ITV

Tag: news network

  • TV9 Network retains position as India’s biggest news network

    TV9 Network retains position as India’s biggest news network

    MUMBAI: TV9 Bharatvarsh has become the country’s most-watched national Hindi news channel disrupting the old order dominated by legacy channels.

    The BARC data for television news channels released today — after a long, inexplicable shutdown — put TV9 Bharatvarsh on top of the pile of national Hindi news channels with a jaw-dropping 16.8 % market share.

    TV9 Network which runs five other language channels — Telugu, Kannada, Marathi, Gujarati and Bengali – retained its rank as the country’s biggest television news network. With three of its channels being #1 and all others in leadership positions, the Network notched up a massive 292 million AMA (average minute audience). That is a clear 25 per cent lead over the nearest competitor, Zee Network with 13 channels.

    However, history has been created in the Hindi news genre. TV9 Bharatvarsh displaced Aaj Tak which came in second with a 14.8% market share for Week 10 (March 5 to 11, 2022 / four-week rolling average, NCCS, 15+, 0600-2400 hours). The scale of this unprecedented disruption in the Hindi television news genre is best appreciated by juxtaposing two undeniable facts: One, Aaj Tak has been the leader of the genre from its inception more than 20 years ago. Two, TV9 Bharatvarsh is three weeks short of what will be just its third birthday (March 31).    

    TV9 Bharatvarsh’s coverage of landmark news events — such as the Russia-Ukraine war, the Covid pandemic and the Uttar Pradesh election to name just three — marked by its editorial prowess, newsroom innovation, impeccable packaging and unrivalled ground reportage, saw the channel rise sharply up the rating ladder. This rise has been consistent over the last two years.   

    Celebrating this unprecedented success of TV9 Bharatvarsh and TV9 News Network, CEO Barun Das said the BARC ratings only revealed what some people wanted to hide. “We always knew that we were destined to be the leader. I am happy that the ratings released today have offered empirical evidence of our leadership. I am amused that the only business strategy the legacy channels had to stop the rise of TV9 Bharatvarsh was to stop the ratings itself. And glad that the interest and the verdict of the viewers have finally prevailed.”

    Echoing Barun’s sentiment, Groups’ Editor, BV Rao said: “It is clear today that you cannot stop a leader by stopping BARC ratings.” 

    Expressing deep satisfaction over the leadership status, TV9 Bharatvrash Hemant Sharma, News Director said, “This is the victory of solid credible journalism. This is the victory of conviction in the newsroom capability.” 

    Sant Prasad Rai, Managing Editor and the architect of the content innovations at TV9 Bharatvarsh, said, “We owe a sense of gratitude to our viewers. We believe the viewer deserves the best. We don’t want to ever compromise on our commitment and responsibility to the viewer. We have established our editorial leadership in each and every genre in the news space.” 

    Talking about the network leadership status, Barun said, “It gives us immense pleasure to consistently remain the largest news network of the largest democracy of the world. When success is attained by design, it can be replicated. Our all-round supremacy at the Network level proves that.”

  • iTV Network appoints RK Arora as group CFO

    iTV Network appoints RK Arora as group CFO

    Mumbai: iTV Network has announced the appointment of RK Arora as group chief financial officer (CFO). In this role, he will report to the network’s board. 

    A chartered accountant by profession, Arora has formidable experience in finance, distribution, overall operations and formulating strategies for the organisation. 

    “It is a nice moment to come back to iTV network. With so much change and disruption unfolding in the news industry, this is an opportune time to work with increased focus on growth and innovation,” stated RK Arora on his new assignment.

    Arora is armed with leadership experience of around two-and-a-half decades in news broadcasting, spanning the entire spectrum from strategic vision and planning to execution. He has previously held various senior executive positions with various media houses like ZMCL, News Nation, India News, News 24, and India TV.

    “We believe that the market is evolving rapidly, throwing up unique opportunities. Arora’s mandate is to leverage the strengths of the news network even while retaining unwavering focus on each individual channel brand,” said iTV Network founder Kartikeya Sharma. “He  brings with him enviable leadership and depth of experience and will be of immense value to the network.”

  • ASCI upholds complaint against Republic’s TV promo claiming network leadership

    ASCI upholds complaint against Republic’s TV promo claiming network leadership

    MUMBAI: The Fast Track Complaints Panel (FTCP) of the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI), in a meeting held on 27 March 2019, has upheld a complaint against Republic’s leadership claim of being the country’s largest news network with a reach of 184 million.

    The Arnab Goswami-led network’s press note and TV promo with claim of being "India's No. 1 News Network" with "184 Million Viewers" was deemed ‘false and misleading’ by the FTCP after a technical expert and the ASCI secretary general conducted a personal hearing with both the complainant as well as the advertiser representatives.

