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Media brands are defined by their content and more often than not Content is becoming the real differentiator. Relevant Content is a necessary condition though not sufficient for a successful media brand. Understanding of Content dynamics and strategies is becoming important for Media planning & buying decisions too.

 


We want to be more serious and balanced and go beyond ‘breaking news’. We have a very clear focus on ‘Bharat’, which is distinguished from ‘India’. Most media leaders focus more on ‘India’, which is about 6-8 major cities; the affluent and upwardly mobile people are targeted and the content is advertiser-driven. While I would love to cover the 10 biggest corporates and all the metropolitan cities and their lifestyles, I would also like to cover Rampur, Indore, Kota and the social, political and economic life there.

Rahul Dev is a known name and face in journalism, both print and television. Having spent 28 years in journalism, he has traversed almost the entire range of media – 18 years in Hindi and English print journalism and 10 years in television.

A post graduate in English literature from Lucknow University, Dev began his career with The Pioneer at Lucknow. From there, the journey has taken him to weekly newsmagazines like Current, The Illustrated Weekly, The Week and Hindi publications like Maya. He was Executive Editor of Jansatta, the multi-edition Hindi daily from the Indian Express Group. Before that, he was Jansatta’s Resident Editor at Mumbai for six years. He also launched a Hindi eveninger there, Sanjha Jansatta, which quickly became the largest selling Hindi eveninger in Mumbai.

Dev entered television media in 1997 with Aaj Tak as its Executive Producer and anchor. Aaj Tak was then a daily bulletin on DD 2. After Aaj Tak, he was invited by Doordarshan to become one of their two new prime time news anchors. He stayed there for nearly two and a half years. He has been Advisor to Zee News as well as a prime time anchor. He launched and anchored a daily talk show, ‘Jawabdehi’, on Zee News. He has also worked with Janmat news and views channel as anchor and commentator.

Dev has produced and anchored 104 episodes of a weekly one-to-one interview with a celebrity on a contemporary issue for Doordarshan News called ‘Nishan’. He has also produced a weekly talk show, ‘Women at Work’, for Doordarshan and a daily business news bulletin ‘Market Mantra’ for AIR 2. He runs Samyak Communications that has produced documentaries on education, development and on voluntary organisations. Dev is a frequent public speaker on various forums relating to human development, voluntary sector, cultural, socio-political and media issues. He has been a member of CAPART (Council for Advancement of People’s Action and Rural Technology). He was Vice Chairman of the core committee set up by the Union Ministry for Women and Child Development for a series of state level and national workshops for voluntary organisations. He is a nominated member of Kendriya Hindi Samiti, the apex body for the promotion of Hindi in the country. He works with several Indian and multilateral voluntary and developmental organisations like UNDP, UNAIDS, and NACO on developmental and communication issues. He is managing trustee of Samyak Foundation, which has sensitised and trained over 1,500 journalists in 12 states of India.

In conversation with exchange4media’s Puneet Bedi Bahri, Dev speaks at length about how things have changed over the years in the television news genre; the effects of the slowdown on Indian media; and Bharat vis-à-vis India.

The Indian media industry has been reeling under slowdown for some time now. How has CNEB been impacted by this global slowdown?

We have just started; of course, everyone is affected to some extent or the other. We are relatively new and our revenues are just beginning to come in, so there has been no direct impact on us as of now. Marketers, brands, and advertisers are cutting down on their costs, which is bound to affect everyone – existing and prospective advertisers, the current players and the prospective players. This, in turn, is indirectly affecting everyone in the media domain. There have been no lay-off or pay cuts at CNEB, but we are extra careful about our expenses and don’t want to spend a penny more than what is necessary to put our plans in action. Also, we are tightening all financial process, but at the same time we are also recruiting and we are spending.

The Election Commission (EC) has banned distribution of results of opinion polls and exit polls by the media. What is your opinion on this?

We are completely against it and I have discussed it in my live programme as well. We have gone against it on two basic grounds – one, it goes against the freedom of expression and the media and the Constitution; and second, it has been proven over several decades that this kind of coverage does not affect the outcome or people’s minds. There is no Supreme Court mandate or instruction behind such an order, the Supreme Court merely just mentioned that EC is free to do it if it wants to. This was also a technical Constitutional question asked of the Supreme Court. EC in its own wisdom has imposed it and every time there are elections this issue comes up, especially from the ones who are in fear of losing some seats.

It is really questioning and disbelieving the wisdom and ability of the voters, which has been proven time and again. The diversity and the size of the country show that these things don’t affect them. This, in fact, increases their political knowledge and gives a pulse of the polls. This is an amazingly backward step that EC has taken and we are totally against it. I think the entire media should get together; more importantly, NBA and INS should get together and take up this issue.

