ITV

Tag: obit

  • Obit: Remembering InCable’s Ram T Hingorani

    Obit: Remembering InCable’s Ram T Hingorani

    MUMBAI: “Hi I am Ram Hingorani,” said the squeaky but very amiable voice. I looked around and saw this short bespectacled man dressed in a safari suit, with his hair slicked back. “I am here to show you around and I am with the media business of the Hindujas.”

    The time was the mid to late nineties and I was at the Hinduja office in Worli, Mumbai, just diagonally opposite the Haji Ali Dargah and next to the NSCI to meet up with the group of young men that had set up InCable – the Hinduja foray into the cable TV business.

    He was kind, gracious and over welcoming to a fault, Ram. He then went on to tell me how he had worked at The Times Of India for almost 30 years, retiring if I am right as a general manager or something like that. He then told me about being involved with the Ambanis in the nineties and the acquisition and relaunch of the quickly aborted Observer of Politics and Business and the Sunday Observer. He finally hopped onto the Hinduja group which had expanded into India by acquiring Gulf Oil, Ashok Leyland, apart from other companies.

    He talked about the group moving into the business of media by introducing newspapers, magazines, TV stations, cable TV networks, among other initiatives.

    The Hindujas had formed Induslnd Media & Communications company, which in turn would float four subsidiaries – In Cablenet, In Vision, In Movies and In Print. In Print was slated to publish magazines for specific niche markets, beginning with What’s In, a city entertainment and leisure guide which hit the stands and was distributed to its cable TV subscribers. RTH was in charge of In Print, which ran for a few years and then was phased out.

    He was the Hinduja man as they shopped around for their media ambitions reaching out to the existing media houses along with Sudheendra Kulkarni, the then vice-president of the Hinduja group’s media wing.

    Of all the ventures only one has survived the turbulent media times: the cable TV venture and part of the credit for that must go to RTH as he used to be called. He often played foil to the four musketeers as they were labeled– Yogesh Radhakrishnan, Jagjit Singh Kohli, Yogesh Shah, and Ram Punjabi –by working as a mediator between the Hindujas and them, easing out thorny issues. 

    Along with them, he expanded InCable into 14 cities over 10 years. With the network set up, he moved out, new executives replaced him and he went back to the Ambanis’ Reliance Communications in a bid to set up a triple play venture using the existing infrastructure of independent cable TV operators.

    RTH then retired in 2008 and lived a relatively sedate life – though he mixed around with the cable TV trade from time to time handing out advice – until he passed away on 24 May 2018.  

    The industry came out singing his praises. Said Ashok Mansukhani who currently runs InCable: “He was a giant of a man. He also helped ‘corporatise cable’ and was very hands-on in a world of armchair CEOs.”

    Added Dubai based president & CEO Mediastream FZE (an independent channel and content distribution company)  Rohinton Kapadia: “RTH was always positive even in the face of severe situations at critical times in our cable business. Having worked closely with him for many years I found him to be an inspiration for all of us and an invigorating leader at InCable. We all looked up to him as more of a father figure than our boss.”

    Like the rest of the cable TV trade, Indiantelevision.com sends out condolences to his family. And may his soul rest in peace.

  • Obit: In memory of KVL Narayan Rao

    Obit: In memory of KVL Narayan Rao

    NDTV group CEO and executive vice chairperson KVL Narayan Rao had been battling cancer grittily for at least a couple of years. And, at times, it looked like he was on the verge of conquering it, of getting the life-threatening ailment out of his system. But on the morning of 20 November 2017, his body, which had been ravaged and weakened by various treatments and the cancer itself, gave up.

    A message was sent out to the staff of NDTV by promoters Prannoy and Radhika Roy stating that the 63-year-old Narayan Rao was no more.

    Said the husband-wife duo in the message: “Narayan was the most wonderful human being—kindness was in his DNA, consideration for others was in his DNA, leadership was in his DNA, warmth and generosity were in his DNA, humour and fun were in his DNA and most of all, integrity and love was in his DNA.”

    “Narayan was our friend for over 30 years and we loved him like a brother. We learnt so much from Narayan and admired how he created a compassionate environment at NDTV and, in fact, everywhere he went, with everyone he met. Just as we loved him, there are hundreds of others like us for whom Narayan was very, very special. Seldom has a person been loved by so many and will be deeply missed by so many.”

    “Narayan was one of a kind. A towering personality in every way.”

    Indeed, for us at indiantelevision.com, dealing with the six-foot-plus Narayan was always a pleasure. He came across as a gentleman every time one spoke to him or met him. Not once in the many years of knowing him did we see him lose his cool. Whether it was a rookie journalist reaching out to him for his insights or his quotes on an issue or story. Or whether it was an experienced journo who called him, Narayan was always there. And, if not available, he was gracious enough to call back. He would always be open to provide a different perspective on any issue. He had the old English demeanor, the unflappable kind, the kind that saw him break into a smile no matter what the challenge or demand. Probably, his early days as a journalist gave him that empathy for scribes.

    He was also there when we invited the NDTV group to participate at our News Television Awards. In the early days of the awards, he would find resources to support our initiative financially as a partner. In the past few years, thanks to NDTV’s financial woes, he had asked to be excused. But he would be there to present awards to the winners who were decided by a jury of almost 100. Like he was there last year at our function in New Delhi when it looked like he had won against the dreaded C and he came back to run NDTV, following the stepping down of the then CEO Vikram Chandra.

    He was seen as this statesman-like professional who could lead. And be the voice of the industry despite the long standoff that NDTV was having with the income tax authorities, the enforcement directorate, and, some say, even the government. Hence, he served at least four terms as the News Broadcasters’ Association president and was executive vice-chairperson of the association at the time of his passing away. He was also associated with the IBF, the CII, and several other bodies.

    Narayan was always there for the Roys and the team at NDTV, for whom he stood up for with consistency. Appan Menon, Barkha Dutt, Rajdeep Sardesai, Arnab Goswami, Pankaj Pachauri, and Vikram Chandra–they all flowered as Narayan laid the environment, the culture at NDTV that allowed them to. The Roys were busy running the editorial while Narayan ran the company administratively and also helped build the organisation into a rather robust one. Until the empire struck back.

    Narayan was also at the forefront of bringing in change in TV viewership monitoring in the country. He took TAM and its parents to court in New York, claiming that their research was not representative of what was really happening in Indian TV homes. That and other actions from other broadcasters led to the shutting down of TAM, the creation of new regulations for TV viewership monitoring, and the setting up of BARC.

    Said the Roys in their note on the NDTV website: “We will miss you, Narayan. More than you can imagine. Everyone at NDTV will miss you. More than you can imagine. God bless you, Narayan.”

    Indeed, you will be missed Narayan. RIP!