He has seen the downside of life. Portrayed himself in a Hindi potboiler film after becoming a successful media personality. At one time, he had even announced a proposal to pen a biography of former Prime Minister Atal B. Vajpayee. But today, Rajat Sharma doesn't have time to think of those things; he's too busy putting in place, along with his team, the plans to take India TV, a Hindi language news channel, forward.
Six months after the launch of India TV, Sharma discusses the ups and downs of running and managing a news channel in a conversation with Indiantelevision.com's Anjan Mitra. The Sunday tete-a-tete was peppered with some frank admission on carriage fee, how market leaders had messed up the cable distribution market and why India TV chooses to be different.
Excerpts:
It has been over six months that India TV went on air. How would you assess this time? |
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During the time that India TV has been on air, it has faced resistance from the cable operators and distributors, unlike some other news channels, which hampered its visibility. What's your take on this issue now? |
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Did India TV actually give in to the demands of the cable industry and pay a fee to cable ops for carrying and positioning the channel favourable? Subsequent to this game plan, our visibility has definitely increased, which is indicative from the type and number of responses that we are getting for our programmes. It's not a healthy practise, but in this cut-throat world we have to play the game according to the rules already set. But, I think somebody --- either the government or the regulator --- should look into this aspect seriously. |
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Now that partly the distribution problem has been solved, what's the strategy forward? Similarly, at 22 hours India Live with Sudhir Chaudhary looks at the big news of the day, analyzing them with the sector-specific editor and correspondents across the country. For example, if the Sensex has touched dizzy heights, then after the Mumbai correspondent has filled in with his day's reports detailing the nittie-gritties, the business editor discusses with the anchor the issue and its various aspects. If it's a sports item, then the sports editor of India TV comes in with his expert views. At 21.30, when other news channels are getting onto their band of prime time bulletins, we have Showtime India, India TV's party go-around show. This half-hourly programming line up has really helped us gain viewership from various segments. |
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It seems the attempt is to play up anchor driven shows on India TV. Is this a conscious decision? |
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Do you feel that news channel managers are afraid of investing in people who will become too big for their boots? At India TV, it is a conscious decision to build sub-brands, apart from the likes of Sudhir, Maneka Gandhi (host of an environment based show), Suhaib Ilyasi and Rajat Sharma. We want to be anchor-driven, rather than news driven. That's why our shows too have been designed in a way to suit this plan. |
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How does India TV go about nurturing and building talents? From the time a youngster joins us, he/she is made to go through a routine to spot the talent. Then there are stylists, speech and diction trainers and senior media professionals who put the youngsters through their paces. Ritu (Rajat's wife and business partner) and I too some time chip in with advise. After this, the effort is to give youngsters full chance to blossom. I am quite proud in saying that we have a bunch of youngsters who can be stars of tomorrow. People like Faraz Shere, host of Kal Ka India on Sundays, Speed News co-anchor Ranjini and even the Box Office India host are young people who have the verve and zest to make it successful and they will be. |
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What about your earlier stated plans to take India TV to foreign shores? |
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A sizeable viewership for India TV comes from Muslim-dominated areas in India and that's because of the popularity of Al Jazeera. Would there be any change in the relationship if the owners of the Arabic channel sell off their shareholding? |
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What about going pay? |
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Is the company looking at raising more money from the market through an initial public offer? |
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Does the company need money for expansion? |