News Broadcasting
Swaraj Express SMBC to launch Kannada news channel
MUMBAI: The regional news market is witnessing the winds of change. Numerous broadcasters are entering this market by launching free-to-air (FTA) channels in their respective genres.
In the regional market, Hindi, with over 20 channels, is leading the race in the number of channels followed by Kannada with 15 channels and Telugu is just a scratch behind with 14 channels.
The latest entrant in the Kannada news market is Swaraj Express SMBC. The network is now going to focus on South India with its upcoming news channel Swaraj Kannada. The date of launch is not yet fixed, but the channel has commenced its testing from 18 March 2018.
The channel is only available on Tata Sky as channel number 582. Hathway Cable has added the channel to LCN 34 in Bangalore.
It will be an FTA channel with 24×7 news programming. The format of the channel will be MPEG4/DVBS2. The frequency rate is 3755 Hz. The testing for transmission service has started on INSAT4A satellite at 83 degrees east. The news channel will get the satellite transponder downlink signal from eight feet to 16 feet C-band dish antenna.
With 15 news channels in the Kannada market, there will be a war to gain eyeballs. iTV Network in December 2017 expanded into the regional news space with the launch of a dedicated channel for Gujarat- India News Gujarat. It is expanding further to the southern market and planning to launch News X Kannada.
Broadcast Audience Research Council all India data week 12 has seen a good growth in the Kannada news channels rating compared to week 11. The top five channels in the Kannada news genre are TV9 Kannada with 56147 impressions (000s) sum compared to 52046 impressions (000s) sum last week. Public TV at the second spot had 42154 impressions (000s) sum against 36531 impressions (000s) sum in week 11. Suvarna News 24×7 garnered 17258 impressions (000s) sum at the third position. News18 Kannada is at the fourth position with 16000 impressions (000s) sum against 13174 impressions (000s) sum last week followed by Dighvijay 24×7 News with 9249 impressions (000s) sum.
The growth of FTA channels is one of the most important factors for TV viewership to keep going along with digitisation and better distribution.
In the report ‘The changing face of TV in India’, BARC pointed that pay TV viewership fell from 77 per cent to 69 per cent, while the FTA viewing has gone up from 23 per cent to 31 per cent.
Also Read :
Focus Group to launch Kannada news channel
Making the news: A look at what news broadcasters did in 2017
News Broadcasting
Rajesh Sundaram joins NDTV Profit as senior editor, assignment
The 32-year newsroom veteran has launched channels on three continents and covered everything from 9/11 to South African television
MUMBAI: NDTV Profit has bolstered its newsroom with a hire who has done rather more than most. Rajesh Sundaram, a journalist with over three decades of editorial, managerial and consultative experience across India and international markets, joins as senior editor, assignment, tasked with sharpening the network’s newsgathering and real-time response.
Sundaram’s career reads like a tour of Indian media’s most formative moments. He began at Businessworld in 1994, moved to Zee News as bureau chief across Mumbai and Chennai, then joined NDTV in 2002 as part of its political bureau during a particularly febrile period in Indian politics. A stint as India correspondent for Al Jazeera International followed, where he covered key geopolitical developments and got his first serious taste of the global newsroom.
What sets Sundaram apart, however, is his serial channel-launching habit. At NewsX, he helped get the operation off the ground. At Headlines Today, part of the India Today Group, he served as editor. At News Nation, he helped launch the Hindi news channel and its digital ecosystem. He then crossed continents to lead the launch of ANN7 in South Africa as editor-in-chief, overseeing both television and digital. Back in India, he launched Tamil news channels News7 Tamil and Cauvery News, and later served as principal consultant for the launch of Marathi channel Lokshahi. Most recently, he helped build and lead the Press Trust of India’s video service and content studio, before stints consulting for Business Today and The Himalayan Times.
Rahul Kanwal, chief executive and editor-in-chief of NDTV, left little doubt about what Sundaram is expected to deliver. “The assignment desk is where a newsroom’s intent becomes action,” he said. “Rajesh brings a rare combination of field experience and leadership in building news operations at scale.”
Sundaram has reported from across India and the world, covering elections, civil conflicts, the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks and the 2008 US presidential election.
At NDTV Profit, he will lead the assignment desk, driving editorial coordination and real-time response across markets and breaking developments. For a business news network sharpening its focus on speed and multi-platform delivery, it has hired a man who has built newsrooms from scratch on three continents. The assignment desk is in good hands.