What major changes in the Hindi TV news genre have you seen in the last few years?

We are completely against it and I have discussed it in my live programme as well. We have gone against it on two basic grounds – one, it goes against the freedom of expression and the media and the Constitution; and second, it has been proven over several decades that this kind of coverage does not affect the outcome or people’s minds. There is no Supreme Court mandate or instruction behind such an order, the Supreme Court merely just mentioned that EC is free to do it if it wants to. This was also a technical Constitutional question asked of the Supreme Court. EC in its own wisdom has imposed it and every time there are elections this issue comes up, especially from the ones who are in fear of losing some seats.

It is really questioning and disbelieving the wisdom and ability of the voters, which has been proven time and again. The diversity and the size of the country show that these things don’t affect them. This, in fact, increases their political knowledge and gives a pulse of the polls. This is an amazingly backward step that EC has taken and we are totally against it. I think the entire media should get together; more importantly, NBA and INS should get together and take up this issue.

What major changes in the Hindi TV news genre have you seen in the last few years?

There have been several changes. TV news has gone through several phases, there were no precedents, so a lot of ideas were borrowed from here and there, a lot of improvisations were done, and a lot of experimentation happened. There was a time when there was just one news bulletin a day, gradually more bulletins were added, and eventually the news channels followed. The editorial people were mostly picked from the print media, while the technical people were picked from Doordarshan as that was the best at that time. I think what the Indian news industry has achieved in the last couple of years is really amazing. Since there were no precedents, a lot of experimentations took place, in fact, our distribution industry, for example, is globally unique.

The system that has now come in is unique, given its diversity. And it is getting even more organised and technically advanced now and has its own phases of evolution and growth. There have been a lot of changes in the content as well; in fact, the content is being churned on a weekly basis. Marketing has also gone through all these phases. It is still an evolving industry; it took 10 years for the industry to find its feet, but now it has achieved a certain level of maturity. Media has impacted people’s lives, and also affected politics in a major way. The last five years have seen competition growing manifolds. A lot of people have got into this business for the power and the money, while some have come in because of their journalistic passion.

We have also seen a lot of unhealthy content driven by one channel in particular; there have been talks and discussions around it. The fact remains that it was successful not only in terms of eyeballs and viewership, but also business. It had the cheapest programming technique, took nothing, did not need OB vans and huge investments, or expensive technology and news gathering infrastructure. All it needed was a few still pictures to make a one-hour programme, the rest was all sound effects. It became a norm for all and others started to follow suit as huge monies were involved. That phase, too, seems to be passing as those channels are now getting more serious about the quality and content of the news that they are showing. This again I see as a kind of change that is happening. We are now moving back to a more traditional form of news that we had been familiar with and I think this will grow. I hope and I believe that we are learning fast.

How different is your editorial policy from that of other Hindi channels?

We have a stated public policy that we will not sell crime and sex. We want to create a news channel where people come for news and good quality content, content that informs them, makes them think, raises their level of awareness and engagement with issues in the society, a channel which one can watch with one’s family and like it.

We want to be more serious and balanced and go beyond ‘breaking news’. Focus is more on people and processes that produce events of all kinds. There is a huge creative competition, which is very healthy and is good for journalists, people and democracy. We also have a very clear focus on ‘Bharat’, which is distinguished from ‘India’. Most media leaders focus more on ‘India’, which is about 6-8 major cities; the affluent and upwardly mobile people are targeted and the content is advertiser-driven. The challenge before global media is how to deal with sponsored and advertiser-driven content. All advertisers want affluent consumers and media delivers to these consumers.

I am pained by this increasing focus on India at the cost of Bharat, which is about sensibilities, realities, strength, depth and the beauty of the real India, which are being ignored. While I would love to cover the 10 biggest corporates and all the metropolitan cities and their lifestyles, I would also like to cover Rampur, Indore, Kota and the social, political and economic life there. I hope there is a rebalancing of Bharat; not that we will ignore India, but our main focus will be Bharat.

CNEB was launched in May 2008. How do you view the performance of the channel so far?

I came on board six months ago, so I can’t really say what happened before that, but I believe there have been a lot of upheavals on the eve of the launch, as the people who had done all the groundwork and planning, suddenly left on the eve of the launch. The promoters were new in the media business, yet they held on and faced the several blows. I would like to believe that the ship is steadier now and we are more focused and clear about what we want to do. We are in no hurry to get to the No. 1 or No. 2 spot in the next two or three years. We would be happier if we have a respectable place in the scheme of things and we want to be considered as a more serious news channel. The content is what is going to distinguish us.

