| Indiantelevision.com's
interview with Broadcast News editor-in-chief Rajdeep Sardesai |
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'We
haven’t decided whether we want to be only a content
company or start a channel of our own'
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| Posted
on 19 April 2005 |
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As
Rajdeep Sardesai embarks upon a different role as an entrepreneur
too, he insists that his forte is journalism and that it will remain
so. Though through a PR agency, Sardesai and his NDTV colleague,
Sameer Manchanda, today morning clarified that they are setting
up a new company, a start-up, which was first reported by Indiantelevision.com,
he’s still hesitant in talking about his new innings.
Even as he tries to play with a straight bat, like his illustrious
father
cricketer Dilip Sardesai, Rajdeep’s defence mechanisms are
up. He ducks uncomfortable questions instead of trying to play them.
Ask him about the new company and he gives a seemingly evasive reply.
“We haven’t decided whether we want to be only a content
company, servicing different channels, or whether we want to start
or set off a channel of our own. That’s a decision that we
have still left for a later day,” In his first interview to
the media after leaving NDTV and shaking hands with the Raghav Bahl-promoted
Television Eighteen group, Indiantelevision.com's Manisha
Bhattacharjee tries to pin down Rajdeep on some issues relating
to his work, his future and the industry in general.
Excerpts:
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What is Broadcast News all about?
We
intend to look at creating new news products, which we believe can
succeed in the market place as well as provide Indian viewers with
more choices
than available today.
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So, are you saying that you would be looking beyond servicing a
particular news channel or channels from a group?
We haven’t decided whether we want to be only a content
company servicing different channels or start a channel of our own.
That’s a decision we have left for a later day. We haven’t
taken a final decision on how we want to use the expertise that
is available to us.
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What are you looking at with the kind of expertise that you have
-- a channel or a boutique, which would offer new programmes?
Frankly,
whichever really works…wherever we get the people to watch
us. If we get people to watch us as a content provider, we will
do that. If we get more people to watch us as (managers of) a channel,
we will do that.
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How would you get to decide or know what will garner audiences for
you?
It
depends upon the platform than we are offered. So, we have taken
no decision yet as all such decisions, like our first big move,
would be taken somewhere in the middle of May or even later.
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Why
would it take this long? Haven’t you decided upon a date? Well…because,
we need to get it right that’s why!
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'I’m
determined to make my role purely journalistic '
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How do you define your place and role in Broadcast News?
I
will be editor-in-chief and so I will decide all content.
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Does this signify that your role as a journalist will continue
even as you acquire shades of an entrepreneur?
I’m determined to make my role purely journalistic. That
is what I know (best) and that is what I'm going to do. In fact, the
entrepreneurial role is something that we have chosen to take as it’s
a sign of a new beginning. It gives us a sense of starting a new venture. |
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How would you go about getting the manpower that is in short supply?
Would you resort to poaching from existing channels like TV Today
and NDTV?
Everything that we do will be done professionally. We will try and
have the best possible journalists and professionals in this field
with us.
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Now that you have parted with NDTV there may be people who would
like to follow and join you?
Let me make it clear, NDTV is a great company. The last thing
on my mind, at the moment, would be to try breaking NDTV. I'm very
clear that I’ve left NDTV on the best possible terms, as far
as I'm concerned.
It
has been an emotional decision breaking away from NDTV. So, the
last thing I want to do, at the moment, is to think about NDTV.
I just want to create for myself, and for the people who join me,
the best possible company -- editorially and professionally. It
is only when we decide what sort of company we would like to become
that we’d take decisions on manpower and the type of people
that we’d like to have.
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What is the shareholding pattern in the new company?
The shareholding pattern will be clearer next week. The full picture
will become clear by the middle of May. But, in terms of TV 18,
while the content will be generated by us all decisions on content
will be taken by the new company.
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What
would be the quantum of TV 18’s holding?
That decision will be taken later. |
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Are
you looking at a foreign strategic alliance?
Well, as a company we are 34 hours old. We will take each week
and each day as it comes. It’s a simple goal. We haven’t
even taken any manpower on board. The only person I have
hired so far is my driver from NDTV.
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Will MSNBC be brought into India by your company as TV-18 also has
an association with the parent company?
We are not getting (on) with MSNBC, at the moment.
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What
would be Sameer Manchanda’s role in the new venture?
He is directly associated with the venture and is the joint managing
director. He will certainly have a major role to play. He is someone
with a proven track record in finance and raising fund. More importantly,
he is the kind of quality professional that hopefully we are able
to create more of in our company. He will have a leadership role in
creating more quality professionals. |
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Reports
have identified that you would kick off a channel by 15 August or
by Diwali. What’s your take?
Well, as I said, some time middle of May we will take a decision what
we want to do. And once we have taken that decision, we will look
at dates and deadlines. |
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You
have been quoted as saying that you’d like to launch a journalistic
driven channel. What exactly do you mean?
I only said that we will try and give (to the audiences) as cutting
edge journalism as possible. That’s the goal. Basically, we want
to create a channel where journalists provide the cutting edge and
where journalism is uncompromising. |
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So
are you saying that the likes of Aaj Tak, Zee News, Star News or NDTV
are not working on these lines?
That’s a unfair question. I never said that. That’s an unfair
assumption too. What I'm saying is that I think Indian viewers need
a basket of choices, whether it is through better content or whether
through more channels. That decision is yet to be taken. But I think
the Indian viewers want more choice and we will try and provide them
with choices. Ultimately, the viewers should be respected. You don’t
talk down to a viewer. |
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Are
you looking at doing business of providing content in multiple languages?
That is something we will come to know once we have taken a decision
on what we want to be exactly. In a country with 15 languages, you
have a lot of options. There are many Indian languages that don’t
even have news channels. That’s again a niche and a vacuum that
we can always look towards. |
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If
your new venture does not materialise or proves to be as successful
as you had envisaged, would you route back to NDTV?
As
I have always said, NDTV in the news space is a mother ship. Over
the years, it has been India’s finest news channel and it has
a proven track record that professionals never leave NDTV permanently.
NDTV will always have a special place in my heart. But moving on does
not mean that I have abandoned NDTV.
I will say with a sense of fulfilment that after 11 years, NDTV has
become India’s leading news company. When I joined NDTV there
were 13 employees. Today, it has grown and employs over 1,000. In
my own small way, I have contributed to that growth and I would like
to believe in that. It is emotional, but that is the limited satisfaction
that I still have. I will never forget what the Roys (NDTV promoter
Prannoy and wife) did for me and also for journalism over the years. |
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Before
you embark on your new innings, what is it that you would most like
to do?
Spend time with my family. I’m determined to do that. I do not
have to think twice as to who are my guests tonight for the next few
days or few weeks, at least. I’m thinking of a May holiday. I
can’t handle the heat of Delhi. |
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Where
are you off to?
Not yet decided, but somewhere... |
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