News Broadcasting
NDTV’s dual-role strategy to double the ‘Profit’
MUMBAI: Since last few years, the eight-year old business channel from the NDTV group, NDTV Profit grappled to make decent business. While the noise about it going under a revamp started mid-last year, it has come to shape now. From March 17, the biz channel will adopt a dual role – that of NDTV Profit during the market hours and NDTV Prime airing infotainment and lifestyle programmes post 5 pm. The logo will also change accordingly.
NDTV Group CEO Vikram Chandra while professing the loss that the group was incurring because of the channel, remarks, “For several years, the bulk of our losses were coming from Profit. In the last few months, Hindi channel has picked up well but the question was whether to sell, shut or restructure the business channel. We didn’t want either of the first two options. So we have innovated and adopted a cost rationalisation method, to be followed by the dual channel strategy.”
Now, everything seems to be falling in place for the channel as it has already managed 80 per cent sponsors for the year, while discussions to get more are on. According to sources some of the sponsors associated with the channel are Micromax, Chroma and MRF Tyres.
“It is not a secret that we don’t believe in television audience measurement (TAM) anymore. We have adopted a sponsorship approach across the network with an idea to get sponsors interested in the programmes before they even go on air,” says Chandra.
The time slots for different programmes have been decided. Education shows would be aired between 6:30 to 7 pm; 7 to 8 pm is for real estate and property; tech and auto programmes will be telecast from 8 to 9 pm; while 9 to 11 pm has been kept for entertainment shows, the details of wish Chandra doesn’t wish to disclose at the time being.
The shows have been produced in-house as well as outsourced. Weekends will have repeat telecast of weekday shows for the first few months. Not sounding too boastful, Chandra remarks, “We are looking to double the ad revenue once Prime begins because this is going to be an exciting channel.”
The annual loss of the channel has come down from Rs 40 crore to Rs 19 crore. “The benefits of cost rationalisation in NDTV Profit will be seen now. Two-three years ago we were losing about Rs 3 crore a month which has now come down to about Rs 1.5 crore a month even with the Prime incubation costs. Once NDTV Prime goes on air, we are confident that every band on the channel will be individually profitable,” he optimistically remarks.
As India enters its last phases of digitisation, Profit/Prime sees itself benefitting. “With digitization, appointment viewing has gone up. Before this, viewers would flip through several channels but now they like to remember fixed times. We will now have fixed bands for tech and auto in which we are market leaders, together with bands for entertainment and property,” adds Chandra.
Another cost-cutting measure taken by the channel has been by shifting its main office from Mumbai to Delhi where besides sharing space, equipments could be shared with others too.
With little over a month left for the revamp, announcement will begin this week. Only time will tell how the arrangement works!
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.