What are your future plans for CNEB? What are the other states that you are looking at for expansion, and by when?

We are looking at new channels, not necessarily news channels. There are no regional plans in terms of news channels, however, if the opportunity arises, we will look into it. Right now the focus is on consolidating the growth and creating a name and place for ourselves. One can see more infotainment channels coming from CNEB by the year-end.

Interact with Rahul Dev on Content King
Archives

"As the center of gravity in the world is shifting globally from the US and Europe to Asia, there is a shift in India, too, especially on the media front. Foreign multinationals have started understanding India much better now, and as their penetration rates increase, they are encountering the Indian language media."
- K Yatish Rajawat, Editor-in-Chief, Business Bhaskar - 2/24/2009

"Content remains the king. But with changing times, the definition has to be broad based. Primarily, you need good quality content to attract your reader/ viewer. It is good content which attracts the advertiser as well. Hence, advertising follows good content. But, it is a close second. Without advertising (read it as revenues), you cannot spend on promotions, marketing and retaining good talent through salaries. The effect is cascading."
- Shishir Joshi, Group Editorial Director, Mid-Day Infomedia Ltd - 1/20/2009

"The media today is very dynamic and we need to continuously delight the reader to grab and retain his or her attention. There is just too much stimuli out there. So, the biggest challenge will be to keep the reader interested month after month. But keeping the reader interested is also an opportunity for us to keep innovating. Creatively, we have lots to explore."
- Manoj Khatri, Editor & Publisher, Complete Wellbeing - 11/28/2008

"On the Net you get only short stories, for example, about a car launch or so on, but you don’t get feature write-ups or stories around it. That is what a magazine is about. I agree that an Internet presence is very important today, but a magazine is acceptable and will always be acceptable in the long run. Magazine is the only solution – one can take it everywhere and anywhere, and read at leisure. The print medium is very strong and it won’t be replaced any soon. However, one can never predict about the next generation."
- Sirish Chandran, Executive Editor, Overdrive magazine - 10/21/2008

"The first big crisis for journalism came after 9/11 and the media industry failed that test. The essential crisis was: ‘what is the role of journalism in the face of a national crisis?’ The media industry globally failed that test. They became polarised very quickly and began to reflect largely their governments’ views. This was particularly true of the British and the American media. Though the media industry has recovered from this, I am not sure whether it would be able to act substantially differently in the face of the next national crisis, which is very sad."
- Jehangir Pocha, Editor, Businessworld - 9/29/2008

"India is a very big and a very vibrant market. My understanding is that about 85 per cent of the homes watch the NGC channel. It’s is a huge audience we are talking about in India. However, the factual audience is very small in proportion to the several million in India. That’s one huge opportunity."
- Sydney Suissa, Executive Vice President, NGC International - 6/25/2008

"We have a three-fold vision – to create awareness among Indians all over the world about their rich heritage and inspire them to become guardians of the same; to share with people the world over, knowledge about this ancient land; and to keep alive this priceless legacy for future generations."
- Manjiri Khandekar, Editor-in-Chief, Heritage India - 4/16/2008

"“Hindi channels have changed beyond recognition in the last few years…Hindi channels have become very energetic. The pace is phenomenal but they have also dumbed down the content and moved away from news. At times viewers question whether Hindi news channels are news channels or something else! I call them low-cost reality channels. A few have been converted exactly into that.”"
- Ashutosh, Managing Editor, IBN 7 - 2/23/2008

"There are many magazines out there and if you look at a typical newsstand, the magazines are piled up one on top of the other. So, the key question is how do we survive in such a market? Ultimately, the bottomline is that there are two things that decide success – somebody has to come and ask for the magazine by name; secondly, when someone asks for us, we have to be there."
- Krishna Kumar, Group Editor, Dare - 12/4/2007

"“I have seen that the Indian media is extremely sophisticated; the production values are great. Television is growing by leaps and bounds here. So by no means do I think that American or European television is more sophisticated. But what CNN is targeting is not the same as any national news network, and that includes the Indian news channels.”"
- Rena Golden, Senior Vice-president, CNN International - 6/6/2007

"“In terms of technology, Indian television news has come a long way. But in terms of the content, we still need maturity. There is a mad rush for breaking news and everyone wants to be the first in that, which at times leads to misreporting. We have to learn all these things. We have to be mature enough to put in place some control mechanism. We should focus on responsible journalism.”"
- Sudhir Chaudhary, Editor and CEO, Janmat - 4/30/2007

