and that it will remain so. Though through a PR agency, Sardesai and his NDTV colleague, Sameer Manchanda, today morning clarified that they are setting up a new company, a start-up, which was first reported by Indiantelevision.com, he’s still hesitant in talking about his new innings.

    Even as he tries to play with a straight bat, like his illustrious father cricketer Dilip Sardesai, Rajdeep’s defence mechanisms are up. He ducks uncomfortable questions instead of trying to play them.

    Ask him about the new company and he gives a seemingly evasive reply. “We haven’t decided whether we want to be only a content company, servicing different channels, or whether we want to start or set off a channel of our own. That’s a decision that we have still left for a later day,” In his first interview to the media after leaving NDTV and shaking hands with the Raghav Bahl-promoted Television Eighteen group, Indiantelevision.com tries to pin down Rajdeep on some issues relating to his work, his future and the industry in general.

    Excerpts:

    What is Broadcast News all about?
    We intend to look at creating new news products, which we believe can succeed in the market place as well as provide Indian viewers with more choices than available today.

    So, are you saying that you would be looking beyond servicing a particular news channel or channels from a group?
    We haven’t decided whether we want to be only a content company servicing different channels or start a channel of our own. That’s a decision we have left for a later day. We haven’t taken a final decision on how we want to use the expertise that is available to us.

    What are you looking at with the kind of expertise that you have — a channel or a boutique, which would offer new programmes?
    Frankly, whichever really works…wherever we get the people to watch us. If we get people to watch us as a content provider, we will do that. If we get more people to watch us as (managers of) a channel, we will do that.

    How would you get to decide or know what will garner audiences for you?
    It depends upon the platform than we are offered. So, we have taken no decision yet as all such decisions, like our first big move, would be taken somewhere in the middle of May or even later.

    Why would it take this long? Haven’t you decided upon a date?
    Well…because, we need to get it right that’s why!

    How do you define your place and role in Broadcast News?
    I will be editor-in-chief and so I will decide all content.

    Does this signify that your role as a journalist will continue even as you acquire shades of an entrepreneur?
    I’m determined to make my role purely journalistic. That is what I know (best) and that is what I’m going to do. In fact, the entrepreneurial role is something that we have chosen to take as it’s a sign of a new beginning. It gives us a sense of starting a new venture.

    How would you go about getting the manpower that is in short supply? Would you resort to poaching from existing channels like TV Today and NDTV?
    Everything that we do will be done professionally. We will try and have the best possible journalists and professionals in this field with us.

    Now that you have parted with NDTV there may be people who would like to follow and join you?
    Let me make it clear, NDTV is a great company. The last thing on my mind, at the moment, would be to try breaking NDTV. I’m very clear that I’ve left NDTV on the best possible terms, as far as I’m concerned.

    It has been an emotional decision breaking away from NDTV. So, the last thing I want to do, at the moment, is to think about NDTV. I just want to create for myself, and for the people who join me, the best possible company — editorially and professionally. It is only when we decide what sort of company we would like to become that we’d take decisions on manpower and the type of people that we’d like to have.

    What is the shareholding pattern in the new company?
    The shareholding pattern will be clearer next week. The full picture will become clear by the middle of May. But, in terms of TV 18, while the content will be generated by us all decisions on content will be taken by the new company.

    What would be the quantum of TV 18’s holding?
    That decision will be taken later.

    Are you looking at a foreign strategic alliance?
    Well, as a company we are 34 hours old. We will take each week and each day as it comes. It’s a simple goal. We haven’t even taken any manpower on board. The only person I have hired so far is my driver from NDTV.

    Will MSNBC be brought into India by your company as TV-18 also has an association with the parent company?
    We are not getting (on) with MSNBC, at the moment.

    What would be Sameer Manchanda’s role in the new venture?
    He is directly associated with the venture and is the joint managing director. He will certainly have a major role to play. He is someone with a proven track record in finance and raising fund. More importantly, he is the kind of quality professional that hopefully we are able to create more of in our company. He will have a leadership role in creating more quality professionals.

