Importance of Television News in India

Last year’s blockbuster Bunty Aur Bubli had the protagonists, Rani Mukerjee and Abhishek Bachchan, masquerading as television news channel representatives in one of their many scams. This one example is proof enough of the growing popularity of the Indian television news medium that sees the birth of a new news channel almost everyday. Indian television news channels are the hottest thing to have happened to television viewers across the country. With all major television broadcasters including at least one news channel to their bouquet, the choice and variety of news available at the tip of your fingers is mind-boggling. Also the packaging of news has become more seductive, thereby luring viewers of all ages with its creative blend of news, information and entertainment. All this spells magic for brands jostling for more air space in order to capture the ever-fleeting attention of consumers.

In this world of give-and-take, while advertisement provides the much-needed revenue for news channels, television news too has contributed to the growth of advertising. Today anything and everything can become content for television news-Lifestyle, movies, books, home decorations, cuisine, fashion and glamour and even celebrity talk shows. As a result the scope of advertising and marketing a whole variety of products via news channels have gone up as compared to the other latest offerings from the world of media, like Mobile gaming, Internet and so on.

High definition of Television does not make demands on the consumer like other mediums do- literacy is a necessary pre-condition for subscribing to newspapers while being tech-savy is a requirement that one has to meet for mobile gaming or blogging. Television being an interactive medium helps to create an illusion of dialogue between the ads and the viewers thus accounting for high recall. Straight jacketing does not handicap a news programme like “60 minutes” on NDTV with Barkha or Pronoy Roy. The immense variety of news means that a particular slot can have diverse product placements and promotions. News Channels also have the freedom to run threads within a programme carrying advertisement banners for different products. This freedom is not available to others. As a result news channels are booming with sky being the limit. In fact it will not be foolish to say that that day is not far away, when we will get satellite news channel for every major city in India. For more details, please visit www.exchange4media.com