MUMBAI: The stage is set for the fifth edition of the most prestigious News Television Summit and Awards, organised by Indiantelevision.com.

Endorsed by the Information & Broadcasting Ministry, the Summit will be be held at The Lalit, New Delhi on 28 March. Held amid a troubled global economy, the theme of the summit is ‘Seeking a growth injection: Is digitisation the answer?’

The Summit will try to answer some of the most burning issues that the TV news industry faces today. The industry continues to see new entrants by the droves. It has, however, got its house in order on the editorial front to a large extent. Loyal audiences tune in to news and events, providing peaks in viewership.

But advertising is not keeping pace and losses continue to dog TV news. So what is the way forward? Will subscription revenues save the day as channels turn pay in a digitised environment? Will the plethora of channels consolidate in every state through mergers and acquisitions? Or will madness and the status quo continue? Be a part of the summit to know more.

Says Indiantelevision.com founder, CEO & Editor in chief Anil Wanvari, “The news television industry, along with the rest of the broadcast sector, is at an interesting juncture with digitisation set to hit cable TV over the next two years. Additionally, with online and DTH spreading, and 4G set to emerge, it will have newer revenue streams to tap into. The NT Summit 2012 gives industry leaders a chance to pause and examine how best to build a robust news television ecosystem.”

This year, the Summit will see four sessions, starting 3 pm, followed by the Awards. The first session, ‘Tech Trends’, will have technology guys from the news networks sharing the podium. This will be followed by a session on “A look at the Genre”, in which all the aspects of the industry – marketing, advertising, content and distribution will be discussed.

The session on content will have news channel editors brainstorming on the right content mix.

The last session of the Summit will be the "leader panel” in which chief executives of TV news companies will talk about the biggest problem the industry faces - How to run a profitable TV news biz in the wake of high distribution and personnel costs, slowing revenue, supply of plenty, scarce capital and a halt to expansion drives?

The closing address will be delivered by an I&B ministry representative.