"I believe that the age of the niche has arrived in India. The business model is very different from that of the mass circulation paper, so I would like to differentiate between mass paper and class paper. I regard The Pioneer, Asian Age, and Indian Express as class papers. They have a committed readership, our readers know exactly what these papers stand for and what they get out of it, so they don’t mind paying more."
- Dr Chandan Mitra, Managing Director & Editor, The Pioneer - 10/24/2006

""The biggest challenge for the vernacular press is from the vernacular press itself and not from anywhere else. If you take a closer look, television is not faring that well… People have become bored of TV. Nowadays, people can’t watch any one channel for more than a few minutes… there is the same news in every channel being presented in the same way, why would people view the same news over and over again?""
- Shashi Shekhar, Editor, Amar Ujala - 8/28/2006

"I feel there has to be an individuality that women need to be puffed up about. It’s all about a need and filling that need gap. We felt almost no one in the women’s magazine genre upheld this freedom of self and the freedom of expression. We believe in experiencing and expression, so there has to be a line that symbolises that. That’s the core editorial focus that we will raise the bar and we will reassure and help the Indian woman be her individual self."
- Shefalee Vasudev, Editor, Marie Claire India - 7/15/2006

"Children have a natural attraction to media and this is a universal fact. We come with the belief that television is the most powerful teacher. Now we can argue whether it’s a good thing or a bad thing, but it is a reality. So, the question is not just television teaches, the question is what does it teach. What interests me is that despite huge economic challenges, television is reaching millions and millions of people in India, and if you can use it to promote some of the popular agendas that we have created here with our partners, it has the potential to have an enormous impact."
- Gary E Knell, President & CEO, Sesame Workshop - 6/22/2006

"“I don’t think FDI is required. We have the monies. In fact, Indian companies should be encouraged to emerge as multinationals. Instead of looking at the US and Europe for a shop-out, we should look at publications there that we can grab. It is a reality. If I get the right buy at the right price in the right atmosphere, I will definitely venture into it.”"
- Gireesh Kumar Sanghi, Chairman and Managing Director, AGA Publications Ltd (Vaartha) - 5/18/2006

"

Other magazines like Savvy and Femina also try to empower women. Sananda is for a woman with roots and wings. It talks to a woman with an international bent of mind but with a Bengali heart… The readers feel that every section is relevant. There is no feeling of wastage. Many feel that it has given them the courage to overcome hurdles and work towards fulfilling their dreams. The magazine, they feel, has become much more interactive and, therefore, more credible and useful."
- Madhumita Chattopadhyay, Editor, Sananda - 4/11/2006

"

TV is competing with every other medium – we are competing for a lifestyle and that means many things for our programming. It means our programming has to be more interactive and involving, maybe even more than just programming. Who knows, in the next five years it may not even be a standard television show any more. I don’t want to predict the future here – Ridley Scott has done a good job of that few years ago – but I think that the whole dream of the Internet that started and died is back, and if the government of India can give us broadband a little quicker, it might even keep on living."
- Cyrus Oshidar, Senior VP, Creative & Content, MTV Networks - 3/7/2006

"

The thing about TV is that it is all too dynamic! TV channels are not complacent any more – Sony and Zee were not bothered about STAR Plus and they didn’t take STAR One also seriously and we have seen what has happened in that case. With this kind of a history, we can’t take any one lightly until they have shut shop. As long as they are still active, they will keep trying to make good programming and we will have to better it."
- Deepak Segal, EVP, Content & Communication, STAR India - 12/30/2005

"

The one thing that really excites me about it (the Indian BPO industry) is that it’s open to anything, ready to try anything. I had some interviews with some of the leading BPO providers and the business models that they are going to try are so innovative, the emphasis, for instance, on results – not just like how much can I pay a worker per hour, they are looking at the output per hour, they are looking at the results. So, the payment is based on actual results and quality. I think that’s innovative, there are a lot of good ideas. I think there is competition in the BPO space that is helping to produce innovation. It is coming very rapidly. I am very excited about the Indian BPO space."
- Rusty Weston, Founding Editor, Managing Offshore - 10/27/2005

"

‘Not a newspaper but a movement’. We have been following, what I would call, civil society journalism. The paper has always given voice to the people. We have managed to stay in touch with our readers through initiatives like Aap ke Dwar (At your doorstep) and Pathak Manch (Readers’ Forum). Over the years, ever since I took over as editor 15 years ago, people have come to associate Prabhat Khabar as a newspaper giving information about their surroundings. We have a loyal readership base."
- Harivansh, Editor and CEO, Prabhat Khabar - 9/17/2005

"

