Nearly a decade after it turned the notion of Hindi news on its head, India TV has literally changed its colours. It has changed its logo and gone in for a change in look and packaging. The new version is considerably sober than the one before.
Launched in May 2004, the channel had trouble making headway against established names until it turned to the tabloidisation of news. So successful was this ploy - India TV raced up the ranks to the No 2 spot behind Aaj Tak - that before long, nearly all its rivals were forced to follow suit. Even as media analysts and regulators agonised about the sensationalism in news broadcasting, India TV was no longer the brash outsider but a mainstream channel.
However, over the past year or so, India TV has been changing its spots. It is turning to serious content and the new logo and look are part of the process of signaling that it has changed. afaqs! spoke to Rajat Sharma, chairman and editor-in-chief, India TV, to find out what the channel is up to. Excerpts.
Edited Excerpts
Your channel has recently seen a whole lot of editorial changes, including bringing old political news hand QW Naqvi on board. You are trying to change the perception of the channel, right?
I thought editorial changes were the need of the hour. The country is going for Lok Sabha polls soon and these will be most hotly contested. Political reporting and analysis has always been my forte. I needed someone like Naqvi and Amitaabh (the senior executive producer) to focus on this area. Election is an opportunity for us to change the flavour of news.
The logo and other changes have been made to support the change in content. Business and viewership go hand in hand. We expect more viewership and hence, more support from the advertisers.
India TV was the first channel to go the 'bhoot pret' way to pull viewers. Though it did help you climb up quickly, do you regret that now?
That was the image a few years ago but we have been changing our content and, for the past year, we have stopped carrying sensational content. The look and logo changes are in line with that. The new team has been given the responsibility of tackling perception issues that some viewers may have.
I have always been candid about the content change. The flavour of the season keeps changing. Today, a lot of younger viewers have come into the picture and people are tired of cluttered TV screens. I think people are more interested in political news and want to understand what's happening on the political front. With new parties emerging, and these enjoying the support of the younger generation and social media, viewers are curious about their background. We must change to cater to the requirements of the viewer; ultimately he is the one who decides the way we behave.
I want to be the last person to impose my thinking, strategies and views on the viewers.
The Hindi news genre has become fiercely competitive. Where do you think India TV stands in the flock?
I love competition. Without competition, there's no kick in the game. There are many channels that have come up and some that have closed down. India TV has managed to remain in the top two and that is quite an achievement. My brief to my team is very simple: we want ratings, but 'with respect'.
You would not have seen excessive sensationalism of content on the channel for close to two years now. This is one of the reasons why I come on to the channel on a regular basis. I have a daily show which is indicative of the kind of reporting, analysis and presentation we want to do.
The channel is amongst the top two with Aaj Tak and sometimes we lose out to ABP as well, but the difference of ratings between the three of us is very little. All this is going to change very soon. With BARC (Broadcast Audience Research Council) coming in, the scenario will be more competitive in the sense that the smaller channels in the genre will get an equal chance of rising up.
Right now, all the new channels being launched focus mainly on the regions that TAM collects data from. But with BARC, one won't be able to gauge that and hence, everyone will have to distribute the channel uniformly across the country.
With the ad-cap regulation held back for now (the matter will be heard in March in the High Court) will news channels get enough time to plan for its possible implementation?
Barring Aaj Tak and us, I don't think anyone else is making money, in either Hindi or English. This ad cap is going to kill them completely. But we have to wait till March, and I hope the court will appreciate the problems of the news broadcasters.
If the 12-minute ad cap is implemented, a rate hike is the only option but the economy is not in a position to absorb the higher cost.
You had planned an English channel in 2009, India TV Wiz, but nothing happened. Have you changed your mind about the English news space?
We planned it and everything was finalised but the market turned very bad and the recession set in. The economic tempo has, unfortunately, remained low since then. I haven't given up on the idea of an English news channel. We are waiting for the market to recover and if we get a strategic partner, we will launch it.
What do you like about your major competitors and what about them worries you?
I have tremendous respect for all of them and feel that they are largely free and fair. They are good competitors, no one hitting below the belt, no one breaking the rules. Plus, most of the people working at India TV were earlier with AajTak or ABP or some other channel and vice-versa. So, though we do compete with each other, it's a big family.
My resolution now is that India TV will grow only if the overall genre grows. I don't think I can grow by eating into any other channel. My philosophy is that all of us have to grow together.
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