ITV

Tag: Raj Nayak

  • News channels see digital platforms driving subscription income

    NEW DELHI: News Channels have seen exponential growth over the last few years and can still “find the pot of gold,” but from a long term perspective, will have to focus on higher subscription revenues, speakers at The Indian News Television Summit 2007 said here today.

    Audience share has increased from less than one per cent in 2000 to seven – eight per cent as the genre has exploded with over 40 channels beaming news content. “The genre has taken away viewers from the general entertainment channels and brought in new advertisers. News channels have the people to take this pot of gold forward,” Tam India CEO LV Krishnan said.
    The pace of growth is set to accelerate as over 40 applications are waiting for clearance from the information and broadcasting ministry. NDTV, in fact, is expecting a 20 per cent year-on-year growth.

    “New sources of revenue are still to be tapped like content syndication, overseas expansion and internet presence. Besides, there is scope for local news channels with sectors like retail seeing rapid growth,” said NDTV Media CEO Raj Nayak.

    Agreed Starcom Mediavest Group CEO South Asia Ravi Kiran, “We will see dramatic changes in the way news is going to be consumed over the next three -five years. Media organizations will need to gather, aggregate and distribute news.”

    The session on “Searching for revenues: Advertising and Distribution, Finding the pot of gold” was moderated by Indiantelevision.com editorial director Thomas Abraham.

    The digital era will throw open more revenue opportunities for news channels. “There will be subscription opportunities. News and sports, for instance, will drive Mobile TV. In the digital era, however, brands will be important,” said SET Discovery president Anuj Gandhi.

    Al Jazeera Network director – global distribution Phil Lawrie said that it would be interesting to see how business models are going to evolve in India in a digital environment.

    However, Hinduja TMT president – corporate services Ashok Mansukhani wasn’t too bullish on the potential to accommodate so many news channels. “The Cas (conditional access system) data shows that consumers are not willing to pay for news channels. And on analogue cable TV, there is a distribution cost. It remains to be seen how this battle for the marketplace is going to shape up,” he said.

  • NDTV launches scholar hunt

    MUMBAI: NDTV has tied up with broadband and telephone services company Airtel to present a reality contest named ‘Airtel Scholar Hunt Destination UK’.

    The show scheduled to go on air from 14 July 2007, proposes to select the best from the Indian student community in the country and offer them five scholarships to British universities in subjects as diverse as Journalism, Media and Cultural Studies, Management, Computing Science, Biomedical Science and Engineering. ‘Airtel Scholar Hunt Destination UK’ specifically targets students who will complete their Senior Secondary (Class XII) education this April.

    Hosted by Arun Thapar, the show is structured around a multi-stage contest that places a high premium on academic excellence. As it progresses, the contest becomes more subject specific and intellectually grueling to ensure that the winners have a sound knowledge base and aptitude for the chosen subjects.

    On the launch of this innovative scholar hunt reality show to be produced by NDTV, NDTV Media CEO Raj Nayak said, “Reality shows have been a huge success in the past and we have been toying with the idea for over a year. But it was important for us to bring in a reality show that fits in with the profile and image of the channel and that’s how we narrowed down on education.

    He further added that parents may have reservations on their children participating in a glamour related talent hunt but no parent will ever have an objection for their children getting an opportunity for good education. “We believe this program will give an opportunity for students across the country not only to be a part of a reality show but also to fulfill their dream of studying abroad.”

    Adding to this, NDTV 24X7 Managing Editor Sonia Singh, said, “It is NDTV’s constant endeavour to present novel programmes that excite our viewers and we are targeting the next gen in this reality show. This scholar hunt offers students a chance to excel in a fair competition. Not only will this show thrill the younger generation, it will also challenge their minds and offer them a promising future.”

    Based on their performance, the winners will bag scholarships to renowned universities like Cardiff University, Leeds University, Middlesex University, Sheffield University and Warwick University for either a Bachelor’s or a Master’s degree. In addition to sponsoring the scholarships and stipend for living expenses, the participating British Universities will assist in developing the specifics of the quiz and task rounds, so that the contest questions reflect their exacting admission requirements.

  • Maruti in $ 1 million sponsorship deal for cricket World Cup website

    Maruti in $ 1 million sponsorship deal for cricket World Cup website

    MUMBAI: ICC internet partner Indya.com kicked off its campaign for the globe’s biggest cricketing carnival with the official launch today of its World Cup dedicated website cricketworldcup.com.

