News Broadcasting
NDTV’s dual-role strategy to double the ‘Profit’
MUMBAI: Since last few years, the eight-year old business channel from the NDTV group, NDTV Profit grappled to make decent business. While the noise about it going under a revamp started mid-last year, it has come to shape now. From March 17, the biz channel will adopt a dual role – that of NDTV Profit during the market hours and NDTV Prime airing infotainment and lifestyle programmes post 5 pm. The logo will also change accordingly.
NDTV Group CEO Vikram Chandra while professing the loss that the group was incurring because of the channel, remarks, “For several years, the bulk of our losses were coming from Profit. In the last few months, Hindi channel has picked up well but the question was whether to sell, shut or restructure the business channel. We didn’t want either of the first two options. So we have innovated and adopted a cost rationalisation method, to be followed by the dual channel strategy.”
Now, everything seems to be falling in place for the channel as it has already managed 80 per cent sponsors for the year, while discussions to get more are on. According to sources some of the sponsors associated with the channel are Micromax, Chroma and MRF Tyres.
“It is not a secret that we don’t believe in television audience measurement (TAM) anymore. We have adopted a sponsorship approach across the network with an idea to get sponsors interested in the programmes before they even go on air,” says Chandra.
The time slots for different programmes have been decided. Education shows would be aired between 6:30 to 7 pm; 7 to 8 pm is for real estate and property; tech and auto programmes will be telecast from 8 to 9 pm; while 9 to 11 pm has been kept for entertainment shows, the details of wish Chandra doesn’t wish to disclose at the time being.
The shows have been produced in-house as well as outsourced. Weekends will have repeat telecast of weekday shows for the first few months. Not sounding too boastful, Chandra remarks, “We are looking to double the ad revenue once Prime begins because this is going to be an exciting channel.”
The annual loss of the channel has come down from Rs 40 crore to Rs 19 crore. “The benefits of cost rationalisation in NDTV Profit will be seen now. Two-three years ago we were losing about Rs 3 crore a month which has now come down to about Rs 1.5 crore a month even with the Prime incubation costs. Once NDTV Prime goes on air, we are confident that every band on the channel will be individually profitable,” he optimistically remarks.
As India enters its last phases of digitisation, Profit/Prime sees itself benefitting. “With digitization, appointment viewing has gone up. Before this, viewers would flip through several channels but now they like to remember fixed times. We will now have fixed bands for tech and auto in which we are market leaders, together with bands for entertainment and property,” adds Chandra.
Another cost-cutting measure taken by the channel has been by shifting its main office from Mumbai to Delhi where besides sharing space, equipments could be shared with others too.
With little over a month left for the revamp, announcement will begin this week. Only time will tell how the arrangement works!
News Broadcasting
CNN-News18 to air live counting day coverage for five state election results on May 4
The channel is rolling out its biggest election coverage machinery yet for results day on 4th May
NOIDA: The votes have been cast. Now comes the reckoning. CNN-News18 is pulling out all the stops for results day on 4th May, when counting begins across five battleground states — West Bengal, Assam, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and the Union Territory of Puducherry — in what promises to be one of the most closely watched electoral verdicts in recent memory.
The channel’s coverage, titled Battle for the States: The Verdict, kicks off at 7am and runs through the day across linear TV, connected television and YouTube. It is the culmination of CNN-News18’s multi-format editorial initiative, Battle for the States, which has tracked the polls from the beginning under the theme Road to Power.
At the operational heart of the coverage will be the Live Results Hub, the channel’s central command centre built to collate, verify and process real-time data flowing in from reporters stationed at counting centres across constituencies. The hub combines newsroom intelligence, analytics and on-the-ground reporting to deliver what the channel promises will be the fastest and most accurate results coverage in English news.
Leading the on-air charge will be primetime anchors Rahul Shivshankar, Anand Narasimhan, Aman Sharma, Nabila Jamal and Shivani Gupta. They will be joined by a wide panel of commentators including author Chetan Bhagat; GVL Narasimha Rao, senior leader of the BJP; Smita Prakash, editor of ANI; activist Saira Shah Halim; political analyst Sumanth C Raman; Abhijit Iyer Mitra, senior fellow at IPCS; Amitabh Tiwari, founder of VoteVibe; columnist Abhijit Majumdar; Nalin Mehta, managing editor of MoneyControl; political analyst Tehseen Poonawalla; senior journalist Subir Bhaumik; and political analyst Manojit Mandal.
Shivshankar, who serves as editorial affairs director at CNN-News18, set out the stakes plainly. “Counting day is one of the most watched events in the electoral cycle, where speed and credibility are tested in real time,” he said. “Battle for the States: The Verdict is built on that promise, combining ground reporting, sharp analysis and cutting-edge election technology to give viewers the clearest and fastest route to the verdict. On May 4, CNN-News18 will once again be the nation’s most trusted channel to witness democracy in action.”
Smriti Mehra, chief executive of English and Business News at Network18, framed the coverage in broader terms. “Elections are defining national events, and audiences turn to brands they trust in moments that matter,” she said. “CNN-News18 has consistently led from the front in every election coverage, and this special programming reflects the scale of our ambition and editorial strength.”
The channel has form here. It claims to have been India’s most preferred English news destination for election results for the past 20 years, covering everything from the 2024 general elections to the Delhi, Maharashtra, Bihar and BMC polls on the back of what it calls an “Always First, Always Right” record. Five states, one day, and a nation waiting for answers. The clock starts at 7am on 4th May.
