Mumbai: For two weeks straight, News18 India has garnered the highest market share in the Hindi-speaking market compared to its competitors based on a four-week average, according to Broadcast Audience Research Council (Barc) India data (HSM 15+, Week 26-29 & Week 27-30, All Days, 24 hours).

This is a big victory for the Hindi news channel, which has been a strong number two-three player in the rating battle among the top news channels. What’s more, in the crucial primetime time band (1800-2400 hours) News18 India is 1.5 percentage points above its closest competitor that had dominated the primetime band for a long time (Barc data, HSM 15+, Week 30, All Days).

Thrilled with its success, News18 India has taken out a full-page ad on the 9 August Mumbai edition of The Economic Times to communicate its position as ‘India’s No.1 News Channel.' The full page spread features its star anchors Kishore Ajwani, Amish Devgan, Aman Chopra, Prateek Trivedi, and Preeti Raghunandan.

News18 CEO – Hindi news cluster Karan Abhishek Singh credits the channel’s leap in ratings to toning down on sensationalism, increasing the variety of coverage and bringing a perspective to the news that was unmatched by other channels. He believes all news channels work with essentially the same pool of news, but the treatment of these subjects makes all the difference.

With over two decades of experience, Singh is a seasoned professional who has built his career largely across the FMCG and media industries. He joined TV18 in January 2019 and is responsible for leading the overall profit and loss (P&L) of the Hindi language channel cluster in the organisation.

Prior to joining Network18, he spent five years at Star India as executive vice president—ad sales. He joined Star as brand head for North and led the setting up of the enterprise accounts business before managing other sales leadership roles across the entertainment business. Before that, Singh was associated with consumer product organisations like PepsiCo, Nokia, Godrej, and Hindustan Unilever, playing various roles across sales, business development, and marketing functions.

In a conversation with Indiantelevision.com, Singh speaks about News18 India’s recent performance, programming strategy, competition in the Hindi news genre, and levels of attrition in the news broadcast industry.

On News18 India garnered a significant share of ratings

Karan Abhishek Singh: When the ratings started back in March, TV9 Bharatvarsh came out on top, taking a lot of people by surprise. Outside of that, channels such as India TV or Aaj Tak, which had been leading the ratings, are both strong legacy brands. They’ve been ruling the roost for a fair bit of time.

The stronger established players are largely holding on to their own and brands like Aaj Tak, India TV, and News18 India have had a steady share of the ratings since 17 March. News18 India has worked hard to gain, in terms of ratings, bit by bit. We were a strong No. 3 and kept moving up to become No. 1 for the first time last week.

On strengthening News18 India’s leadership during primetime and other key time bands

Karan Abhishek Singh: News18 India has been number one in the primetime band for a few weeks now. We’re ahead of Aaj Tak, which used to be the leader in the primetime band for the longest time. The channel has very strong shows and a team of anchors that are indisputably the best in the Hindi news genre.

There’s no consistent leader in the morning and afternoon time bands. News18 India has climbed up rapidly in the ratings, and there are several time bands where we are in the lead. The channel aspires to lead in every single time band when the viewer is watching us and our efforts are directed towards that goal.

On what works in terms of packaging news content

Karan Abhishek Singh: It is important to understand that these are times when viewers have choices galore. The discerning viewer will watch content that they relate to, and beyond a point, audiences tend to shun sensationalist content. When there is a big breaking event happening, nationally or internationally, viewers will go watch it wherever they believe it has been well sourced.

From the viewer's point of view, the core product remains the same, which is the kind of news that news channels show. It is the treatment. The consistency in the way the news is covered and the analytics behind it make all the difference. Sensationalism is only temporary. It can give you eyeballs for a day or two, but a consistent, fearless report without any bias is appreciated by viewers and is something we’re working hard towards.

On the strategy employed by News18 India to become No. 1

Karan Abhishek Singh: For the last four years, News18 India has been one of the top two or three players in the Hindi news genre. When Covid struck, we made certain calls on the health, safety, and welfare of our employees, which was an obvious decision. At that time, we made a conscious decision that the health and safety of our employees were the most important thing, even more than ratings.

Although we’ve been regarded as the leading tier I Hindi news channel for four-five years, we have not reached No. 1 but stood at No. 2, 3, and 4, a space which other broadcasters share.

Our strategy is always evolving depending on what we observe in the markets in terms of the preferences of our viewers in terms of news subjects and formats. Our current strategy is working well for us. Our focus is tuned to the preferences of viewers because, ultimately, that translates into loyal audiences.

There has to be stickiness to the content to bring them back to the channel. One of our strategies is to add a variety of content. For example, we launched one of our biggest IPs (intellectual property) called Amrit Ratna Samman, where we honoured eminent individuals who have contributed to the country. This show was conceptualised keeping in mind our 75th year of independence and the government of India’s ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahosav’ initiative.

Audiences engage with shows that have smart packaging and innovative content. I’d like to share an interesting anecdote regarding one of our most popular shows, Sau Baat Ki Ek Baat. One of the prominent Indians who was honoured at Amrit Ratna Samman was the legendary South Indian actor Rajnikanth. During the event, he shared that his Hindi-speaking employees watch the show Sau Baat Ki Ek Baat every day. That is strong validation for our people who work hard on the packaging of the show and the way it is curated. We intend to bring that to each of our shows and cultivate a dedicated following.

On the increasing competition in the Hindi news genre with new entrants

Karan Abhishek Singh: This genre is a priority for all stakeholders. If a new entrant feels there is a potential gap in terms of the content served to the viewer, then it is an opportunity area for them. From a viewer's perspective, the more choices they have, the merrier. Existing players need to realise what the rest of the market is serving the viewer.

On raising the advertising rates on the channel

Karan Abhishek Singh: Our advertiser partners are sharp people who track movements in the ratings, either directly or through their agency partners. We don’t want to jump the gun just after one week of being number one. There has been great feedback from our advertising partners regarding our content. I’m reasonably confident of strengthening our leadership in the Hindi news genre even further. Once we have the loyalty and love of the largest number of viewers in the country, I’m sure advertisers will be keen to partner with us at the right value.

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