    The FTCP reviewed the channel promo videos, and noted the advertiser’s written response. The details of the complaint and the rationale for claim support was taken into consideration.

    “The TV promo was not accompanied with any disclaimer to indicate the source of claim. The TV promo was in contravention of BARC advisory as well as Chapter I.1, I.2, I.4, I.5 and IV. 1 (a) and (b) as well as ASCI guidelines on disclaimers,” read the letter, which has been reviewed by Indiantelevision.com.

    Ruling in favour of the complainant, the FTCP said that Republic had selectively picked only a subset of channels of their competitive networks and described these subsets as the “network”. 

    It noted, “The comparison among networks should include all channel under the common corporate umbrella. Selectively picking and choosing amounts to transgressing Chapter IV.1 (a) and (b).”

    Republic in its defence asserted that it has used the data of only one week, i.e. the 10th week of 2019, for the promotional purpose as it had taken them over five weeks to ensure full availability in their addressable market. 

    FTCP further stated that due to the TRAI tariff order implementation, BARC had informed its subscribers to not use the viewership data for any public communication from week 6 onwards. Republic network’s representative admitted to being aware of the said BARC advisory and assured to adhere to the same during their personal hearing.

    The channel indicated compliance and confirmed that the TV promo was a one-time telecast and has been discontinued.

  • Anil Uniyal quits CNBC TV18

    Anil Uniyal quits CNBC TV18

    MUMBAI: The CEO of CNBC TV 18 and CNBC Awaaz, Anil Uniyal has resigned. Uniyal will serve his last day as the head of the two business channels.He was elevated as the CEO for the two business channels in October 2010.

    Uniyal was responsible for the strategic, financial and operational management of the business news network.With over a decade of experience in sales and sales strategy, Uniyal has no plans of joining any other group as of now. Uniyal was hesitant to reveal the reason behind his resignation.

    Confirming the news, Uniyal says, “Yes, the rumours are true. I will serve my last day today at CNBC. I have no plans on my mind of what I am going to do next.”

  • Anil Uniyal quits CNBC TV18

    Anil Uniyal quits CNBC TV18

    MUMBAI: The CEO of CNBC TV 18 and CNBC Awaaz, Anil Uniyal has resigned. Uniyal will serve his last day as the head of the two business channels.He was elevated as the CEO for the two business channels in October 2010.

    Uniyal was responsible for the strategic, financial and operational management of the business news network.With over a decade of experience in sales and sales strategy, Uniyal has no plans of joining any other group as of now. Uniyal was hesitant to reveal the reason behind his resignation.

    Confirming the news, Uniyal says, “Yes, the rumours are true. I will serve my last day today at CNBC. I have no plans on my mind of what I am going to do next.”

  • Dilip Venkatraman bids adieu to TV18, to pursue entrepreneurial interests

    Dilip Venkatraman bids adieu to TV18, to pursue entrepreneurial interests

    MUMBAI: CNN-IBN and IBN7 CEO N. Dilip Venkatraman has decided to move on from his role in order to pursue his entrepreneurial interests. During his eight year stint, Venkatraman managed a variety of mandates on the general news side of the group. Prior to his current role, he led marketing operations for CNN-IBN, IBN7 and IBN-Lokmat and also managed IBN Focus, the customised media solutions unit for these news channels.

     

    Apart from his leadership role in building CNN-IBN into one of the country’s most reputed news brands, Venkatraman is well-known for conceptualising benchmark properties at the IBN News Network. Network18 COO Ajay Chacko will oversee the operations of the IBN News Network in the interim.

     

    Speaking on this development, Network18 group CEO B. Sai Kumar said “Dilip has played a pivotal role in building our general news network, right from the outset. Today, CNN-IBN, IBN7 and IBN-Lokmat are benchmark brands in the general news space and Dilip has contributed significantly to laying such a strong foundation for the future. We thank him for his invaluable contribution and commitment to the group.”

     

    Commenting on this, IBN News Network editor-in-chief Rajdeep Sardesai added “Dilip’s passion and leadership has been instrumental in making the IBN News Network into one of the most trusted news voices in the country today. He has been a great colleague and we wish him the very best for his future endeavors.”

     

    N. Dilip Venkatraman added “The past few years have been one of the most fulfilling and exciting phases of my professional career. I’m thankful to all my colleagues who have been a part of this enriching journey and I now look forward to taking on newer challenges.”

     

    Venkatraman has over two decades of corporate experience and prior to joining TV18, he held leadership positions at the India Today Group and Zee Network. Venkatraman is a graduate in public administration and holds management qualifications from IIM Bangalore and Harvard Business School.