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Tag: Times Network

  • MK Anand upbeat about Times Network’s revamp

    MK Anand upbeat about Times Network’s revamp

    GOA: Times Television Network has revamped itself as Times Network with a new tagline – ‘Now or Nothing’ and a new logo. The new logo will sport a pyramid with a red dot on the top.

     

    It may be recalled that Indiantelevision.com was the first to report about Times Network’s re-branding plans.  

     

    The network has five different channels under it, which were launched in different period of times. Of the five channels, apart from ZoOm all the other channels end with Now – Times Now, Romedy Now, Movies Now, and ET Now. “That’s where the ‘Now or Nothing’ tagline comes from,” informs Times Networks CEO and managing director M K Anand.

     

    “We have strong branches but the trunk needs to be strengthened and the revamp is to ensure that. Moreover, we don’t want to restrict ourselves as a television network only. Hence we decided to break a few boundaries and expand. Our new logo is a pyramid, which signifies the population of the country and the red tip on the top is our target audience. This will ensure that everyone in the network will have the same corporate identity. All the brands should complement and respect each other in the network. ‘Now or Nothing’ is a credo that we have been following since inception. It’s just that we made it a network motto,” Anand says.

     

    Every revamp comes after detailed research and analysis and has the ability to impact and change consumer behaviour and consumption patterns. When queried about this, Anand tells Indiantelevision.com, “Firstly, the change of the network’s logo won’t leave an impact on the channel’s creatives. Here the consumers are trade, advertisers, DTH companies and MSOs and not the viewers. The most important consumer of this revamp are our 1000+ employees, who now know that they are no longer an employee of a particular channel, team or floor but a member of the entire network.”

     

    Anand goes on to say that Times Network would soon be launching the Times Now app, which will have both broadcast content and fresh content. “This is a serious attempt from our side to establish ourselves on the digital platform. In three months’ time, we are planning to launch the app with an aim to be a leader in that fraternity too,” adds Anand.

     

    A presence on the digital platform with apps has almost become mandatory for most networks. However, the revenue model for these avenues remains a challenge. “How much ever we might want to adopt a subscription model for our digital platforms, it is currently not possible due to technical deficiencies and consumer behaviour. Hence we will follow the advertising revenue model,” asserts Anand.

     

    Times of India already has an app, which offers news updates. Now with the launch of the Times Now app, will the two compete with each other? To this, Anand says, “Yes we will and there is no problem in that. Our app will have more videos but yes we will also provide news and if that means competing with the Times of India app, we will.”

     

    Speaking about BARC’s roll-out of television ratings data by the end of April, which also means the end of TAM’s tenure, Anand says, “The statistics won’t have much of an impact, nor will it turn out to be a game changer. Instead of one, now the other will conduct the survey. Having said that, I was initially concerned about structural changes and new figures that would be rolled out by BARC. However, it has now been cleared that the structure will be the same but the sample size has definitely increased. I don’t think we will see a ‘ratings dark’ period. Not receiving ratings for a week or two is not likely to leave too much of an impact.”

     

  • “The journalism I follow is journalism of opinion:” Arnab Goswami

    “The journalism I follow is journalism of opinion:” Arnab Goswami

    GOA: The second day of the 10th edition of Goafest started with a zealous key note from Times Now editorial director and editor-in-chief Arnab Goswami.

     

    Seconding the image that he’s built with his different mode of journalism, Goswami said, “The formula of stating an opinion as a journalist is wrong is not true and my presence here today proves that. The journalism I follow is journalism of opinion and is not PR driven. If my opinion helps bringing about a change, I will opine and not shy behind the wall of neutrality. When you know there is something wrong, you don’t need to be neutral. When the facts prove something, you don’t need to be neutral.”

     

    A tad different in his approach to journalism when compared to his peers, Goswami has oft been accused of promoting sensationalism, being over the top loud and what not. In his keynote, the senior journalist addressed some of the accusations that have been levied on him time and again. They are as follows:

     

    Sensationalism: “I know I am accused of sensationalism. Let us go back to the initial stages of Times Now… a small kid was lying at the bottom of a 60 feet deep bore well. We covered it with supreme priority for three continuous days till the kid was rescued alive. We did it because a poor kid was always neglected. Had it been a politician’s or a celebrity’s child, the treatment would have been different. It is because of the OB Vans that the small kid’s life became a national issue and everyone was praying for the kid. We were accused of sensationalism after the coverage, but our coverage then ensured that no such bore well is left unfilled now, which saves small kids from facing the trauma that Prince went through and hence I am proud of sensationalizing, and if it does good to the people of India we will keep doing it.”

