News Broadcasting
Star News, NDTV India bearing down as Aaj Tak hold loosens
MUMBAI: Elections have taken a toll on the leader among Hindi news channels. Aaj Tak, which led the pack with a market share of 36 per cent at the beginning of the year, has slipped to 26 per cent by the end of April.
According to TAM figures (C&S 15+, Hindi speaking markets), newcomers Star News and NDTV India are already snapping at Aaj Tak’s heels, both having grown to a market share of 21 per cent each. While Star News started with a market share of 15 per cent, NDTV India started the year with a share of 17 per cent. Both have made slow, but steady progress over the last 18 weeks to remain resolutely tied at equal market shares currently.
Other players have not gained from Aaj Tak’s discomfiture, however. DD News, the latest entrant, has in fact, lost market share – from 12 per cent in the beginning of the year to 10 per cent by the end of April, while Sahara Samay recorded a marginal rise from eight to nine per cent. Viewer loyalty to Zee News has remained steady, going neither up nor down. Zee News has retained its market share of 13 per cent that it began the year with.
The scenario is similar in the C&S 4+ demographic in Hindi speaking markets too – Aaj Tak has fallen to a market share of 25.4 per cent, while NDTV India today stands at 22.3 per cent and Star News at 20.8 per cent. The outlook is a little better for Aaj Tak in the 25 + TG in Hindi speaking markets, with the channel boasting 27.1 per cent market share, much lower than the share it started the year with, yet better than its share in the other demographics. Here too, both Star News and NDTV India are neck to neck – NDTV with a share of 21.8 per cent and Star with a share of 20.9 per cent.
The overall channel share of Hindi news channels has however grown from 5.8 to 6.5 in the first four months of 2004, thanks to the general elections. Here too, Aaj Tak has slipped from 2.1 to 1.7. On the other hand, NDTV India has gone up from 1 to 1.4 while Star News has gone up from 0.9 to 1.4, the TAM data reveals.
The battle for the top spot, precipitated by the elections, will continue for some weeks to come till the results are out and credibility, speed and clarity of each channel is established. The fight continues…
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.
