Media Watch: News channel in February

TV Today Network, the broadcasting unit of the Living Media group, will launch its English television channel in February 2003. The channel will go on air just before the cricket World Cup begins on February 9, 2003.
The new English channel will focus primarily on Indian metros with special thrust on the southern market. TV Today officials said of the 108 million people who can converse easily in English across the country, 64 million people are settled in the four metros and they would be the primary target for the English channel.The dry run of the English channel will begin from the second-week of January. The new channel will not be called Aaj Tak, the popular Hindi news channel of TV Today which has a 55 per cent market share among the news channels according to AC Nielson’s TAM ratings. A new name is expected to be announced shortly.
‘‘Aaj Tak’s success was encouraging. We are moving ahead as planned and all set to launch our English channel in February. We are confident to capture audience for our English channel in the same manner as we did for Aaj Tak,’’ said G Krishnan, CEO, TV Today Network. The group has also decided to make Aaj Tak as a pay channel. However, TV Today’s English channel will be a free-to-air channel. ‘‘We will be a stand alone network and distribute our channels independently,’’ Krishnan said. Aaj Tak will be priced very nominally, Krishnan added.
Indeed, 2003 will be a landmark year for television news channels. NDTV is preparing to launch Hindi and an English television channel in April 2003. James Murdoch will also relaunch its Star News channel. Krishnan said the growth of television new media is encouraging. ‘‘From a mere 3 per cent a year back, TV news channels have garnered 9 per cent of the total television viewership. Most viewers switch on their TV to a news channel rather than an entertainment or a sports channel,’’ he said. TV Today CEO said Aaj Tak grew by 160 per cent in the last one year, compared to 52 per cent by all other news channels. ‘‘Our ad revenue grew by 75 per cent this year. In fact the growth of the news channel market was driven by Aaj Tak,’’ he said.
Krishnan predicted that the news channel ad pie, which is currently hovering around Rs 350 crore, will touch Rs 500 crore in the next two years. ‘‘We expect to garner a major share. Contrary to the popular belief Aaj Tak’s advertising rates are the highest in the industry,’’ said Krishnan. A ten second ad spot in Aaj Tak currently retails for Rs 2,100 compared to Rs 1,200 a year back.