News Broadcasting
CNBC-TV18 marks fifth anniversary with Awaaz launch
NEW DELHI: With an aim to empower the common man with business decisions and target regional and smaller advertiser-brands, the Raghav Bahl-promoted Televison Eighteen today formally launched the country’s “first consumer channel”, aptly called Awaaz.
“Our aim is to be India’s largest business and consumer network,” Television Eighteen CEO Haresh Chawla said at press conference to announce the launch of Awaaz, which was reported by indiantelevision.com earlier.
The new channel’s launch, unveiled at a function here attended by prime Minister Manmohan Singh, also marks the completion of five years of CNBC-TV18, country’s first full-fledged business news channel that caters mainly to the upper and upper middle class society.
Pointing out that the business new segment market is worth between Rs. 800 million to Rs. 1 billion — mostly dominated by CNBC TV18 at the moment — Chawla said that the launch of Awaaz and other business channels (from the NDTV stable; Zee Biz has already been launched) is likely to result in doubling of this market segment in a couple of years.
Though TV-18 has a slew of marketing and promotional activities lined up for creating an awareness about Awaaz, which would not be restricted to the TV 18 network channels only, Chawla refused to hold out details saying it may act as a tip off to competition.
According to Chawla, the new channel, carrying the tagline `Awaaz khushali ki’ (the voice of prosperity), should break even between 9-18 months time.
“Our target is to get about 30 million subscribers in three to four months time,” he added, refusing to divulge the price of this pay channel aimed at empowering average Indians to make informed decisions about investing, careers and spending.
According to information available with indiantelevision.com, Awaaz is slated to be a pay channel and priced at Rs 6 on an a la carte basis and will be distributed by Zee Turner. The maximum retail price of Aawaz has been marked at Rs 25, but an effective rate of Rs 6 will be charged from subscribers.
Awaaz is being distributed as part of a new bouquet created by Zee Turner and, according to information available, approximately 3,000 boxes are being seeded in the market place spanning urban and rural areas. “Since we are targeting first time and smaller investors, our focus would be on smaller cities to begin with,” Chawla said.
Awaaz would be on Dish TV’s DTH platform soon and the endeavor, according to Chawla, would be to be present on all DTH platforms, apart from Doordarshan’s free to air KU-band DTH transmission.
Asked whether smaller investors in states like Gujarat and Maharashtra understand Hindi language, Chawla explained, “Hindi, the national language, is understood by more than 65 per cent of Indians and a good 75 per cent of this population falls in the working adult category. There is a fairly large proportion of Hindi-speaking audience that is financially independent and who take investing and spending decisions. There definitely is a need for a channel that understands and talks to the Indian consumer in a language that has wider appeal. With ‘Awaaz’ we aim to fill this gap.”
The new Hindi channel will broadly focus on programmes related to personal finance & markets, guidance on careers, education and consumer based programming, which will help them make more intelligent choices. “Our effort will be to provide jargon free information,” Sanjay Pugalia, editor of Awaaz said.
Besides Pugalia, a former print medium journlaist with experience in the electronic medium too, the editorial team at ‘Awaaz’ includes a mix of print and electronic media journalists like Vivek Law, Gaurika Chaudhuri and Joyneel Mukherjee.
The launch of Awaaz will be phased across various categories of towns over the coming weeks.
Earlier in the day, a CNBC-TV18 India Economic Conclave was held, which was attended amongst other by industry minister Kamal Nath, Planning Commission deputy chairperson Montek S Ahluwalia, Arun Jaitley, former commerce and industry, HSBC India hewad Naina Lal Kidwai, first deputy MD of IMF Anne Kruger,, Heizo Takenaka, minister of state for economic & fiscal policy, Japan, and Gordon Astles, president, Asia Pacific, Cisco Systems, Singapore.
Indicative programmes on Awaaz
Investing & personal finance – Interactive shows
Markets Band (Day Band): Coverage from a variety of markets, from small towns to metros, from commodity markets to stock markets, in Hindi, with an educative slant
Aapka Paisa is the smart money manager that offers useful tips on maximizing investment returns in insurance, mutual funds, bonds, etc.
Kaise Kamayen, Kaise Bachayen is an interactive show that covers non-equity queries, such as pensions, loans, credit cards, gold commodities, etc.
Aapka Share will demystify the stock market for viewers with expert perspectives for their call-in queries
Consumer-focused, interactive shows
Aapki Awaaz and Consumer Court air consumer issues from all across the country and focus on consumer rights
Chalti ka naam Gaadi is a weekly guide to the world of auto
Smart Shopping is the Indian consumer’s shopping guide, with buying tips, information on product launches, purchasing options, availability, discount sales and more
News
Hourly news updates, covering a wide range of issues
Hafte ka Audit is a supplement to an in depth news coverage, giving viewers a summary of this week a glimpse into the next
Career, self development & lifestyle
Hum Honge Kamyab is a weekly career guide covering every stage from training to placement. Jiyo Zindagi covers health and lifestyle, with experts perspectives.
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.
