Rajat Sharma, Chairman, India TV

Rajat Sharma, Chairman, India TV, heralded the era of “crusading journalism” and gave television journalism a new idiom with Aap ki Adalat. With 22 years of journalistic experience behind him, Sharma stands for responsibility and credibility and does not hesitate to question the accountability of those in position and in power. In the early 80s, Sharma began his career as a trainee reporter with the well-known publication Onlooker. In 1995, he became the Editor of the publication. He then moved to The Sunday Observer as Editor.

Finding television a more forceful medium, Sharma joined Zee Television in the early 90s and demonstrated his ability to achieve formidable targets by setting up the New Delhi office single-handedly. As head of news and current affairs, Sharma started the first daily news bulletin on a private channel in 1995. He went on to rework the prevalent interview format on television by introducing an adversarial element through the use of a courtroom environment in Aap ki Adalat, a programme that achieved a huge popularity and contributed significantly to the channel’s popularity.

In 1997,the entrepreneurial spirit took over and Sharma left Zee to set up Independent News Service (INS), which was in the business of TV news and current affairs programming. The idea was to develop and establish a news network utilising cutting-edge technology. INS has to its credit programmes such as Aap Ki Adaalat, Aaj Ki Baat, Awaaz, Aaj Subah and a host of election bulletins and special interviews. India TV, Sharma’s latest venture, is a 24-hour Hindi news and current affairs channel launched by INS. In an interview with Malini Menon of exchange4media, Sharma speaks about the objectives, content and teething problems of the young channel. Excerpts:

Q. What kind of news network does India TV have?

We have more than 200 reporters all over the country. In Delhi itself we have 25 correspondents. In terms of numbers it is certainly very big.

Q. Isn’t it true that people accept Rajat Sharma more than the channel?

Possibly yes. After all you need one face that people can identify with. I must say people in this country have been very kind to me and have given me a lot of affection and respect. This is the reason why it’s my job now to create more faces to whom people will shower equal amount of respect and love. That is why our whole effort is to make India TV an anchor-driven channel. Our task is to bring in faces that are credible and get people who have contributed significantly to their field.

Q. How hard is it to establish a new channel?

Well, let me tell you, I come in at 7 am and leave at 2 am. So I am at work for more than 12 hours. And so is every single soul working in this office. Everybody within the premises of India TV is really working hard and putting in at least 12 hours. There are people apart from me who have not taken a single day off for the last six to eight months. We are not complacent at all and we are aware of the fact that we have come very far but there is still a long way to go.

Q. What has been the investment for the channel?

Well, in terms of money, my finance people will tell you Rs 70-100 crore, but more than money what we have invested in is creating credibility among the masses. Secondly, I have personally invested a lot in human resources. Today I can tell you with authority and confidence that all those people working with me -- if you compare with other channels -- are the best in human resources. We have taken them from various organisations. There are people who have been working with me for the last six to seven years. This is what I call real investment.

Q. Every channel talks of innovation. How is India TV innovative?

As far as India TV is concerned, all our programmes are innovative. For instance, we are the only channel to have a 20-minute non-stop news bulletin. Every bulletin starts on time and the 10-minute break is used for Maneka Gandhi’s programme, a show called Sab Golmal Hai, which talks about food adulteration. Then there is a programme called Bach ke Rahna, which is about catching people doing wrong things in public places. No channel has programming like this.

We have innovated on the advertising front too. Any advertisement that appears in India TV is a solus ad. We don’t have chunks of advertising. In India TV every bulletin will have five to six breaks but they would be of 30 seconds. Moreover, most channels copy the concept and sets from foreign programmes. I can say with authority that not a second of our programming is a copy from any international channel.

Q. What is the kind of tie-up you have with Al Jazeera? Is there any revenue sharing arrangement?

There is no revenue sharing with Al Jazeera. Our tie-up with the channel is basically for content sharing. They can take news from India TV and show it on Al Jazeera and vice versa. We also take one bulletin of Al Jazeera, translate it from Arabic to Hindi and show it. Our idea is to make people know about the Arab world. There is sufficient information on the US and Europe but not much on the Arab world. Also, there are misconceptions about the Arab world. We want to clear these misconceptions. Moreover, they are launching an English channel sometime next year, and at that time may be they will look at distribution with us. However, presently there are no such plans.

Q. However, there is a clutter of Hindi channels now.

I love that! If there were no channels and I didn’t have anybody to compete with and if I’d been successful, what’s so great about that? The challenge lies in the fact that there were three channels already there for three to five years and I have to compete with them, make a mark for India TV. This is what makes sense to somebody like me.