     

    Getting Too Involved in the Story: “I know I am accused of getting too involved in a story, which eventually ends up with me taking sides and compromising neutrality. In 2011, we got to know about a small accounting error from a group of Indians on British soil. We analysed the facts and the story was on air. Early next morning, young journalists came running to me and said: ‘Sir, Kalmadi is responding to our story.’ A small report shaking a person of Kalmadi’s magnitude was not normal. I got thousands of calls and one of them was from a person I love – the late Vinod Mehta. He told me: ‘What did you do? Why is everyone so anti-Arnab because of one report? There is something beyond what you have reported… dig deep and find out.’ The entire team got involved. We didn’t sleep, we didn’t think anything else and after a week of investigation, what we came out with was a historical moment for the Indian media — the unveiling of Commonwealth Game Scams, which started the journey of unveiling scams in the public forum. So if getting too involved brings in such revolutions, I promise in future too, no matter how much ever we are criticized, we will keep getting too involved.”

     

    Not Giving Chance To Others To Speak: “Well once I decided that I will let the other person speak and that day became a historical day for the Indian media. And the person was Rahul Gandhi. After that day, there is nothing more left for him to speak anymore. He came with a script in his head and my motive was to make him speak out of that script and the moment I succeeded in doing it, he revealed many hidden secrets. With that the people of India came to know about his feeble nature, which set the tone for the Narendra Modi led government. Well, now we don’t even know where he is, so it’s not that I don’t let others speak, it’s just that I stop them from speaking what they have pre-scripted and is not relevant and accurate.”

     

    The keynote was followed by a Q&A round where advertising fraternity representative Prasoon Joshi asked Goswami numerous questions. Answering on the ’Shame in Sydney’ episode that was run after India’s defeat against Australia in the ICC Cricket World Cup semi-finals, which saw substantial criticism on social media platforms, Goswami said, “I have no regrets on running that episode. Criticising a defeat is not a crime and we also appreciate them when they win. It is not something new. Over the years, we saw every defeat in a big match was aggressively criticised. Cricket fans had a problem with the word shame, which is a different argument. We are open to criticism but that doesn’t mean I have any regret airing that episode.”

     

    Goswami’s speech about how Times Now is all about bringing about a change amidst a gathering of advertisers and agencies, could have had multiple motives. However, that didn’t stop him from taking a dig at rivals. 

     

    While he didn’t exactly criticise others for airing content that he didn’t agree with, at the risk of sounding pompous, he said, “I think I hardly have any rivals.” Goswami’s intention was most likely to tell the advertising fraternity that Times Now was beyond competition when it came to viewership and popularity.

  • Mindshare leads Media Abby Awards metal tally; Bennett, Coleman & Co. leads publisher category

    Mindshare leads Media Abby Awards metal tally; Bennett, Coleman & Co. leads publisher category

    GOA: If women empowering the Republic Day parade saw a revolution in the Indian armed forces, women representation during the Abby Awards of the 10th Goa fest was a supreme encouragement. There were more women creative minds representing agencies when compared to men.

    In a flamboyant evening of joy and happiness in Goa, the Abby award winners for Publisher and Media category were announced. The awards were distributed by eminent personalities like Madison World chairman Sam Bhalsara, Group M South Asia CEO CVL Srinivas, Goa Fest Jury chairman Pratap Bose, Dentsu Aegis chairman India and CEO South Asia Ashish Bhasin, Times Network CEO MK Anand and Lodestar Universal India CEO Shashi Sinha.

    Speaking about the competition and entries in the 2015 edition of the Goa Fest, Bose said, “The number of entries has increased to 674 compared to 619 last year in the media category. Entries this year have been highest when compared to any edition of the festival. The decision was taken after four days of detailed analysis by dignitaries from respective countries. The Publisher award started last year, saw 62 entries, which is exactly the same as 2014. This sector needs to improve.”

    Apart from India, entries were accepted from Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Pakistan and when asked if there was a possibility of expanding it beyond the Asian sub-continent, Bose said, “Not in near future! There is no plan of further expansion as the beauty is that these are Indian awards judged by Indian dignitaries, who understand the market for the agency that they work for.”

    He added, “There is no such difference in quality of work compared to last year and there is no trend or platform emerging as dominant. The work has been as versatile as it was. Winners from Sri Lanka and Bangladesh signify that international entries have been commendable, which is a huge encouragement.”

    Media metals tally is lead by Mindshare with a total of 11 metals, followed by Madison Media with 10. Out of the 74 distributed metals, there were 12 Golds, 23 Silvers and 39 Bronze awards.

    Click Here for the winners list: