ITV

Tag: Ritu Dhawan

  • Chunav Manch: Rajat Sharma grills leaders in novel formats

    Chunav Manch: Rajat Sharma grills leaders in novel formats

    MUMBAI: The huge anticipation and the promise came true when India TV’s Flagship Election Mega-Conclave Chunav Manch in its Gujarat edition came out notches above of its contemporaries. The channel attracted unprecedented applause from both the participants and the delegates for the scale of implementation and the level of participation.

    Super-charged participation from across the spectrum, along with India TV Anchors led by Chairman and Editor-in-Chief Rajat Sharma himself and quite literally grilling the topmost political leaders in various novel formats was almost like a feast for the avid political watchers and the India TV viewers alike. Interrogating overtones from equally capable audience during interactive segments acted as a multiplier adding numerous layers of exhilaration.

    None but all, starting from The Gujarat CM Vijay Rupani to Deputy CM Nitin Patel to BJP Chief Amit Shah opened up on issues related to Gujarat Elections & beyond. Other heavyweights include Ex-CM Shankar Sinh Vaghela, Congress Leader Arjun Modhwadia, Senior NCP Leader Prafful Patel and Senior Congress Leader Randeep Surjewala.

    While the political feast for the viewers continued, Young Political Activists Jignesh Mevani, Alpesh Thakor and Hardik Patel, BJP Leader Jai Narayan Vyas, Congress Leader Shakti Singh Gohil, Gujarat Ministers Ganpatsinh Vasava & Shankar Chaudhary, State BJP Leaders Pradipsinh Jadeja and Jitu Vaghani, State Congress President Bharatsinh Solanki and Businessman Zafar Sareshwala spiced up their respective sessions with heated debates.

    Expressing satisfaction, India TV MD Ritu Dhawan observed, “We were always sure of the top notch execution, however, while we landed at Ahmedabad we were a bit thoughtful on the participation front. This was because we noticed quite a few empty seats during a similar effort, by our immediate competition a day ago. Thankfully, our effort turned out to be a House full success with enviable participation & a Full-House.”

    “Being able to keep our audience happy with quality content, however is our biggest success.” she added.

  • Vikas Handu joins India TV as VP digital strategy

    MUMBAI: Vikas Handu has joined India TV as a vice president, Digital Strategy. Prior to this he had been heading product and technology at The Indian Express group. He will report to Ritu Dhawan, MD and CEO, India TV.

    Handu played a pivotal role in taking forward The Indian Express brand on the digital platform, opening up new avenues for traffic growth and revenues.

    On his appointment Handu said, “India TV as a brand has grown immensely and has established itself as one of the foremost media brands in the country. I am excited for this opportunity that shall let me contribute to India TV’s rapidly growing digital footprint.”

    In his new role as business head, Handu shall be responsible for spearheading India TV digital. His portfolio includes indiatvnews.com,khabarindiatv.com and paisa.khabarindia.com, amongst others.

    India TV MD and CEO Ritu Dhawan on the appointment said, “We welcome Vikas on board and we are sure that with the type of track record he has, he will be able to seamlessly match our digital division’s growth with the continuous & rapid rise and rise of India TV.”

    Handu specializes in setting up product and technology operations for media organizations and has over 20 years of experience in managing business operations in diversified verticals, which includes business development, strategic alliances and content syndication.

  • Political epicentre Lucknow buzzed while nation witnessed India TV’s ‘Chunav Manch’ UP

    Political epicentre Lucknow buzzed while nation witnessed India TV’s ‘Chunav Manch’ UP

    MUMBAI: The second edition of India TV’s Mega-Conclave Chunav Manch UP came out a notch higher of its hugely successful predecessor. While the scale of execution or the participation was very much at par with the splendid first edition, the differentiating fire for the most part came from the overtly charged participation both from the political heavyweights, those were grilled and the equally celebrated audiences. The ground event was managed by ThinkXQ.

    Enviable line-up of participation, that India TV is known for in its Events, included real heavyweights from the top political formations in fray. The format that was a strategic and considered mix of top personalities being grilled in one-on-one sessions to passionate debates those were moderated by India TV top News Anchors. None less than a couple of Aap Ki Adalat Specials conducted by IndiaTV Chairman & Editor-in-Chief Rajat Sharma himself was surely the highlight.

    While the Political biggies took potshots at one another, certain sessions with heavyweights like BJP’s Yogi Adityanath, SP leader Abu Azmi, BJP spokesman Sambit Patra, former BSP leader Swami Prasad Maurya and Congress leader Pramod Tiwari, sizzled with high-pitched & heated debates. Rajat Sharma led from the front by grilling Akhilesh Yadav and Amit Shah during the Adalat Specials.

    As the avid political watchers were having a full feast of political dose with top leaders, those also included BJP’s Jagdambika Pal, Congress’ Salman Khursheed, Naved Siddiqui, Union minister of state Anupriya Patel, BJP’s Manoj Tiwari, SP’s Udayvir Singh, BJP’s Bhupendra Yadav, SP Leader Naresh Agrawal, India TV dished out for its discerning audiences yet another dose of fresh quality content.

    India TV MD & CEO Ritu Dhawan on the huge success of event said, “Team strived hard to match the bar set by India TV’s benchmark on-ground initiatives including the previous version of Chunav Manch. With the massive feedback we have received, both on the innovative format & content, our competition with ourselves is reaching the next level.”

    “We are happy that we are keeping our audience happy with solid content.” she added while highlighting the tireless effort that goes into keeping India TV content initiatives a level up over the competition.

  • 9X Media sale: Pradeep Guha & Rajat Sharma rubbish reports

    9X Media sale: Pradeep Guha & Rajat Sharma rubbish reports

    MUMBAI: The entities that were said to be involved in acquisition talks have no clue about the development. It seems to be pure speculation.

    The media and entertainment industry was since morning rife with speculation that India TV promoter Rajat Sharma is acquiring a controlling stake in the New Silk Route (NSR)-backed 9X Media. Reports emerged in the last few hours that also state the value of the deal was Rs 200 crore (Rs. 2,000 million).

    9X Media’s CEO Pradeep Guha, however, rubbished this news. He told Indiantelevision.com, “All the reports are absolutely rubbish. We are not selling 9X Media.” When Rajat Sharma was contacted, he retorted: “I have no idea where these reports are coming from. I am out of the country. All these reports are absolutely false.”

    Though, Sharma has been keen on evaluating several opportunities to diversify the business portfolio of Independent News Service, which depends entirely on advertising revenue from India TV, acquiring 9X Media is not in his list. Yet. Sharma and his wife Ritu Dhawan are the largest shareholders of INS, which is the parent company of India TV. They own close to 60 per cent stake in the company.

    According to reports that are making the rounds in the industry, Sharma may seek help for the fund transaction from existing investors in INS like the Silicon Valley-based media investor Keyur Patel who also owns a stake in NDTV through his CV Global Holdings, a Mauritius based investment arm.

    NSR was earlier looking to sell its 80 per cent stake in 9X Media to Sony Pictures Networks in August. Its CEO Pradeep Guha directly owns five per cent stake whereas 9X Media Employee Trust has a 13 per cent stake. NSR has Drag Along/Tag rights over Guha’s shareholding and can cause him to sell his entire holding if the transaction materialises.

    9X Media was founded in 2007 by Peter Mukerjea and Indrani Mukerjea and owns a bouquet of music channels that include regional language channels in Marathi and Punjabi. Its flagship channels are 9XM and 9X Jalwa.

    The rise of India TV as India’s leading news channel within a fairly short span of its existence owes a lot to the vision of its chairman and editor-in-chief Rajat Sharma who, along with his wife Ritu, leads a team of professionals.

    Sharma, considered close to the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, co-founded India TV with his wife Ritu Dhawan in April, 2004 from a swanky studio-cum-office in Film City, Noida. Sharma and Dhawan had set up their own production house, Independent News Service (INS), the parent company which owns India TV, in 1997 that has now transformed into a broadcasting company — a la NDTV and TV18/Network18.

  • 9X Media sale: Pradeep Guha & Rajat Sharma rubbish reports

    9X Media sale: Pradeep Guha & Rajat Sharma rubbish reports

    MUMBAI: The entities that were said to be involved in acquisition talks have no clue about the development. It seems to be pure speculation.

    The media and entertainment industry was since morning rife with speculation that India TV promoter Rajat Sharma is acquiring a controlling stake in the New Silk Route (NSR)-backed 9X Media. Reports emerged in the last few hours that also state the value of the deal was Rs 200 crore (Rs. 2,000 million).

    9X Media’s CEO Pradeep Guha, however, rubbished this news. He told Indiantelevision.com, “All the reports are absolutely rubbish. We are not selling 9X Media.” When Rajat Sharma was contacted, he retorted: “I have no idea where these reports are coming from. I am out of the country. All these reports are absolutely false.”

    Though, Sharma has been keen on evaluating several opportunities to diversify the business portfolio of Independent News Service, which depends entirely on advertising revenue from India TV, acquiring 9X Media is not in his list. Yet. Sharma and his wife Ritu Dhawan are the largest shareholders of INS, which is the parent company of India TV. They own close to 60 per cent stake in the company.

    According to reports that are making the rounds in the industry, Sharma may seek help for the fund transaction from existing investors in INS like the Silicon Valley-based media investor Keyur Patel who also owns a stake in NDTV through his CV Global Holdings, a Mauritius based investment arm.

    NSR was earlier looking to sell its 80 per cent stake in 9X Media to Sony Pictures Networks in August. Its CEO Pradeep Guha directly owns five per cent stake whereas 9X Media Employee Trust has a 13 per cent stake. NSR has Drag Along/Tag rights over Guha’s shareholding and can cause him to sell his entire holding if the transaction materialises.

    9X Media was founded in 2007 by Peter Mukerjea and Indrani Mukerjea and owns a bouquet of music channels that include regional language channels in Marathi and Punjabi. Its flagship channels are 9XM and 9X Jalwa.

    The rise of India TV as India’s leading news channel within a fairly short span of its existence owes a lot to the vision of its chairman and editor-in-chief Rajat Sharma who, along with his wife Ritu, leads a team of professionals.

    Sharma, considered close to the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, co-founded India TV with his wife Ritu Dhawan in April, 2004 from a swanky studio-cum-office in Film City, Noida. Sharma and Dhawan had set up their own production house, Independent News Service (INS), the parent company which owns India TV, in 1997 that has now transformed into a broadcasting company — a la NDTV and TV18/Network18.

  • India TV bags ITA award, dislodges Aaj Tak

    India TV bags ITA award, dislodges Aaj Tak

    MUMBAI: India’s newsleader India TV bagged the viewers’ choice best Hindi news channel award at the ITA Awards ceremony held in Mumbai.

    The award was received by India TV chairman and editor-in-chief Rajat Sharma along with channel’s MD and CEO Ritu Dhawan.

    The victory is significant owing to the fact that 15 consecutive times winner news channel — Aaj Tak — has been dislodged from the top slot, said sources quoted by indiatvnews.com.

    Sharma said that the relentless pursuit for excellence in news gathering and delivery was at the core of their success. The viewers must also be congratulated to have made sure that the competition feels the heat, he added.

    An elated Dhawan said that they had achieved many milestones in the past, and continued to do so. She claimed they had broken all ratings records.

  • India TV bags ITA award, dislodges Aaj Tak

    India TV bags ITA award, dislodges Aaj Tak

    MUMBAI: India’s newsleader India TV bagged the viewers’ choice best Hindi news channel award at the ITA Awards ceremony held in Mumbai.

    The award was received by India TV chairman and editor-in-chief Rajat Sharma along with channel’s MD and CEO Ritu Dhawan.

    The victory is significant owing to the fact that 15 consecutive times winner news channel — Aaj Tak — has been dislodged from the top slot, said sources quoted by indiatvnews.com.

    Sharma said that the relentless pursuit for excellence in news gathering and delivery was at the core of their success. The viewers must also be congratulated to have made sure that the competition feels the heat, he added.

    An elated Dhawan said that they had achieved many milestones in the past, and continued to do so. She claimed they had broken all ratings records.

  • India TV announces another mega conclave ‘Chunav Manch’

    India TV announces another mega conclave ‘Chunav Manch’

    MUMBAI: While the political temperatures are already starting to soar in Uttar Pradesh, Nation’s leading News Channel, India TV has announced its coveted full-day mega conclave “Chunav Manch” to mark the beginning of the most anticipated election season in the state. The conclave shall endeavor to outline the political agenda that may define the results of the state elections slated for early next year.

    India TV Chairman & Editor-in-Chief Rajat Sharma shall be leading the charge, subjecting the political heavy-weights not only with the tricky & intricate questions in his inimitable style but also by delving into the elections strategies & tactics their respective outfits may follow.

    The Conclave, like all India TV tent-pole initiatives, shall be studded with the biggest political faces from all political camps in fray. Amongst an august gathering of delegates, there shall be a battery of top Corporate honchos, Media personalities and other Newsmakers, who shall be the integral part of the Conclave.

    Over the last few years, India TV has gained a huge standing for its top-notch on-ground initiatives, not only for the scale or attendance, but also the news headlines they make. In the politically super-charged capital of very-political Uttar Pradesh, the anticipation amongst the political analysts is even higher.

