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Tag: India Today Group

  • Good News Today to telecast ‘The Horses Stable’ from 11 December

    Good News Today to telecast ‘The Horses Stable’ from 11 December

    Mumbai: Hindi news channel Good News Today has announced a new show called “The Horses Stable: Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikander.” The show launched will be launched on 11 December every Saturday at 8 p.m and Sunday at 5 p.m.

    The series will feature entrepreneurs who will pitch their business models to a panel of investors and convince them to invest money in their ventures, said the channel in a statement. The format of the show will be akin to the great Indian derby, it added.

    The investors or ‘horses’ include marquee names like Freeflow Venture Builders founder and chief ideator Suraj Juneja, Angels Network CEO and managing director Nandini Mansinghka, Saha Fund founder Ankita Vashistha, angel investor Mandar Joshi, deal advisor and startup mentor Deeksha Ahuja. Uniting these stalwarts is award-winning actor, producer, businessman and serial entrepreneur Suniel Shetty.

    The show is also sponsored by Vivek Bindra’s BadaBusiness.com and it is supported by the Atal Innovation Mission, NITI Aayog, and is a joint effort of Prashant Agarwal and Suniel Shetty. This initiative is also supported by MSH under the Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeitY).

    “We are proud to see what India’s brilliant business minds and entrepreneurs are able to bring to this country everyday, and the challenger startup ecosystem we have created on a global stage,” said India Today Group CEO television and radio business Rahul Shaw. “The India Today group has been tuned to the needs and aspirations of the nation for over 4 decades, and are thrilled once again to be able to provide a platform to let ideas of all shapes and sizes find the support they need to blossom and strengthen the momentum of India’s startup story. We are thrilled to bring this home on the Good News Today platform where it can reach and inspire more people than ever before.”

    The India Today Group officially launched the show on 6 December. The event was attended by Niti Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant, Atal Innovation Mission mission director Dr Chintan Vaishnav, HPPL founder Prashant Agarwal, FTC Talent and Entertainment Suniel Shetty and India Today Group CEO television and radio business Rahul Shaw. 

  • Business Today strengthens leadership team with Alok Nair as CRO

    Business Today strengthens leadership team with Alok Nair as CRO

    Mumbai: The India Today Group (ITG) has strengthened the leadership team at Business Today as the Group mulls over its expansion into business and economic news.

    In a significant move, the ITG on Monday announced the appointment of a business growth specialist and well-known business genre expert, Alok Nair as chief revenue officer (CRO). The Group has also roped in financial journalist Alokesh Bhattacharyya as managing editor and content strategist Aayush Ailawadi as tech editor of the business magazine.

    Nair holds a sterling record in providing management consulting and strategic breakthroughs across media and catalysing transformation across key sectors. In the past, he has worked with media brands such as The Times of India, Network 18, and Bloomberg in various leadership capacities across print, TV and digital platforms. Most of the IPs created by Nair are still the benchmark in the business news space. 

    He also headed a management consulting practice that developed growth strategies and sustainable turnarounds for media and non-media organisations. His notable work includes the comprehensive solutions he provided to leading bourses, BFSI firms, and large corporates.

    Speaking about his new role, Nair said, “With a surge in younger population entering the investing, wealth-creation and spending space, there is a need for a robust platform that informs, engages and enables the youth of India on all aspects of money across asset classes. Brands are today wanting a conducive, credible and engaging environment to effectively communicate with younger audiences.”
     
    “As a network, the ITG is at a unique vantage point to create marquee opportunities for brands across its leading TV and digital assets – Aaj Tak, India Today, Good News Today, and Business Today,” he added.

    Bhattacharyya returns for a third stint with the ITG over a period of two decades. In the interim, he has held crucial editorial roles at Business World and at The Economic Times (ET). In his most recent assignment at ET, Bhattacharyya was the founder-editor of the ET Family Business Forum and Awards, ET Innovation Awards, and Amrop-ET Best Boards Awards.

    “I am delighted to return to Business Today at this exciting time when media is evolving into the next level of integration between multiple mediums including print, digital, television, and radio. The kind of opportunity this provides for both journalists and readers, in terms of content curation, is mindboggling. I look forward to being part of the effort to transform Business Today into a multimedia powerhouse,” said Bhattacharyya on his appointment.

