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News
channels are changing and how!
When Sony's plain Jane Jassi turned into a television temptress,
NDTV India's cameras went behind the-scenes to capture this metamorphosis.
In fact, the channel known for fusing lifestyle reportage with hard
core news programming brought out a special episode on the make-over
journey of Sony's most adored character.
Would P Chidambaram's budget be able to meet the aspirations of
a billion Indians? To weave in the yuppy urban metrosexual into
the discussion; CNBC TV18 tied up with MTV to present Budget Fundas
And to add sizzlers to the rather heavy discussion were the likes
of Bollywood hottie Mallika Sherawat, Zayed Khan, along with CNBC
anchor Govind Ethiraj and MTV VJ Cyrus Broacha.
Crossover programming, news channels doing lifestyle shows, TV soap
reviews, infotainment programming; newer formats and experiments
continue unabated. And these special endeavours are proving to be
the real differentiators for news channels wanting to break away
from the clutter. With the mushrooming of news channels on the Indian
skies and many more tipped to enter the market, analysts say it's
now all-out war for the viewer mind space.
And the war is not just about being Sabse Tez, but also about garnering
viewers across various TGs. As a seasoned newsperson put it, "The
mantra seems to be to build up softer content and hard sell it,
instead of just haggling over male eyeballs with hard news or breaking
news."
 Adding
perspective to the current scenario, NDTV Media CEO Raj Nayak says,
"News is not just about politics, sports or business. Also,
when we plan our programming, it's never about restricting ourselves
to a particular TG or a section of society. For us, it's all about
presenting 'news you can use' without diluting the essential character
of the channel. Our different formats like Night Out, Gustaki
Maaf or Double Take, Hum Log, Walk the Talk are all attempts
in that direction and have done very well for the channel."
Analysts
believe that over the years some stereotypes have settled in that
have engendered a certain dislike for innovations which has hampered
the genre from attracting more viewers. Today, there seems to be
a certain paradigm shift and a fresh look at "old assumptions".
It's not that women don't watch news but it's just that women watch
different kind of news. So, even if teenagers are mostly clued to
music channels they will definitely also tune in to a programme
on say jobs & career planning.
 Says
Uday Shankar, CEO Editor & Director Star News, "For the
major part of the population; news watching is still an in-between
activity between the 'K' serials. So, the challenge for news editors
is clearly how to get more people to watch news and for longer durations
of time. This cannot just happen with some subtle changes in terms
of covering news or events; but news has to become conceptually
and fundamentaly different."
And to do this, the fare being dished out seems pretty palatable;
there is Saas Bahu Aur Saazish in the afternoon slot targeted
at women; and Poll Kholl to make political television journalism
more fun and alive."
But then, as news managers take on the task of strengthening content
and creating an impact on the viewer, critics believe that there
is also a risk we run in terms of news becoming too risqué
at times. The sensationalisation of news with blood & sleaze,
as is being seen on some of the crime shows across a few news channels
is a good example of this.
 Giving
his viewpoint on the overall programming across news channels, Ajay
Chacko, head marketing CNBC-TV18, says, "Should we be doing
a page 3 show just because it will give us more numbers? This would
then be at the cost of losing our core audience. We believe that
even if we try out different formats, the programming should retain
some amount of the basic character of our channel. And though some
news channels might claim that lifestyle programming is giving them
the numbers; I think its all casual sampling that is happening."
As more players prepare themselves to enter this highly competitive
arena in 2005, and as attempts to present exclusive content attains
paramount importance; we decided to take a look at all the channels;
in terms of their philosophy behind the content, newer formats and
what these formats have been able to achieve for the channels.
The
news genre generated barely Rs 400 million a few years ago.
Today, ad spends have crossed Rs 4.5 billion and are tsill growing
at a fast clip. Yet, on the other hand, as the data for year
2004 reveals, viewership share for news channels remained pretty
dull stagnating to around 6 to 7 per cent (though some say it
has grown to 10 per cent).
A steep rise in the viewership has only been seen during certain
important events or when powerful personalities make news. Like,
last year viewership for the genre reached a record high when
the final Lok Sabha results were announced and Sonia Gandhi
refused prime ministership despite being the head of the single
largest political party. So, for the pie to grow analysts believe
the challenge for news channels is to rise above the clutter
and try to look different. |
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