Star News has always been under a canopy of controversy from the time the Rupert Murdoch-controlled Star group took control of the news channel after divorcing its Indian content partner of five years, NDTV, early this decade. Now, as the channel grapples with increased competition and inherent problems of the broadcast and cable industry, the managers of the channel, Media Content & Communications Services India Pvt Ltd (MCCS), are looking to chart a new road map.
In this interview with Indiantelevision.com’s Manisha Bhattacharjee, MCCS’ chief executive Uday Shankar discusses various aspects of the news business. Sitting in his office at Star House in Mumbai’s Mahalaxmi area, Shankar looks unpeturbed as one tells him that Star News has a distribution problem. He shoots back nonchalantly: “Of course, there is (a problem). We are seized of the issue and are developing a programme to be in touch with the cable industry on a daily basis.”
Some people may take this nonchalance as arrogance, but for Shankar it’s a way of telling his critic that he’s taking the problems head on and not shying away from them, thinking they’ll fade away on their own. A journalist at heart, Shankar has evolved into a manager and is credited with making, along with others and oodles of support from his previous employer Aroon Purie of The India Today group, Aaj Tak what it is today --- the market leader in the news genre.
At Star News, Shankar needs not only to consolidate, but move up the ladder too in a bid to catch up with those ahead. And, he’s slowly realizing that money cannot solve all problems in the broadcast and cable industry. Had that been so, the Kolkata-based ABP group and Star combine would have had a rollicking time in the news market. But challenges do excite Shankar, who has taken to Mumbai like a fish to water after having spent a major part of his life in Delhi amidst politicians and politics.
Excerpts:
What is your take on the TV news market and where is it heading? What has been the reason for this? I feel it has got something to do with the type of news being dished out and the way it’s being done. Despite the fact that I stand the chance of being ridiculed by my colleagues in the industry, I’d say news in India, especially on the Indian channels, has been skewed towards the older male audience. As news channels we collectively need to create programmes that would be of interest to other family members too, apart from the males. |
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Is your agenda at Star News to make news channel watching appealing to non-male members of an average Indian family? At Star News, our aim is to use our parentage to do this --- deliver news and information to an audience that may be residing in India, but expects the best. We would use Star's (read its parent News Corp's) international experience to deliver a classy product to local audiences, which is understood better by the Indian partner, that is the ABP Group. The parentage of Star News lends it a vision and we would convey the same editorially. At least, our aim would be to do so. |
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Okay, what is this phase II at Star News all about? We are trying to evolve programming that would interest the whole of society and not just a part of it. It's not that women don't like to watch news or news channels. But their preferences and tastes are different. So, we need to cater to their needs too. That's why, on Star News, we introduced a show that talks about TV shows and serials. The role of the media, for example, is also to identify villains, suggest solutions and provide a platform for issues to be discussed and debated. We are trying to do this too. Presently, what's happening? Everybody is caught up in delivering the news as fast as possible. In TV news, speed definitely is the USP, but it has also made everybody fight for breaking news, which, I think, has been trivialised. For a viewer, it really does not make a difference. Breaking news as a driver was part of phase one, which Aaj Tak perfected. But now the time has come to evolve out of this phase and that's what Star News, in its own small way, is trying to do. |
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Would you agree that amidst this hurly-burly to beat competition, TV news has really failed to evolve as it still fails to set the national agenda, leaving the print medium to do so? If collectively, we manage to make the news market grow, there will be growth prospects for everybody. |
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It's said that in India, if the media has to survive, then it would have to take the crutch of politics and political reporting. How far do you agree that politics still sells in in India? |
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So, how is Star News trying to be different in this aspect? |
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Again, all such thoughts are laudable, but as far as market share is concerned, Star News lags behind three other channels? I wouldn't say that market share and ratings do not matter. Of course, they do. But building a TV news channel is a along process and the parents of Star News realize that. Would it really matter if ratings are obtained by taking actresses, for example, to armymen? We can also do this and get ratings, but we don't want to do it. We want to build a news channel that's a family channel. |
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A news channel as a family fare? Next, you'll say Star News wants to compete with the entertainment channels... Then, during the cricket series we aired a show called Match ke Mujrim. It's related to sports, but looks at cricketing issues from a different angle, even while providing a platform to the aam janata (the hoi-polloi) to air their views on cricket, which is a passion in our country, rather than listen to experts handing down their views after or before a match. Such programming has the potential of drawing viewers from all walks of life. And, this would give us the market share that you were talking about. For me, market share is all about reach, which is backed by consistency. |
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You admit then that Star News too is looking at reach and market share like the No. 1, Aaj Tak. Moreover, channels have bought placement (on cable networks for better veiwership). As a company, we need to decide whether we would like to spend money on buying better placement. |
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How much carriage fee has been paid by Star News for being available on tuenable bandwidth on cable networks and is distribution still a problem despite it being looked after by Star? We are developing a strategy that would entail working with the cable industry and helping operators at different levels like getting them to identify technology and helping them to understand the global scenario too. It's a series of initiatives. |
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Why did MCCS take over the responsibility of ad sales for Star News when Star India was doing it? The MCCS board has its own ideas and it felt that the value to an advertiser (on Star News) could be improved through focused selling. |
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Let us talk about other things like MCCS foraying into other Indian languages. What do you have to say on this? If you ask me whether an English language channel is next in line, it'd be difficult to commit on that. What I can say is that we'd look at some activity this year. |