    A renowned television presenter, content strategist and multimedia producer, Ailawadi was an editor for technology and special features at Network 18 in his last role. Previously, he was an anchor and special correspondent at BloombergQuint (BQ) and was part of the channel’s launch team. At BQ, he managed the evening team of producers and reporters and hosted primetime and technology shows. Ailawadi has also worked with brands like Amazon, Walmart, Mercedes, LG, Oppo, and Huawei as a content strategist on numerous campaigns.

    “I am stoked to be a part of the India Today family. Business Today, TV Today, and India Today have always been at the forefront of innovation and it is incredibly exciting to be joining an organisation that is all set to take the world by storm with its unique digital-first approach. The pandemic has only accelerated seismic shifts in the world of technology and I hope to be able to decode these changes, especially for our millennial and Gen Z audiences,” said Ailawadi.

  • Business Today onboards Anirban Roy as online editor

    Business Today onboards Anirban Roy as online editor

    Mumbai: India Today Group-owned Business Today magazine is all set for a digital revamp. The Group also announced the appointment of Anirban Roy, formerly with The Wall Street Journal and Reuters, as Business Today’s online editor.

    Roy commands more than 20 years of experience in multi-media, multi-platform, and multi-language newsrooms across international and Indian media houses. Roy was the founding digital editor and news editor for The Wall Street Journal India, where he and his colleagues won the SOPA Award for Excellence in Multimedia News Presentation. Prior to that, he was India digital editor at Reuters. He has also been the Group editor for social platforms at Network18.

    “Business Today has always led the discourse on business journalism in India and now with its move towards a digital-first, multimedia-led coverage, it is poised to lead the way for storytelling in the digital age. I look forward to showcasing stories about India’s new economy and how it is being shaped by the ongoing tech revolution,” Roy said on his new role at the ITG.

    In another key announcement, the Group named leading financial journalist and anchor Aabha Bakaya as the co-host of its upcoming Business Today TV show.

    A career business journalist, Bakaya has more than 15 years of rich experience in financial news television at leading channels in the country. She was a consultant anchor at ET NOW, hosting its flagship “The Market” and “Closing Trades” shows. Bakaya was a founding team member at NDTV Profit and ET NOW. In a previous role, she anchored stock market opening and closing shows at Bloomberg TV. 

    “I look forward to being a part of the India Today family. I am thrilled to join the team at Business Today and bring my knowledge along with the expertise to cover the markets and decode important business news daily for the audience,” Bakaya said on her new role at the ITG.

    Ever since its inception in 1992, it has set new benchmarks in business reporting. Today, Business Today commands the highest readership among all business magazines in India.

    Last month, the India Today Group announced the appointment of Udayan Mukherjee, the country’s biggest and undisputed icon in business journalism, as its Global Business Editor and host of a daily business show premiering on India Today air from August 1.

    Earlier in July, the network named one of India’s most prominent magazine editors, Sourav Majumdar, as the new Editor of the Business Today Magazine, and Siddharth Zarabi, an award-winning journalist and former editor of Bloomberg TV, as the Managing Editor of Business Today TV.

  • India Today Group appoints Khyati Shah as AVP marketing & alliances, TV

    India Today Group appoints Khyati Shah as AVP marketing & alliances, TV

    Mumbai: India Today Group has announced the appointment of Khyati Shah as assistant vice president – marketing and alliances, TV.  She will be based at the Noida office and report to India Today Group’s chief marketing officer Vivek Malhotra, it said in a statement.

    Khyati joins the group from Star India Network, where she was the AVP for marketing & content for Star Utsav. Her previous stints include Dainik Bhaskar Group, International Flavours & Fragrances, ICICI Prudential, Ogilvy & Mather, Grey Worldwide, Triton Communications, and Publicis.

    She brings with her more than 17 years of experience in brand management, digital marketing, content marketing, advertising, campaign management and brand solutions.

    She is a post-graduate in advertising and PR from Welingkar institute and, additionally, in digital business strategy. Khyati is a bachelor of commerce from Mumbai University.

  • Infinix Mobile signs up as the title sponsor for ESPL

    Mumbai: Esports Premier League (ESPL) has partnered with smartphone maker Infinix Mobile as title sponsor for its inaugural edition and is seeking to mainstream the excitement surrounding the 2021 edition and revolutionise the ecosystem of esports in the country through the nationwide tournament. 