“The awards are a pat on the back from our peers and a nod of approval from industry stalwarts who have judged the competitions. There is a great sense of elation… viewers love our content – one look at our ratings, and you’ll see. Advertisers are really seeing the value of the [V] brand today. It has the most creative product and the best innovations.”"
- Amar K Deb, Head, Channel [V] India - 8/31/2005

"

“You should never underestimate a journalist’s power, who do a good amount of research, learning, can write a story, conduct an interview and handle production.”"
- Jason Dasey, Sports Broadcaster, ESPN STAR Sports - 7/13/2005

"Seventeen is every young girl’s definitive guide to an exciting lifestyle. It’s their big sister and best friend."
- Suparna R Motwane, Editor-in-Chief, Seventeen - 6/16/2005

"“In villages, people have a lot of time to read. Even in cities, they read. Chennai has not become as fast-paced as, say, Mumbai. Print will retain its place in spite of TV. That’s because of the detailing and specialty in our coverage of news. Besides regional news, we do carry our share of local interest content.”"
- R Krishnamurthy, Chief Editor, Dina Malar - 5/17/2005

"RTV is focused on providing viewers with the best of true reality television. Our content focuses on the true stories and real life experiences of people."
- Chris Sharp, Chief Programming Officer, Reality TV - 4/26/2005

"I am here to advise The Week on design. It’s a very involved process where the top management, the editor and the editorial team have to get fully involved. It’s not about doing a one-time grid. The journalists have to understand and imbibe it on a regular basis and we are hand-holding that process."
- Dr. Mario R. Garcia, CEO and Founder, Garcia Media - 4/2/2005

"The beauty of soaps is that they have no beginning and no end. One can start watching any soap midway and still not feel lost. People have lost the patience to wait for a week to see what happens next. Soon we may even see soaps being extended to the weekends."
- V Murali Raaman, VP-Programmes & Operations, Jaya TV - 3/22/2005

"I would love Brunch to have double the number of pages and become a bigger magazine but we will take each step at a time. At the moment Brunch is the USP of HT because it is so different and there is nothing like this in the market."
- Poonam Saxena, Editor, Brunch, Hindustan Times - 3/2/2005

"India TV stands for responsible reporting. We do not stand for any religion, ideology or political leaning or for that matter any individual. What we stand for are the people of this country. I want India TV to become the voice of the common man. The beginning has been good and our task is to carry forward this vision."
- Rajat Sharma, Chairman, India TV - 2/9/2005

"What we are saying is that History Channel is where the past comes alive. ‘Alive’ is the single most important word for me and we are really trying to make the past alive and give it an aura. There is an old saying, which says what we are yesterday is what we are today and what we will be tomorrow is because of what we are today. This is our way of saying that if you know a little about what was happening in the past, you would know why we are so today."
- Charath Narsimhan, Vice President, Marketing, History Channel - 2/3/2005

"BBC’s reporting on the Indo-Pak tension is straight down the road. We are deeply sensitive to both sides. India and Pakistan cannot live separately…Our job is not to undermine Indian journalism and Indian media organisations. Our job is to be there as strongly as all other media organisations. People in this vast matrix of information have a choice; they have their favourite stations and their favourite channels that they go back to frequently because they feel comfortable with it."
- Nik Gowing, Presenter, BBC World - 1/11/2005

"We’ve achieved a position where we can safely claim that ABP sets the agenda for Bengal. And, in the entire mission, our stronghold has been the editorial wing. Leave apart the bulk of the Bengali-speaking community for whom the daily is a part and parcel of everyday life, even the ones who are strongly against us cannot afford to put down the paper for a single day."
- Suman Chattopadhyay, Executive Editor, Anandabazar Patrika - 12/27/2004

"Much of the Reader’s Digest’s content is about story-telling, true stories written in a fiction format. Every issue of the Digest also has two or three articles devoted to self-improvement. People like its package, because it is practical, and contains commonsensical ideas. There is also humour in the content. It is this huge range and variety in content and the fact that the articles are very well-written that has ensured its place as the most popular magazine in India."
- Ashok Mahadevan, Editor – Reader’s Digest,  - 12/7/2004

"Our role is to keep up with new technologies, to take into account emerging markets geographically and in terms of media, and make sure we contact the right people. No other country in the world has this kind of an organisation for producers of fiction, non-fiction, animation and distributors."
- Mathieu Bijot, Executive Director, TV France International - 11/20/2004

"Is there really a clutter? There are just around 8-10 women-centric magazines, and I don’t think that can be called a clutter. Compare this with the situation in the Western markets. The UK alone has 120 titles in the women’s segment! The US market has some 70-80 titles. And yet, see how well GH is doing in both those markets."
- Mala Sekhri, Publishing Director, Lifestyle Division, India Today Group - 11/2/2004

