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Vashi2Panvel.Com: Navi Mumbai: April 26: After a hectic day’s work, you sit back at home to know what’s happening around the globe. You press your adorable idiot box on and are bombarded with news. You switch the channel for another one and you see the same news, you switch again to find yet the same news… With a plethora of 24 hours news channels being launched now, the viewer is bombarded with the repeated and identical news, across all channels, though packaged differently. Is there something that differentiates one news channel from another?

While a regular and close watcher would be able to ‘spot the difference’ between them, it would be a hard nut to crack for a casual viewer. Despite the fact that all the news channels vouch for more and more news owing to their 24-hours nature, at the end of the day you can’t differentiate one channel from another. Most of the time, the kind of news that run across the channels remain the same, the stand taken by the organisation and the air-time allotted might differ on some occasions. Besides, the correspondents don’t seem to gel in well with the public while trying to get quotes from the audience. The correspondents also end up asking stupid and senseless questions like ‘Are you excited about your new movie?’ ‘How do you feel after having won this match?’ ‘How do you feel being a riot victim?’

Another common feature about the TV News seems to be the desire to blow minor issues out of proportion! This is what they call technically as ‘breaking news’ or ‘Exclusive’. Take the recent Navi Mumbai riots for example. Ironically, all the channels had the same ‘exclusive’ content, the breaking news also being the same of course! Even after two days of the riots when the situation was much under control, all these channels showed the same old footages depicting stone pelting, burning tyres and Police force on guard. At last, the deputy minister RR Patil had to humbly urge them to stop being so sensational. And, then like a hungry cat who’s on a prowl for a rat these news reporters hopped for another hot news.

Star News, whilst, is known for its sensationalism with sting operations happening on a much regular basis, NDTV boasts of a pristine rank for its balance and objective approach towards news. Zee News’ stories lack the zing that can keep the viewer glued till the last second of the show. Channel 7, headed by Rajdeep Sardesai, is fast catching up too. And how can one forget the giant Aaj Tak, the first 24-hours Hindi news channel of the country? Aaj Tak has a tough competitor in Star News though till now Aaj Tak has successfully amassed more viewership than Star or, for that matter, any other news channel. Aaj Tak is also quoting from Cybermedia research and exchange4media - NFO MBL research of viewers’ performance. According to the Cybermedia Research report on channel's viewership released recently, Aaj Tak is the most sought-after news channel. The exchange4media - NFO MBL research on viewers' preferences also placed Aaj Tak at the top, with most of the viewers claiming it as their favourite channel.

CNN-IBN, the latest one to join the business, has come up with an excellent marketing-cum-reporting strategy: ‘The citizen reporter’, wherein they invite citizens to report an issue in and around their vicinity. Besides, Zee News is showcasing some rare documentaries on the lives of the great leaders. Recently, on the 75th anniversary of Shahid Bhagat Singh, they aired a documentary revolving around his life. Ramakant Mittal, output editor-Zee News opines, “We don’t believe in cut-throat competition. We believe in giving a good product. It must present us in a good perspective even though it doesn’t provide us the TRPs everybody vouches for.”

The programming heads and bureau chiefs of all prominent channels viz., NDTV, Aaj Tak, Zee News and Channel 7 were preoccupied in board meetings (being the end of this financial year), while the few we caught up with refused to part with their editorial ideologies, although they all appear the same! Says Karuna Shankar, Asst. Bureau Chief (Sahara News), “Our channel is the leading one in Mumbai and that itself talks about our work. I need not say anything. In fact, I don’t think any news organisation would part with any kind of information about itself. It’s not an issue to be discussed.” Rajdeep Sardesai who heads both Channel 7 and CNN-IBN appeared extremely busy (of course, with his board meetings) and refused to give a quote. Talking about their viewership, Mittal says, “Every time we air an exclusive story, we get a high viewership. In order to grab more eye-balls, you just need to churn out good stories. We have done various sting operations like Operation Mani where we exposed Mani Tripathi’s luxurious life even when he was in the jail. We also had operation Shadyantra that exposed a Supreme Court judge. Likewise, we have cracked several stories for the public good.”

So, are all news channels running in profits? Do they enjoy a good amount of audiences to boast of? And what about the advertising Rupees? These are just some of the questions that Media Planners on large upscale categories are asking themselves. According to the TAM ADEX survey (2006) News channels have registered a steady growth over the last 5 years. Besides there has been a 29% increase in the number of brands advertised in 2005 as compared to 2004. Not just that, a surprising revelation by the survey had it that News channels have the second highest advertising share of spends out of all the channel genres.

The survey also states that the total number of new advertisers on News Channels was 2121 for the year 2005, Suncity Projects Limited being the newest advertiser to spend the highest on any news channel. Sps Group of Companies followed closely with 0.36 per cent spends. Top advertiser Hindustan Lever Ltd spends only 2% on News Channels and the rest on Other Channels while Nokia Corporation spends the highest on News Channels with 16% spends. Besides profits from advertisements, sting operations spell neat dough for the channel through the SMS. For, almost all such programmes invoke viewers to send in their opinion through the SMS which is usually costlier by a rupee or two.

Any guesses as to where do these news channels stand as far as their market share is concerned? They boast a close second against entertainment channels, whoa! That provides they are earning good revenue. Industry analysts feel that it’s just the beginning as 24-hour news is a very nascent concept in our country. There is still a long way to go before it reaches a saturation point, both in terms of viewership and ad-revenue!

Swati Pandey
India News Feature Service