    The tournament organized by the India Today Group aims to tap into the growing landscape of esports in the country to help the competitive gaming community. This segment has received a significant boost in the last year as an increasing number of users are spending time on smartphones for gaming activities. 

    The first season of the league will begin on 16 June, and it will be telecasted live on multiple platforms including OTT giant Disney+ Hotstar as well as the official YouTube and Facebook channels of India Today and Aaj Tak, along with their websites. ESPL will be played as a virtual tournament in its inaugural edition and comprise more than 700 online matches with about 300 plus hours of streaming.

    “India Today’s gaming and esports platform will provide a thrilling experience to its users through a wide range of games, online tournaments, and an opportunity to win exciting prizes. These are very exciting times as smartphone usage continues to grow exponentially and I believe the partnership with Infinix Mobile will help us intensify our mission of taking esports to the next level in India,” said India Today Group vice-chairperson Kallie Purie. 

    Infinix Mobile chief executive officer Anish Kapoor said, “The Indian online gaming industry is growing at a rate of almost 27 per cent per annum and is estimated to reach $2.8bn by 2022. The current pandemic situation has further fuelled the growth of the gaming industry in India. At Infinix, we are part of this revolution by making devices for the mid-range segments that is feature-rich and enhances the user gaming experience, to further amplify the gaming capability of a user our research and development (segment) has developed a technology called Darlink which optimizes and improves a device’s performance on several parameters. Our partnership with India Today for the Esports Premier League is just another step towards achieving the same goal.” 

    The tournament, which will be played over a period of two and a half months, will have two initial levels to screen the best eight teams which progress into the grand finale representing eight cities across the country including Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Punjab, and Rajasthan.

  • India Today Group is India’s No.1 video news publisher as per latest Comscore reports

    India Today Group is India’s No.1 video news publisher as per latest Comscore reports

    KOLKATA: In the latest Comscore video metrix report, the India Today Group has consolidated its position and emerged as India’s No. 1 digital news media group, restating the profound trust of viewers in the brand. The group has now become No. 1 on Comscore Video Metrix score with over 883 million video views. The nearest competitor stands at 483 million video views.

    India Today is now the undisputed leader in all the three important metrics of reach, video views and total minutes watched. The month of March saw Covid wave 2 gripping the country and election campaigns kickstarting across West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Assam, Kerala and Puducherry. At this critical phase of the country, the India Today Group has emerged as the digital destination of trust for the citizens.

    With over 92 Million Unique video viewers, the group leads with a margin of around 25 Million Unique video viewers over the next news network. The group is double the video views of ABP Group and leaves behind many groups like Network 18, Times Internet, Zee Digital and NDTV.

    The group has also reported a growth of close to 70 Million video views over the previous month, highlighting the fact that when it comes to ‘News That Matters’, the choice of the Digital Consumer is clearly the India Today Group.   

  • Prabhu Chawla returns to India Today Group

    Prabhu Chawla returns to India Today Group

    New Delhi: In a major development, India Today Group has brought back veteran journalist Prabhu Chawla as editorial consultant for TV Today Network. He will be starting with the group from 1 December 2020.

    He will be seen weekly on Aaj Tak where he will be interviewing the most prominent personalities of the country. Chawla will also lend his expertise to political debates as and when required.

    “I am looking forward to seeing his no-holds-barred style, Prabhu, and working with a much-valued colleague,” India Today vice-chairperson Kalli Purie said.

    Chawla started his career with India Today Group and then moved on to join The Indian Express. He later rejoined ITG and was last serving as group editorial director and editor India Today (languages) when he decided to move on from the group in 2010. He was there for over 14 years.

    He has over four decades of experience in the news business and was most popularly known for his show Seedhi Baat where he interviewed some of the most popular personalities of the country including politicians, actors, sportspersons and others.

    Chawla has been associated with several major publications.

    He has won several accolades for his journalism and was awarded Padma Bhushan in 2003 by the president of India. 

  • Bombay high court gives India today TV a clean chit

    Bombay high court gives India today TV a clean chit

    New Delhi: If anyone thought that the TRP manipulation row has ended, the news is that it is far from over.

    Last fortnight, the Bombay high court stayed an order passed by BARC disciplinary committee and directed BARC India not to take any coercive action against India Today group subject to a deposit of Rs 5 lakh with the court.

    In the latest development, as per a court order the Bombay high court has set aside the BARC disciplinary committee  order against India Today TV.  It has ordered that the Rs 5 lakh deposited with the court registrar be returned to the India Today group in full.