"Everybody else has taken a leaf out of our book. Whether it is reality shows or talent shows, we see people imitating our strategies. Star Plus pulled off its programmes at 8 pm and introduced daily shows just because we did so. We have our own gameplan while others do what they want to. So we don’t imitate others’ strategies."
- Tarun Katial, Executive VP, Programming and Response, SET India - 10/9/2004

"I believe that television channels are dominated by print. Very few of them are hardcore broadcast people. That is why here at India TV, we have tried to converge the broadcast-centric people. This really helps in changing the quality of programmes."
- Ritu Dhawan, Managing Director, India TV - 9/19/2004

"I think it’s very important to have a strong volume of cricket – to launch as a football channel, an extreme sports channel or a golf channel in India (as has been done elsewhere in Asia) makes no sense. Cricket is important."
- Peter Hutton, Vice-President – Programming, Ten Sports - 8/28/2004

"HT City is all about colour and that’s what we infuse in the attitude of young people. A newspaper has to change according to the changing preferences and needs of the reader. We have to cater to the changing mindset. But we are also conservative. We are not living in a sexually rampant or promiscuous society. We do not wish to upset our readers; information that has a direct bearing on life is what we provide."
- Sourish Bhattacharya, Editor, HT City, Hindustan Times - 8/13/2004

"We know our limitations. We are in no way intending to fight with the Goliath. I know I am David, but I also have a sling in my hand. We will build a distinct identity for Dainik Statesman with unbiased content; that will be our strength."
- Manas Ghosh, Editor, Dainik Statesman - 7/21/2004

"The overwhelming response that we get from NGOs, corporates and concerned individuals alike is proof that we are needed. We are on no one’s side and we want to prove that people want information that they can trust."
- Umesh Anand, Publisher, Civil Society - 6/19/2004

"We have a vast network of reporters and stringers covering every conceivable place in the region that we cover. Further, to ensure seamless flow of information, every reporter and stringer is well wired up with our editorial offices. I must say that television can hardly ever reach the remotest corners that our reporters cover."
- Atul Maheshwari, MD, Amar Ujala - 5/31/2004

"Wildlife channels mostly present wildlife in it actual form. But I am completely against films that give wrong signals to human beings about beasts. Showing men jumping on animals or forcing them to open their jaws or claws is certainly against ethics."
- Mike H Pandey, CEO, Riverbank Studios - 5/8/2004

"We are never satisfied. I will give you an example. When we started with afternoon, the highest ratings that came then were around 3. We were hell bent to get 4 and when we did get it, we were excited but the target changed to 5. And currently we are rating at 13 plus, trying for 15."
- Shailja Kejriwal, Creative Director, Content & Communication, STAR India - 5/3/2004

"Making a Punjabi film is not a costly proposition. Besides, there is a huge market across the globe that is waiting to be tapped. Language is no barrier to films."
- Rabindra Narayan, President, ETC Channel Punjabi - 4/26/2004

"The speed of evolution in Indian media is mind-boggling. Today’s competitive Indian media is pro-active. It diligently covers all the different facets of political, civic and business journalism."
- Terry Friel, Chief Correspondent – India, Reuters - 4/19/2004

"Animation involves huge investments in people and technology. At this stage, the partnering for production with the western world is helping to grow the talent base by about 100 per cent every three years."
- Biren Ghose, Founder & CEO, Animation Bridge - 4/12/2004

"Our challenge is in providing content that has local relevance. There is no point in picking international content as they are, because the information on products may not be relevant in the domestic segment."
- Shyam Malhotra, Executive Director & Editor-in-Chief, Cyber Media - 4/3/2004

"The History Channel is a world channel. At this stage, the focus in India is on distribution. We will bring in new elements in due course."
- Dilshad Jal Master, Senior VP & Head, Content & Communications, The History Channel - 3/27/2004

"The dos of programming are ‘Dare to be Different!’ Always build on your strengths and push the envelope. Even if you fail, you must keep trying. Above all, never take your viewer for granted. She is much smarter than you think! As Ogilvy said, with regard to advertising, the consumer, in our case, the viewer, is not a moron – she is your wife!."
- Zarina Mehta, Creative Director, UTV - 3/22/2004

"Programming is an art and one goes by intuition. Five or ten years is a long way off. The product cycles are much shorter. And success lies in keeping everything simple."
- Narendra Morar, Commissioning Editor, BBC World - 3/13/2004

