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Agencies should add news genre to regular planning: Network18’s Karan Abhishek Singh
MUMBAI: The news genre should be included by agencies for its impact as a full planning platform and not just an add-on. This was the view echoed by News18 Network CEO-languages Karan Abhishek Singh at Tele-Wise Tamil 2019 organised by Indiantelevision.com on 6 August 2019.
At the event, Singh spoke on the relevance of the news genre in the Tamil Nadu market which is dominated by GECs and movies. He said that news as a genre has grown fastest in the past one year.
Mapping the growth of regional news channel in the state, Singh urged advertising agencies to add the news genre to their regular planning. He explained that in the last one year the peaks in news are significantly higher from the demise of Tamil Nadu former CM M Karunanidhi to cyclone Gaja to the national election to Article 370. The peak has been breached around 18 to 19 times. “These are the big event days which create an impact on the viewers and the advertisers. Two or three impacts in a month is an opportunity for the advertisers,” he said.
The top categories on news channels are largely retail outlets. Apart from male-targeted products, news genre is delivering to response-driven categories like retail, film, real estate etc. and these categories have been using the genre consistently. The genre also has the potential to drive long term brand imagery for brands- auto, travel and tourism and insurance.
He also mentioned that auto categories have started advertising on regional channels. Travel and tourism has also become a critical mass category on news. “So the news genre on its own needs to be looked at very differently and not just a frequency builder as part of an advertising campaign because it is the platform that delivers impact consistently month after month,” he said.
Singh believes that news is the fastest growing genre in the country and a large part of this is because of regional news channels. “The genre is growing largely across regional channels and partly in Hindi but not so much in English which was the traditional forte of news consumption,” he said.
“In regional space, the south market is extremely news intensive. When it comes to news consumption, Tamil Nadu out-consumes some of the states by as much as 2:1 ratio,” he said.
Within the South, the interesting part is that Tamil Nadu has very unique pattern of consuming news. The Tamil Nadu audience watches more news in the early morning. About 55-56 per cent of the day’s viewership comes from the time band of 6 am to 2 pm. “Tamil Nadu news has given a completely new definition to news primetime. There is no other market which has this kind of pattern,” opined Singh.
Singh also said, “At overall TV level, Tamil Nadu is one of the largest viewership markets in the country based on the component of early morning and mid-day news viewership and traditional primetime viewership on GECs and movies. And with every spike in the news cycle, the overall TV viewership increases. News is consistently among the top three genres in the state and continuously reducing the gap with the second genre i.e. movies.”
Singh concluded, “A few years ago, the reach of news was 52 – 53 per cent and today news reaches 70 per cent of the viewership on a weekly basis. The news genre is rapidly growing in Tamil Nadu because of its sticky content. Regional news channels have the opportunities to build and by this I don’t mean by sensationalising the news but going deeper into what matters in that particular region. We need to engineer the revise brain drain from the larger national platform into the regional platform.”
NEW DELHI: Hamdard Laboratories gathered a cross-section of India’s achievers in New Delhi on Friday, handing out the Hakeem Abdul Hameed Excellence Awards to figures who have left their mark across healthcare, education, sport, public service and the arts.
The ceremony, attended by minister of state for defence Sanjay Seth and senior officials from the ministry of Ayush, celebrated individuals whose work blends professional success with a sense of public purpose. It was as much a roll call of achievement as it was a reminder that influence is not measured only in profits or podiums, but in people reached and lives improved.
Among the headline awardees was Alakh Pandey, founder and chief executive of PhysicsWallah, recognised for turning affordable digital learning into a mass movement. On the sporting front, Arjuna Awardee and kabaddi player Sakshi Puniya was honoured for her contribution to the game and for pushing women’s participation onto bigger stages.
The cultural spotlight fell on veteran lyricist and poet Santosh Anand, whose songs have echoed across generations of Hindi cinema. At 97, Anand accepted the honour with characteristic humility, reflecting on a life shaped by perseverance and hope.
Healthcare honours spanned both modern and traditional systems. Manoj N. Nesari was recognised for strengthening Ayurveda’s place in national and global health frameworks. Padma shri Mohammed Abdul Waheed was honoured for his research-backed work in Unani medicine, while padma shri Mohsin Wali received recognition for his long-standing contribution to patient-centred care.
Education and social development also featured prominently. Padma shri Zahir Ishaq Kazi was honoured for decades of work in education, while former Meghalaya superintendent of Police T. C. Chacko was recognised for public service. Goonj founder Anshu Gupta received an award for his dignity-centred rural development initiatives, and the Hunar Shakti Foundation was honoured for empowering women and young girls through skill development.
The Lifetime Achievement Award went to former IAS officer Shailaja Chandra for her long career in public healthcare and governance, particularly in the traditional systems under Ayush.
Speaking at the event, Hamdard chairman Abdul Majeed said the awards were a tribute to those who combine excellence with empathy. “These awardees reflect Hakeem Sahib’s belief that healthcare, education and public service must ultimately serve humanity,” he said.
Minister Seth struck a forward-looking note, saying India’s young population gives the country a unique opportunity to become a global destination for learning, health and wellness by 2047.
The ceremony also featured the trailer launch of Unani Ki Kahaani, an upcoming documentary starring actor Jim Sarbh, set to premiere on Discovery on 11 February.
Instituted in memory of Unani scholar and educationist Hakeem Abdul Hameed, the awards have grown into a national platform that celebrates those building a more inclusive and resilient India. For one evening at least, the spotlight was not just on success, but on service with substance.