Q. Are you aware of the fact that India TV is not among top ten channels in most homes?

I never expected India TV to be among the top ten channels in the initial stage. Our first challenge was to reach as many homes as possible and frankly I don’t see any news channel among the top ten list because the entertainment channels are always listed higher by the cable operator. What is important to me is that every home should have India TV and people should be able to see the digital quality we are providing. This is something we have achieved. With all honesty, I can admit that our competitors are worried. Nobody took me lightly from day one. In fact, most channels never expected us to do so well so soon.

Q. Considering that there are cases against Suhaib Illyasi, do you believe that this is affecting the programme?

It hasn’t. In fact the Most Wanted is very popular. Yes, when cases were slapped and there was bad publicity, he did take a beating for a while. But a lot of time has passed and I really don’t know how much of credibility is left in those cases that were slapped against him. As far as India TV is concerned the programme has done well and he has helped the police in catching twelve top criminals. The police in fact communicated to us that the show has been highly helpful in nabbing some criminals.

Q. Do you think that somewhere Aap ki Adalat dominates other shows?

We expected Aap ki Adalat to be the channel driver because it’s a show that has been on for 10 years and had done well on Zee and Star. In the last two years, wherever I have gone, people kept asking me why don’t I start Aap ki Adalat again! However, our attempt now is to create more shows like this. We want to come up with different shows where the common man’s concerns are raised. Shows that would ask a question which people want to ask. Shows where people can come and freely express their views.

Q. Why did you get into the Hindi news segment considering that Aaj Tak had already penetrated most markets and it is choc-a-block?

Hindi is a language with which you can reach out to maximum number of people. It was a conscious decision to get into Hindi because we believed we should speak the language that most Indians are comfortable with. Moreover, people who speak in English already have access to information, whereas most of those who speak Indian languages do not find information. They have been kept away from responsible reporting and I think if you want to change this country, it is essential for you to speak to the people in their own language.

Q. Is India TV thinking of launching new channels?

We certainly have plans for some niche channels. Not the ones that are already there like business, history or travel and lifestyle. We have facilities to launch two more channels without in any way going for an expansion. So we will be exploiting those facilities in the very near future but the first target will remain to put India TV in top gear. There is no specific time frame to this but our plans for new channels are on and simultaneously people are working towards that.

Q. How has India TV done since the time of conception?

When I look back, how I had envisioned it and how it has turned out, I realise that we have done much better than we expected. I expected that distribution will take a little time but my distribution department tells me that we are already reaching more than 30 million homes. I always wanted my channel to be different and I thought people would realise this at a later stage. However, from the feedback that I am getting, our channel is perceived to be different because of its unique programmes.

Q. What is the vision behind India TV?

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.

Q. So what’s the latest on your prime time?

There are quite a few, actually. We have Evening News, Monday to Sunday, at 8 PM, which helps you update yourself with the entire workday’s news, as the presenters share 50 minutes of crisp analysis with India TV’s Editors. We also have Aaj Ki Baat, from Monday to Friday, at 9 PM, in which Rajat Sharma shares his pick from the news basket. Just a handful of stories and 30 minutes of comment, zero clutter, clear and cryptic, unsparing, and now with a new look.

Showtime comes at 9.30 PM, and it is all about Bollywood to Hollywood, culture to couture, ragas to rock. India Live takes you across the country as Sudhir Chaudhary hooks up with our best reporters for 50 minutes. The remotest locations come alive on this programme. Al Jazeera now comes in a brand new time slot of 10.30 PM, Monday to Sunday.

We have introduced Speed News right through the week. It is a fast and zippy half an hour programme at 11 PM targeted at those who have had a long day, and would like to catch up on news events. Kal Ka India on Sundays is about discovering India’s best schools. We have already featured schools like Woodstock, Welhams, Doon, Sherwood. Then there is the daily Jeene Ki Raah with Maneka Gandhi focusing on animals and nature.

Q. What are the limitations that India TV has faced?

Limitations have initially been in terms of getting the right people to run the channel. This is because the technology that we are using is the most advanced. Ours is perhaps the first channel that is fully digital from recording to broadcast and we are using Avid systems which no other channel uses. So to get people in a fully automated system and get going with the channel was a big challenge. Many had suggested that we go in for three months of dry run but I didn’t have that much of patience. So the training got reduced to 15 days and when the channel started, the training process was still on. Six months after that CNBC introduced something close to our system.