"Marketing can bring potential readers to sample what is on offer, but a loyal readership is built only with relevant content. We meet the total needs of our readers and we pay a great deal of attention on localisation of news."
- Sudhir Agarwal, Managing Director, Dainik Bhaskar Group - 3/8/2004

"Our approach to government policies is very Indian. Further, we maintain a strong focus on Indian business. FE would be a window for the world to Indian business, and not necessarily the other way around."
- Dr Sanjaya Baru, Chief Editor, The Financial Express - 3/4/2004

"We take our readers for a spin in the car we are talking about. We undergo a learning process ourselves along with our reader and in the process end up telling them a good story about a car."
- Bijoy Kumar, Editor, Business Standard Motoring - 2/29/2004

"India tends to make the whole liberalization process very complicated. There are far too many debates on the subject."
- Simon Long, South Asia Bureau Chief, New Delhi. - 2/25/2004

"We are a much more rounded paper with our coverage extending to not only business news but also the political economy, the political risks and the political events."
- Andrew Gower, Editor, Financial Times - 2/21/2004

"You see people at the pinnacle of change. That’s the best part of being a journalist."
- Maria Ressa, Bureau Chief, CNN Jakarta - 2/18/2004

"For niche segmentation, knowledge support is as important as journalistic skill"
- Rajiv Saxena, Editor & Publisher, Educare, Mangement Compass - 2/14/2004

"Zee News is primarily content-driven. We show, without giving it any angle or slant, news as it happens. It is news first, views later."
- ALKA SAXENA, Editor and Head of Programming, Zee News Channel - 2/11/2004

"I think our industry has spoilt the reader to an extent that we are forced to depend solely on our advertisers. But what the reader doesn’t realize is that he is getting an inferior product as the content is sometimes compromised. I think the biggest issue faced by the industry is that we are heavily under priced."
- Shanth Kumar, Editor, DECCAN HERALD - 1/24/2004

"If you want quality, then content, photography, presentation and production value each has to be given equal weightage. Man’s World is a premium product and people have expectations. To deliver, one must excel in each of these inputs. We give equal attention to each factor to beat any kind of competition."
- N Radhakrishnan, Publisher and Editor, Man’s World - 1/13/2004

"The mindset of the editors and newspaper owners is also changing and they are now giving importance to news graphics."
- Vijay Kumar, Executive Editor, KBK News Graphics - 1/1/2004

"An anchor is only as good as the news they have covered. He has to know the stories inside out. I spend many more hours off-air than on-air; in keeping myself up-to-date with everything that is happening around the world."
- Jim Clancy, Anchor & Correspondent, CNN International - 12/9/2003

"Storyboard’ has a ‘feature magazine’ approach. In the television context, this means that in addition to analytical and researched content, time and effort are spent on conceptualizing and presenting a story visually. How you tell the story is as important as what the story is."
- Anuradha Sengupta, Features Editor, CNBC TV18 - 12/3/2003

"News is not PR. Whether it is entertainment or advertising, each organization should have a lakshman rekha. If an advertiser's message becomes so great that your news becomes PR, it is unacceptable. If the advertiser can benefit you, welcome him. It need not be an antagonistic relationship"
- Rajdeep Sardesai, Managing Director, NDTV - 11/21/2003

"Being a general entertainment channel, we target men, women and children and we get this target for our daily soaps. You will be amazed by the children viewership we have for the so-called Saas Bahu serials. For programmes like 'Kahiin Kisi Roz', we get a large male population. People want to watch this today. A 'Kehta Hai Dil', a 'Sanjivani' or a 'Saara Akaash' did not work until we brought in a scheming saas or a wrong marriage."
- Deepak Sehgal, VP Content & Communication, Star India - 11/19/2003

"Autocar India has evolved with the rapidly changing market place. First seen as a magazine for only enthusiasts, it now has wider footprint and caters to consumers as well."
- Hormazd Sorabjee, Editor, Autocar India - 10/21/2003

"Femina doesn't want to produce content for which there are no takers. That would make us like the art specialists who come up with abstract art and try and sell it to people who are least interested."
- Sathya Saran, Editor in chief, Femina - 10/10/2003

"Definition of content has changed over the years. Now you see a little bit of the MTV factor everywhere. At times, one feels that the balance has changed more towards entertainment."
- MJ Akber, Editor in chief, The Asian Age - 9/15/2003

"The world is changing and so are reader tastes and market requirements. A Newspaper must reflect these changes"
- Manoj k Sonthalia, Chairman and Managing Director, Express Publications, Madurai - 9/1/2003

"Mindless entertainment on television will finally yield to news"
- Nalini Singh, MD TV Live,  - 8/18/2003