    A statement from the group said: “Over 45 years, we have painstakingly built on the principle of credible journalism. Story by story. Edition by edition. Platform by platform. We have created a deep legacy of credibility, excellence, trust and bipartisanship. We are widely recogised as the gold standard of journalism in the country. In a landscape marked by shrill polarities, we have only one political alignment: the Indian constitution. And, we follow it without fear or fervour.”

    We tried reaching BARC for comments but no one was available to respond.

  • Festive cheer in news organisations as pay cuts are reversed

    Festive cheer in news organisations as pay cuts are reversed

    NEW DELHI: Months after the Coronavirus reared its ugly head and made a shambles of the economy, the news industry is slowly coming out of the woods. This is apparent from the fact that several news organisations have reversed pay cuts that were introduced with the onset of the Covid2019 pandemic. Some players have even announced appraisals for their staff, making the festive period brighter. 

    Here's a look at the news media groups who signalled 'all is well' with the business through their recent actions:

    1. NDTV

    NDTV said on Tuesday that it ended the pay cuts of its employees with effect from October 1. The network had slashed salaries by 10-40 per cent on a graded scale based on different slabs with effect from 1 April 1 2020. Employees earning Rs 50,000 or less per month were exempt from any pay cut.

    2. India Today Group

    India Today Group promoted several key people within the organisation and also announced appraisals for the staff. Vice chairperson Kallie Purie said, “I am looking forward to our annual exercise that acknowledges merit and hard work. So, a big shout out to the efforts of our salesforce heroes that are making this financially viable and allowing me the privilege to declare appraisals. I have sanctioned the encashment of up to 15 days of accumulated leave for all employees. Those not eligible or those who don’t want leave encashment could choose a Diwali voucher.”

    3. The Indian Express Digital

    The digital arm of the Indian Express group also reversed the temporary pay cut that was announced in April for its employees. As per reports, the staff took up to 30 per cent pay cut in their monthly salaries in the wake of the pandemic. 

    4. Network18

    Reliance Industries Ltd, which owns and manages the Network18 Media, announced the rollback of salary cuts in October. The conglomerate also said it would be handing over performance bonuses that were deferred when businesses took a hit at the outset of the Coronavirus-fuelled lockdown. Reportedly, the group had enforced pay cuts between 10 and 50 per cent for its employees across businesses.

  • India Today Group announces special programming line-up for Bihar polls

    India Today Group announces special programming line-up for Bihar polls

    NEW DELHI: The India Today Group has planned to launch an array of programming content produced exclusively for the upcoming Bihar Assembly Elections.

    On Aaj Tak, there are six dedicated shows being aired: Hello Kaun – an interactive show on issues that impact Bihar, Election Express – an election travelogue, Swetpatra – detailed analysis of Bihar elections, Patliputra – the political history of Bihar, Kiska Hoga Rajtilak – a news-based election bulletin, and Bullet Reporter –  which encapsulates the electoral journey through 10 constituencies with deputy editor Chitra Tripathi.

    The media group’s English news channel India Today TV is also ready with a series of special programmes exclusive to the hotly-contested polls in Bihar. The line-up includes Bihar Express – a compilation of stories from the heart of the action; Ground Zero Bihar with anchor Rajdeep Sardesai – news stories from ground zero of the first elections since the Coronavirus pandemic; and X Factor which will tackle the hot-button issues in these elections.

    Both Aaj Tak and India Today TV will have dedicated live bulletins in the morning on each polling day along with comprehensive reports from an on-ground team of reporters. The channels will be live from 5 to 10 pm on the last day of polling with their exit polls report. Counting day will be covered extensively with special programming from 6 am onwards.

    On digital, an exclusive campaign Garv se Bihari is underway with which the brand is reaching out to the youth of Bihar through various celebrities and social media influencers. The campaign aims to evoke a sense of pride in not only being a citizen of the state but a responsible citizen as well. The influencers will discuss the importance of exercising the right to vote while ensuring everyone follows the pandemic protocols of mask, sanitization and distancing norms. The idea here is to drive home the point that being proud citizens means responsibility towards self, society and the state.

    In print, India Today magazine is focusing on special analysis and in-depth features on why the Battle for Bihar matters, including profiles of key political personalities, SWOT analysis of the contesting parties, the colour of the campaign battle and what the outcome will mean for both the state and the country.