MUMBAI: Moneycontrol, India’s leading financial destination, is set to end the year on a high note. Their podcast, launched earlier this year, has bagged the coveted #1 spot for Most Downloaded News Shows of 2018 on Apple iTunes. To top it off, their webcomic on Elon Musk earned a special mention in the Tesla news section of Evannex’s blog. As the year comes to an end, moneycontrol has dispersed content in multiple formats this year, including text, video-on-demand, live streaming and photo-story formats, comics and audio, and received a positive response.
With five podcasts being published on a daily basis, moneycontrol’s reach and brand recognition enabled it to deliver more than 75,000 hits in a little over a month of publishing, no small feat indeed. From news and market updates and business storytelling, it is truly reaching out to the new-age audience in an accessible manner not seen before. The Podcast section has five diverse shows, from the pre-market opening podcast titled ‘A morning walk down Dalal Street’ to ‘Stock Picks of the Day’ and the post-market ‘An evening walk down Dalal Street’ podcast update. There is also an ‘Editor’s Pick of the Day’ that covers and reflects on the leading story of the day and ‘Digging Deeper with moneycontrol’ that covers the essence and history of Indian business and finance through a unique storytelling format.
Given the massive community of listeners, podcasts serve as a valuable format that makes consumption of news convenient to the audience. Being the present leader of the ‘Most Downloaded News Shows of 2018’ list on Apple iTunes is surely a testament to the quality and diversity of topics that is covered on their podcasts. With the help of AudioBoom as the distribution partner, the riveting podcasts are available on Apple podcasts, Cashbox, Deezer, Saavn, Spotify, TuneIn and Google Play podcasts as well as other audio-based platforms in addition to moneycontrol’s platforms.
In addition to their podcasts, moneycontrol’s webcomics have also been very well received by their viewers as they are easy-to-consume and are less time intensive. With a series of graphic novels on a host of interesting topics, such as the Facebook-Cambridge Analytica scandal, Mumbai Dabbawalas, Kishore Biyani and Indra Nooyi, they have managed to reach out to a wider set of audience. Their edition on Elon Musk was even mentioned in the Tesla news section of Evannex, the specialists in aftermarket accessories for the Tesla Model S. The webcomics also cover the business aspect of various established companies such as Amul, Netflix, NIRMA et al.
Gautam Shelar, Business Head at moneycontrol remarks, “Innovation in today's modern age is absolutely critical in order to stay ahead of the game. Given the creative talent housed at Network18, this is a new approach to storytelling that we believe will engage millennial audiences and impart valuable knowledge to them. The content formats such as podcasts and webcomics have huge potential to grow owing to the consumption patterns of millennials.”
Commenting on the success of the webcomics, Avinash Mudaliar, Head of Product at Network18 says “Given the changing behavior of news consumption, it is absolutely imperative for us to engage our audience in ways that are fresh and immersive. We are exploring innovative ways to make news interesting for the readers while maintaining the quality and depth of the content. One such way is to narrate the story in the form of pictures and that’s how the idea of moneycontrol webcomic germinated.”
As a brand, moneycontrol has always endeavored to adopt new and innovative mediums to reach their audience, and the podcast and webcomics are just the latest feathers in their cap. With the rise in demand for alternate formats, moneycontrol has successfully utilized its in-house expertise and capabilities for breakthrough journalism & storytelling by entering the sphere of captivating podcasts and webcomics.
