MUMBAI: Sahara TV has launched a 30-minute daily news round-up, Sahara Newsline, from 25 August.
Telecast every day from 10:30 pm to 11 pm, the topical programme is presented by well known anchor Vinod Dua and covers the important happenings of the day. The USP of this news-cum-views presentation, says the channel, is that it "goes behind the news" and highlights the concerns of the man on the street.
According to Dua, Sahara Newsline intends to probe whatever happens behind the apparent news of the day, and to see to it that the powers-that-be are made accountable to people. Every day, Dua invites two guests from politicians, journalists, experts or analysts to the studio for discussions. The channel is employing interactivity through Sahara's VSAT network - with questions being put by well-known personalities to guests in the studio. There is a fair mix of stories on the stock market and entertainment industry.
A daily segment called Lest We Forget based on issues that were once "hot" but have now been put on the backburner is also part of the daily news capsule. According to Sahara TV V-P, public relations, Priya Raj: "The overall orientation of the crisp, compact and concise programme is to make sense of the day's happenings, going beyond mere headlines."
The channel, that is slated to launch over 30 regional news channels before the end of the year and is preparing for a programming revamp in mid-September, currently claims a reach of 40 million C&S households in the country.