News Broadcasting
Jain TV to start new innings as business news channel with budget specials
NEW DELHI: Where the Videocon group has failed till now, the financially beleaguered, but yet surviving Jain TV may just succeed. After a complete programming revamp, the channel based in Delhi is poised to become the first free-to-air business and news channel in Hindi.
The campaign begins with Mere Sau Rupaye – a series of special programmes – leading up to the presentation of the Union Budget in Parliament on 28 February.
Speaking about the new initiatives, promoter Dr JK Jain’s son and Jain Television’s managing editor, Ankur Jain said, “Unlike yesteryears, today Budget and business news interests all, whereas the news reaches a fraction of this population. We have tried to make such complex business and finance matters simpler (are the likes of Prannoy Roy and Raghav Bahl listening?). We will be reaching a much larger section of viewers and consumers of news by presenting it in a way that people find easy to understand.”
Though Jain Television takes the credit for being the first private television channel to bring news in India in the mid-90s, it has been beset with problems linked to some bad business decisions, a cash crunch and low visibility because of poor distribution deals. The promoter’s clash with the powers that be in the Bharatiya Janata Party (the party that leads the coalition government in India at present) over some programmes telecast over the last 18 months has not helped the cause either. Especially since Dr Jain has been a former BJP Member of Parliament.
But the younger Jain is optimistic. Pointing out that Jain TV aims to reach the majority of the 40-odd million cable and satellite homes, he said: “In India, out of 40 million C&S households, approximately 16 million pay less than Rs 75 per month to receive cable TV. These households do not receive all the pay channels such as most of the leading news and business channels. These households constitute the ‘pay dark region’ where Jain Television will be the only channel bringing in business information and free to air news.”
According to Jain, Mere Sau Rupaye programme will aim to simplify the intricacies of the Budget for the masses. Other programmes include Agar Aap FM Hote (If You Were the Finance Minister) and Kya Aap Jante Hain? (Do You Know?).
The new look Jain Television will sport a 24-hour data screen with facts and figures on essential business and finance variables such as forex, bullion, stocks, bonds, commodities, petroleum, money and debts markets and the news that affects these markets. This will be facilitated with the help of a new automated data vending software, which is expected to usher in the concept of ‘always on TV’. This would enable viewers to receive information they need in the format they need and at a time of their convenience as in the newspapers.
But Jain was not forthcoming with more technical details.
Can the company, which owns a teleport and uplinking licence, take on the increasing competition? People will have to sart watching Jain TV to know the answer.
News Broadcasting
Times Network to air JVC Exit Poll across 5 regions on April 29
Four-hour broadcast spans states and Puducherry with data-led analysis
MUMBAI: Times Network is set to roll out what it calls one of its most expansive election programming efforts yet, culminating in the JVC Exit Poll on 29 April, with a multi-hour broadcast spanning key poll-bound regions.
The exit poll will air across Times Now and Times Now Navbharat, beginning at 5pm and 4pm respectively. Co-powered by Vedanta and Jindal Stainless, the programming aims to combine on-ground reportage with data-driven projections across West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Assam and Puducherry.
The network has deployed over 50 journalists across these regions, gathering voter sentiment and local insights in the run-up to polling. The effort builds on its ongoing election formats such as Election Yatra and Election Premier League, which have tracked campaign narratives and community-level issues.
In parallel, Times Now Navbharat has focused on constituency-level reporting in West Bengal through its Jan Gan ka Mann series, capturing voter opinions across diverse segments.
The coverage has also featured interviews with prominent political leaders. Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Congress leaders Ramesh Chennithala and V D Satheesan have appeared on the network’s election specials. From Tamil Nadu, voices including deputy chief minister Udhayanidhi Stalin, DMK MP Dayanidhi Maran, BJP leader K Annamalai and NTK’s Seeman have also featured in discussions.
On the day of the exit poll, the network’s primetime anchors, including Navika Kumar, Zakka Jacob and Sumit Awasthi, will lead the coverage. They will be joined by a panel of political analysts, psephologists and senior journalists offering real-time insights and interpretation of trends.
The programming will integrate grassroots reportage with analytics from the JVC Exit Poll, aiming to give viewers an early sense of electoral outcomes ahead of the official results on 4 May.
With its combined English and Hindi broadcast reach, Times Network is positioning this effort as a comprehensive look at voter sentiment, blending field reporting, data and debate to decode what could lie ahead when the final mandate is revealed.