    Political bigwigs like UP CM Akhilesh Yadav , BJP President Amit Shah, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, BSP Supremo Mayawati, UP Congress Chief Raj Babbar, Congress CM candidate Shiela Dixit are more than expected to share the Manch with hugely influential leaders including Yogi Adityanath, Dr. Mahesh Sharma, Ramgopal Yadav, Dimple Yadav, Shivpal Yadav, Asaduddin Owaisi, Salman Khurshid, Sanjeev Balyan, Keshav Prasad Maurya, Dr. Sanjay Singh, Jayant Chaudhary, Pramod Tiwari, Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, RPN Singh, Jitin Prasad, Nirmal Khatri, PL Punia, Rita Bahuguna Joshi, Chaudhary Ajit Singh, Raghuraj Pratap Singh, Jagdambika Pal, Sudhindra Bhadoria, Sudhanshu Trivedi, Rajendra Chaudhary, Abu Azmi and Manoj Tiwari to name a few.

    Announcing the UP chapter of Chunav Manch, India TV MD & CEO, Ritu Dhawan observed, “The whole country is closely following the political developments in UP as the ramifications shall potentially decide the direction in which India shall move in the close future. As nation’s true news leader, India TV always strives to gratify its viewers with top content. This initiative is just another stride on the path.”

    Chunav Manch – UP will be held at Lucknow on 16th September 2016 and shall be Live telecasted on India TV thru the day.

  • India TV announces another mega conclave ‘Chunav Manch’

    India TV announces another mega conclave ‘Chunav Manch’

    MUMBAI: While the political temperatures are already starting to soar in Uttar Pradesh, Nation’s leading News Channel, India TV has announced its coveted full-day mega conclave “Chunav Manch” to mark the beginning of the most anticipated election season in the state. The conclave shall endeavor to outline the political agenda that may define the results of the state elections slated for early next year.

    India TV Chairman & Editor-in-Chief Rajat Sharma shall be leading the charge, subjecting the political heavy-weights not only with the tricky & intricate questions in his inimitable style but also by delving into the elections strategies & tactics their respective outfits may follow.

    The Conclave, like all India TV tent-pole initiatives, shall be studded with the biggest political faces from all political camps in fray. Amongst an august gathering of delegates, there shall be a battery of top Corporate honchos, Media personalities and other Newsmakers, who shall be the integral part of the Conclave.

    Over the last few years, India TV has gained a huge standing for its top-notch on-ground initiatives, not only for the scale or attendance, but also the news headlines they make. In the politically super-charged capital of very-political Uttar Pradesh, the anticipation amongst the political analysts is even higher.

    Political bigwigs like UP CM Akhilesh Yadav , BJP President Amit Shah, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, BSP Supremo Mayawati, UP Congress Chief Raj Babbar, Congress CM candidate Shiela Dixit are more than expected to share the Manch with hugely influential leaders including Yogi Adityanath, Dr. Mahesh Sharma, Ramgopal Yadav, Dimple Yadav, Shivpal Yadav, Asaduddin Owaisi, Salman Khurshid, Sanjeev Balyan, Keshav Prasad Maurya, Dr. Sanjay Singh, Jayant Chaudhary, Pramod Tiwari, Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, RPN Singh, Jitin Prasad, Nirmal Khatri, PL Punia, Rita Bahuguna Joshi, Chaudhary Ajit Singh, Raghuraj Pratap Singh, Jagdambika Pal, Sudhindra Bhadoria, Sudhanshu Trivedi, Rajendra Chaudhary, Abu Azmi and Manoj Tiwari to name a few.

    Announcing the UP chapter of Chunav Manch, India TV MD & CEO, Ritu Dhawan observed, “The whole country is closely following the political developments in UP as the ramifications shall potentially decide the direction in which India shall move in the close future. As nation’s true news leader, India TV always strives to gratify its viewers with top content. This initiative is just another stride on the path.”

    Chunav Manch – UP will be held at Lucknow on 16th September 2016 and shall be Live telecasted on India TV thru the day.

  • Paritosh Joshi quits India TV

    Paritosh Joshi quits India TV

    MUMBAI: Paritosh Joshi has decided to step down as the CEO of India TV. he joined India TV on 2 November 2015.

    Ritu Dhawan, managing Director said “Paritosh joined us in November, 2015 and while we hoped that this would be a long association, it has clearly proven taxing for him as he continues to commute between two metros. He has now chosen to return to his family in Mumbai. It was a pleasure having him on board and we wish him well with his future endeavours.”

    Paritosh Joshi said it was indeed a pleasure working with brand India TV and,” though, we could not continue for longer duration due to my personal obligations, I wish Brand India TV many more land marks to achieve.”