"Any ideal media product, which is meant for the masses, should reflect all the aspects of an Indian life. The key is the treatment, and the quality of the treatment. It's not about what you cover, it's about how you cover it"
- Tarun Tejpal, CEO, Tehelka.com - 7/26/2003

"I am sure anyone who saw the final of Ranji Trophy could not watch for more than 20 minutes. I watched 15 minutes and I thought I was getting angry. It was the worst telecast in the history of India. It was shocking. And you get angry when you see your country showing a telecast like that"
- Harsha Bhogle, Presenter & Commentator,  - 7/1/2003

"Mad race for breaking news is eroding the credibility of news channels"
- Rajat Sharma, TV celebrity,  - 7/1/2003

"IMAGES has played a vital role in organizing the fashion business and has virtually set up an information exchange that equips the domestic trade with vital knowledge on developments from across the globe."
- Amitabh Taneja, Editor-in-Chief & Publisher of IMAGES group of publications,  - 6/14/2003

"We already have a strong core group of loyal readers and understand the pulse of the globally aware Indian - this is the edge we would concentrate on to stay ahead."
- Manjira Dutta, Executive editor, India Today Plus - 5/26/2003

"We put context to business developments, exploring unexplored areas and providing new insights that are useful for practical business decision-making, says Tony Joseph, Consulting Editor, Businessworld summing up the role of the magazine in the business genre. "
- Tony Joseph, Consulting editor, BusinessWorld - 5/9/2003

"The media planners sitting in Ivory towers need to urgently take heed of the strategies and methods used by newspapers in their distribution. They need to question and take a fresh look at the numbers on the basis of which they spend crores of rupees. It's time they understood market dynamics and realities. "
- Ravindra Kumar, Editor & MD, The Statesman - 4/29/2003

"Why is that only bad news is news for media? Why does the news channels believe that only bad news will sell? If one attempts to package some good, positive news in a decent manner, people will watch it and like it."
- Arup Ghosh, Head-National Channel, Sahara Samay - 4/15/2003

"But, the news editor must be able to decide as the copy taster in print news room, whether a particular event is really a breaking news or he is just creating a breaking news. "
- Prem Prakash, Chairman, Asian News International - 3/31/2003

"The content production adheres to the intrinsic theme - visually stunning and educational"
- Afsana Amarsy, Co-President, PRIMESCO - 3/25/2003

"You can no longer afford to deliver a poor production quality programme to the Indian viewers."
- Raymond Hume, Director of Cricket & Indian Production, ESPN STAR Sports - 3/4/2003

"I feel 'Secularist media' will either learn to behave it self, by realizing its mistakes, or it might get persuaded to modify its negativity."
- Manoj Raghuvanshi, TV Anchor and Producer,  - 2/8/2003

"Quality has become a causality and the very foundation of journalism is getting weakened. "
- Alok Mehta, Editor, Outlook Hindi - 1/30/2003

"We try to make news a personal experience, believes Aaj Tak. The 24-hour, buzzing Hindi news channel, initially started as a 30-minute news and current affairs program on DD Metro in 1995."
- Uday Shankar, News Director, Aaj Tak - 12/28/2002

"I feel the editorial quality does play a huge role in getting quality advertising. The time spent on reading a paper having quality editorial would be much more and that is an important aspect when different media are fighting for the consumers' time."
- Akila Urankar, President, Business Standard - 12/7/2002

"I feel that the attention spans of the readers have become small. News is not sinking into the minds of the readers, and they are just skimming at the surface. "
- Chandan Mitra, Editor & MD, The Pioneer - 11/19/2002

"We are out to broaden sports audiences. We want to get higher females and be innovative in using mediums like SMS in conjunction with our programming. "
- Peter Hutton, VP- Programming & Events, Ten Sports - 10/23/2002

"Television Movies is a big business in US. My recent production Dinotopia is $ 85 million project. That's big! Today, I can afford big Hollywood stars and pay them comparable sums of money."
- Robert Halmi, Senior Chairman, Hallmark Channel - 9/10/2002

"K Soaps on Sony and Star are very different. On Sony, serials focus on Individuals while on Star they focus on families."
- Nachiket Pantvaidya, VP-Programming & Production, Sony Entertainment - 8/19/2002

"Our philosophy is to cover all the news that the other newspapers would either not be able to access, or would not be able to publish. We always have sharp opinions and we always take a stand on issues."
- Shekhar Gupta, Editor-in-Chief, The Indian Express - 7/15/2002

"Every newspaper and television channel has 'magazine' sections. Yet, there are certain things that you can do in a magazine that a news channel on business cannot do."
- Sanjoy Narayan, Editor-Business Today,  - 6/24/2002

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