    Reports have identified that you would kick off a channel by 15 August or by Diwali. What’s your take?
    Well, as I said, some time middle of May we will take a decision what we want to do. And once we have taken that decision, we will look at dates and deadlines.

    You have been quoted as saying that you’d like to launch a journalistic driven channel. What exactly do you mean?
    I only said that we will try and give (to the audiences) as cutting edge journalism as possible. That’s the goal. Basically, we want to create a channel where journalists provide the cutting edge and where journalism is uncompromising.

    So are you saying that the likes of Aaj Tak, Zee News, Star News or NDTV are not working on these lines?
    That’s a unfair question. I never said that. That’s an unfair assumption too. What I’m saying is that I think Indian viewers need a basket of choices, whether it is through better content or whether through more channels. That decision is yet to be taken. But I think the Indian viewers want more choice and we will try and provide them with choices. Ultimately, the viewers should be respected. You don’t talk down to a viewer.

    Are you looking at doing business of providing content in multiple languages?
    That is something we will come to know once we have taken a decision on what we want to be exactly. In a country with 15 languages, you have a lot of options. There are many Indian languages that don’t even have news channels. That’s again a niche and a vacuum that we can always look towards.

    If your new venture does not materialise or proves to be as successful as you had envisaged, would you route back to NDTV?
    As I have always said, NDTV in the news space is a mother ship. Over the years, it has been India’s finest news channel and it has a proven track record that professionals never leave NDTV permanently. NDTV will always have a special place in my heart. But moving on does not mean that I have abandoned NDTV.

    I will say with a sense of fulfilment that after 11 years, NDTV has become India’s leading news company. When I joined NDTV there were 13 employees. Today, it has grown and employs over 1,000. In my own small way, I have contributed to that growth and I would like to believe in that. It is emotional, but that is the limited satisfaction that I still have. I will never forget what the Roys (NDTV promoter Prannoy and wife) did for me and also for journalism over the years.

    Before you embark on your new innings, what is it that you would most like to do?
    Spend time with my family. I’m determined to do that. I do not have to think twice as to who are my guests tonight for the next few days or few weeks, at least. I’m thinking of a May holiday. I can’t handle the heat of Delhi.

    Where are you off to?
    Not yet decided, but somewhere…

  • Rajdeep Sardesai floats Broadcast News

    Rajdeep Sardesai floats Broadcast News

    MUMBAI: Rajdeep Sardesai’s new venture, in collaboration with TV 18 Group, will be called Broadcast News.

    This new venture will launch television channels in the news and information space.
    “The Indian news market is rapidly expanding and there is huge potential for new media properties in this space. We believe this venture is ideally positioned to exploit and leverage these opportunities, and we hope to have the support and the goodwill of the Indian viewers,” says Sardesai in a media release.

    Joining Sardesai in the new venture is also Sameer Manchanda, who was chief financial officer at NDTV. Sardesai, who was the managing editor, had put in his papers on 16 April while his last day was 18 April.

  • BBC Hindi launches Iraq helpline for Indian expats

    MUMBAI: The BBC has come up with a helpline to assist Indian families worried about the well being of their relatives working in the region.
    The BBC radio Hindi service has launched a helpline for the 3.5 million-strong Indian expatriate community living in the Gulf countries. The Iraq helpline is broadcast daily and enables the Indians living in the Gulf to broadcast news of their welfare to relatives and friends around the world through the evening programme, Aajkal, from 7:30-8:30 pm or through the website bbchindi.com.
    An official release informs that the Iraq helpline is posting emails from Indian expats to their relatives. These are also read out on Aajkal. The Iraq Helpline team also takes phone calls from people in the Gulf who are trying to get through to their relatives and friends in South Asia.
    In addition, the Iraq helpline offers information about help centres, other helplines, flights, useful telephone numbers and other relevant material the release states. Head of BBC Hindi, Achala Sharma, says: “The idea of the helpline is to enable these people to contact their loved ones in South Asia. The people who turn to this programme are, for the most part, those who do not have the resources, which Indian ex-pats in the United States or Europe may have.”
    BBC World Service broadcasts programmes around the world in 43 languages and is available on radio and online at bbcworldservice.com. It has a global audience of 150 million listeners, the release says.