    The launch coincided with the confirmation that car major Maruti had come on board the site as presenting sponsor for cricket’s headline event. In what is being termed as the biggest online advertising deal negotiated in India in recent times, Maruti has committed somewhere in the region of $ 1 million (Rs 450 million) for the privilege of owning “most of the real estate” on the site, sources close to the developments say.

    Ajay Vidyasagar, Star India executive vice-president content and communications, while refusing to offer any comment on the size of the deal, said: “Maruti has made a significant investment in partnering with us and this is the only engagement we are announcing for the present.”

    “Maruti has always been at the cutting edge of technology and have always been open to explore and experiment with new ideas,” NDTV Media CEO Raj Nayak, whose company has been given the mandate to sell advertising for Indya.com for the World Cup, said. “I think this is a testimony to the power of the worldwide web,” Nayak added.

    It may be recalled that earlier, the sponsorship packages on offer involved one presenting sponsor and four associate sponsors. This has all changed because the size of the deal Indya has negotiated with Maruti. There will now be far less inventory available for other potential sponsors than had been originally envisaged, Vidyasagar explained.

    Speaking about cricketworldcup.com, Vidyasagar said, “We are committed to provide the most comprehensive and definitive website of the game during the tournament and assure our users an online experience that they will find unparalleled.

  • NDTV Media appointed airtime sales rep for Mi Marathi

    NDTV Media appointed airtime sales rep for Mi Marathi

    MUMBAI: NDTV Media has been appointed as the exclusive airtime sales representative for the soon-to-be-launched Marathi channel, “Mi Marathi” from the Adhikari stable. It will be responsible for all revenue generating efforts for the channel.

    “This venture is the first step towards our entry into the regional space. With more and more niche and special interest channels taking market share, regional markets will witness an exponential growth. We believe that with the majority of the population speaking Marathi, the size of the Marathi regional market advertising pie will cross the Rs 120-crore mark by the year end. We are delighted and proud to be associated with Mi Marathi channel”, said NDTV Media CEO Raj Nayak.

    Markand Adhikari in an earlier interview to Indiantelevision.com had revealed that the channel which has been in the docks for a while would be launched in February.

    The baseline of MI MARATHI is “Aaplya Manasachi Aapli Vahini”, a channel by the Son of the Soil. Sri Adhikari Brothers have in the last 20 years, produced more than 2000 hours of Marathi programming for DD Sahyadri and Doordarshan’s national network.

  • NDTV enters e-recruitment space with ndtvjobs.com

    NDTV enters e-recruitment space with ndtvjobs.com

    MUMBAI: E-recruitment seems to be the catch phrase for both portal companies and news broadcasters. NDTV Ltd has entered into this market by launching a job portal– ndtvjobs.com, post the announcement of launching a slew of TV channels, including a Hindi general entertainment channel through NDTV Ventures. 

    This move may be an indication that the New Delhi based news broadcaster has set its’ eye on the growing internet opportunity. The new recruitment portal is in cooperation with Bangkok based Yello, the parent company of Yellojobs.com India and owner of multiple classifieds and jobs sites in South East Asia.

    Television Eighteen, earlier this year, had picked up a stake in JobStreet.com India and Bharat Matrimony Group also expand its offering by adding the job portal, www.clickjobs.com. 

    According to an official release, NDTVjobs will simply not accept every job and every candidate. It has clearly defined criteria and is the first job site in India to do so: – only jobseekers with at least a Bachelor’s degree can register and – each job posting requires a minimum salary of Rs 1,50 lakhs per annum.

    NDTVjobs uses blogs, reporting international and national news for recruiters and employers, as well as jobseekers. The training and education section is called Boot Camp and currently offers all training and educational institutes free postings of their courses.

    NDTV Media CEO Raj Nayak says: “NDTVjobs.com is a critical addition to our portfolio of online resources for our viewers and subscribers – and it just fits the values and style of NDTV.”

    Yello CEO and founder Andreas Koestler thinks that NDTV is the ideal partner for our new job site – and so are NDTV’s viewers. Yellojobs is about forward thinking educated individuals, who are ‘ahead of the curve’, exactly NDTV’s audience.

    NDTV Media EVP Niraj Dutt says: “Yello’s competency and experience in creating a great consumer experience in running their classifieds sites in Asia was one of the keys to our partnership – we simply wanted the best for our viewers.”

    The e-recruitment market in India is currently estimated at Rs 1.5 billion and likely to grow over 50 per cent year on year. There are an estimated 6.5 million online job seekers out of the 38.5 million Internet users in India. This number is expected to double in the next few years. Job portals are catching on to be the most immediate, economical and comprehensive source of fulfilling the large job requirements that employers have to offer, informs the statement.