MUMBAI: It isn’t easy to make a mark in niche genres but two years post launch, Business Television India (BTVI), the English business news channel, has leveraged on editorial strengths to grab the third spot.

BTVI COO Megha Tata said, “In the last two years of our existence, we have had an incredible journey. Our content has been a huge differentiator and there is always scope for innovation. Of course, there are multiple other reasons as well such as growth in reach through our marketing distribution activities, digital performances.”

The channel is currently available on several financial apps like, IIFL, Kotak, HDFC Securities, Axis Bank, etc and caters to the audience who are keen to know about this space. BTVI is the only channel which is live streaming on these apps. It is also distributed on all key OTT platforms like Hotstar, Reliance Jio, Yupp TV, Airtel VOD and also on Tata Sky VOD. 

Tata believes that the conversations that are happening are more relevant than a weekly analysis of data. The average time spent on the channel currently is 25-30 minutes.

BTVI executive editor Siddharth Zarabi said, “There are other sectors of news globally which are seeing de-growth but financial news will continue to retain relevance and importance because it is a highly specialised offering and the stock markets in India has done phenomenally well and they will continue to do so.”   

The channel will soon launch a campaign about its digital offering and growth. The channel’s current focus is on six metros because that’s where its core audience is and the channel is 100 per cent distributed here. BTVI says its market share has shot up from 2-4 per cent to 18-20 per cent in these two years.

However, to retain viewership beyond market hours, which is the prime time of the channel, BTVI is taking certain measures. Tata said, “As market hours is the key focus for the channels in the business genre, we went beyond the market hours as well. We have done an analysis and we don’t see a very large audience out there in the tier II cities for the English business news play.” 

Tata believes that the English business news genre has space only for three players. Overall, the genre according to her is Rs 400-500 crore in terms of revenue.

BTVI head marketing, research and branded content Anuj Katiyar said, “Our strategies and our content are completely driven by the ecosystem. So we don’t do high decibel plans by pushing a lot of money but it is far more focused and strategic in terms of our target audience with specific content.”

The channel had a phenomenal year considering advertising revenue. Ad rates increased by 60 per cent this year compared to the last. 

“We have got some exclusive clients on board which moved out from their existing channel preferences to us. We have also got great branded content pieces on the automobile front with brands like Mercedes, Hyundai, Nissan and Toyota. The channel also has some new brands on board like Jeep and Indeed,” Tata added.

According to BARC rating of week 34, BTVI is in the third position in English business news with 123 impressions (000s) sum. The genre is lead by CNBC TV18, with 618 impressions (000s) sum.