IBN7 voted as the 'Most Balanced Hindi News Channel'

Media News

New Delhi, August 11, 2008

The leading Hindi news channel, IBN7, has been voted the "Most Balanced Hindi News Channel" in a nationwide survey conducted by Media Magazine 'VIEWS on NEWS'. IBN7 has been voted by viewers as the channel that has the best mix of news and information shows in the country.

In midst of intense competition for TRPs, news channels often lose their

sights for the right and appropriate content. Considering the changing trends, 'VIEWS on NEWS' performed the survey among 10,772 news viewers across a dozen states. The sample surveyed included 825 government officials, 587 highly educated people, 982 MLAs and MPs, and 1676 business class and all of them being avid news viewers.

In the survey, IBN7 emerged as the Hindi news channel of choice for India's citizen by maintaining the right balance between news and feature shows. IBN7's line up consists of news bulletin like Danke Ki Chot Par, Big News, News Express, 7 Reporters, Lunch Special, Breakfast News, that keeps its viewers updated with anything and everything that happens in the nation. In addition to these, news shows like Hindustan Ki Kasam feature news that directly impacts the common man and are aimed at bringing a positive change in the society.

IBN7 also has a host of feature shows that provide information on various topics and bring out untouched aspects from different walks of life. The line up consists of shows like Zindagi Live - a talk show hosted by Richa Anirudh that explores real life stories & struggles of everyday people who have chosen life over defeat; Bawandar- it shows landmark judgments that changed the judicial system of India; Citizen Journalist – the initiative that empowers people to take stand and fight against the anomalies of the system, Mudda – an audience based show that debates the latest and most talked about news story of the week and Hot Seat, hosted by Ashutosh, is an intense one-on-one interview show with a famous personality who is in news.

Apart from this, IBN7 also has a weekly show on gadgets – Tech Mantra; a weekly property show – Property Bazaar; a weekly auto show – Top Drive; a weekly movie review show – Premiere7; and a daily sports show- Clean Bowled.

IBN7 is part of Network18 group and this provides IBN7 access to global editorial & network resources and a reach that stretches to every nook and corner of India. It also boasts of some of the finest journalists and an editorial team that has names like Rajdeep Sardesai, Ashutosh, Sanjeev Paliwal, Prabal Pratap, Richa Anirudh, MK Jha, Sumit Awasthi, Darain Shahidi to name a few.

Ashutosh, Managing Editor IBN7, on the occasion said, "The findings of this survey are very encouraging for IBN7 as it comes directly from the viewers panning across sections. It is our constant endeavor to deliver a rich array of news & informative programming to our viewers. We at IBN7 will use this to further boost our performance and constantly strive to attain new heights."

Mr. Dilip Venketraman, Chief Marketing Officer-IBN Network & COO-IBN Focus said "These survey results are a testimony to the fact that IBN7 has been able to harness a strong relationship with its viewers by consistently delivering news & programming that matches their expectations. It is very important to understand the requirement of the viewers which goes beyond demographics. For example the requirement from a news channel on a Sunday is different from weekdays so at IBN7 we have created "IBN7 Super Sundays" having a rich array of feature shows that give the viewers a complete 360 degree family viewing experience."

For further information, please contact:

Hanmer MS&L Communications Pvt. Limited

Angika Sharma

Associate Consultant, Public Relations

E-mail: angika@hanmermsl.com

Tel: +91 11 46517700