News Broadcasting
News, events, shows in Sahara Samay Mumbai’s gamut
MUMBAI: “Real time television, which is effectively reality TV.”
That about sums up what Sahara Samay Mumbai, which soft launches 1 September, is all about, according to the news channel head Rajeev Bajaj.
With the news channel space getting increasingly cluttered, Bajaj believes the way to get noticed is to go beyond just news and offer the channel as an infotainment product. Aside from the news, there will be a strong emphasis on events and current affairs programming that is in the talk show format, says Bajaj.
The official launch, as already reported on indiantelevision.com, is scheduled for 15 September with the interim two-week period being utilised to fine-tune proceedings. Bajaj appears to be drawing on his experience when he was heading the Mumbai print tabloid Daily in the focus of coverage the channel has planned. As far as events are concerned, it will not just be the religious and cultural events in Mumbai (and other cities of the three states of Maharashtra, Gujarat and Goa) that get coverage.
SPORTS EVENTS
Sports events, especially at the school level, will form a key ingredient of Sahara Samay Mumbai’s menu, according to Bajaj. “We’ll have a series of sports events in all the districts with a grand finale in Mumbai,” says Bajaj. The competitions will involve a full spread of sports right from track and field to football and hockey, informs Bajaj. Sahara is also bidding to tap non-urban viewers through its events coverage and will be taking news crews to rural areas to cover Indian sports competitions like kabbadi, kho-kho, Indian style wrestling and bullock cart racing, to name a few, Bajaj points out.
PUBLIC GRIEVANCES
But it is Mumbai that will be the focus, affirms Bajaj. “Within Mumbai, we will have complete and comprehensive coverage,” says Bajaj. Civic issues will be another focus area, he says, adding that the channel would attempt to address public grievances by getting concerned officials from various departments to respond to complaints.
BULLETINS IN FOUR LANGUAGES
While in the main, it would be “Bambayya” Hindi (as opposed to the Sanskritised Hindi on Sahara Samay Rashtriya) that is spoken on the channel, news bulletins in Marathi (four per day), Gujarati (four) and English (two) are also part of the news packages.
Delivering all this news output is a 150-strong team in addition to a stringer network covering the whole of Maharashtra, Gujarat and a little bit of Goa, claims Bajaj. And providing the technical back-up necessary to keep news delivery up to speed is a vast V-SAT network that Sahara already has in place.
Also Read:
Sahara set to soft launch two more region-specific news channels 1 September
News Broadcasting
GenNext takes charge as Network18 reshuffles leadership
With Avinash Kaul bowing out, Network18 hands reins to younger leaders, streamlines operations, and pushes data-driven growth across TV, digital and regional markets
MUMBAI: Network18 is redrawing its leadership map just as a long-time lieutenant bows out. Avinash Kaul, a central figure in the broadcaster’s rise since 2014, is leaving after 12 years to pursue “professional and personal goals”, triggering a broad-based reshuffle that puts a younger cohort directly under the top brass.
Kaul joined at a pivotal moment during the company’s transition and went on to scale the television business, combining strategic nous with data-led decision-making and a sharp read of the news landscape. “Avinash has been an integral part of the Network18 story,” the company said, thanking him for his leadership of the broadcast business and wishing him the best for the future.
In his wake, Network18 is betting on what it calls a “young and restless” leadership bench. “The team has taken charge and proved its mettle in quite adverse circumstances,” the note said, adding that “GenNext has seamlessly stepped in as we continue to outperform our peers.”
Operationally, the structure is being flattened. Smriti Mehra, S Shivakumar and Mitul Sangani will work directly with the top leadership, as they did in the fourth quarter. Ganesh Iyer and Abhinay Chauhan continue in their existing roles, while younger executives are being handed wider mandates across social, digital, connected TV and linear.
The reporting lines are being tightened to drive revenue and product momentum. Prabhat Chatterjee, business head–Forbes, and Arun Thapar, president–content and communication for AETN-18, will report to Smriti Mehra, alongside Mallika Nath Handa, who will lead special projects spanning new shows and non-linear properties. Jayesh Gokalgandhi, CFO for AETN-18, will report to Ramesh Damani.
Mitul Sangani will oversee expansion in Hindi and regional markets, with Sidharth Newatia, CRO–ILC, focusing on reach and revenue growth, particularly in tier-II and III markets. Pankaj Soni, head of marketing–ILC, will also report to Sangani while working functionally with Ganesh Iyer.
The group is also consolidating its branded content play. Moneycontrol’s branded content business will be folded into News18 Studio, with Don Zarrar moving to work with Shivakumar while continuing to lead existing studio and Focus teams.
International and platform growth are being bundled together. Pranav Bakshi takes on additional charge of the international business alongside connected TV and social platforms, with Naveen Mathur, who leads revenue management for the international unit, reporting to him. Bakshi continues to report to Puneet Singhvi.
On the technology and operations side, Rajesh Sharma, head of broadcast technology and IT; Rahul Singh, head of events and technical operations; and Bhupender Bhardwaj, head of IT security, will now report to Singhvi. Darshil Parekh, head of sales strategy, planning and operations, will work directly with Ramesh Damani and the top leadership, with Stanley Cyril, who manages digital sales operations, reporting to him.
Data is being pushed to the centre of decision-making. Jitamitra Mohanty, who leads research and analytics, will now work with Santosh Menon to turn audience data into “actionable insights that drive content strategy, product innovation and sustainable viewership growth”.
The message is clear: fewer layers, faster calls, sharper bets. With Kaul’s exit closing one chapter, Network18 is handing the wheel to a younger crew and doubling down on scale across screens. The race, it signals, will be run at full tilt.
