"As and when a viable proposition for an English
language (news) channel with the environment being right comes up,
we'd look into it. But at the moment we are focusing only on the existing
news channel in Hindi," Star News president Ravina Raj Kohli
said today on the sidelines of the Star News
Golf Cup organised at the lush Jaypee golf course on the outskirts
of Delhi.
According to Kohli, "At the moment, there's lot of churning
or hectic activity going on in the industry and Star News would
like to keep itself focused and ride out this phase consolidating
in the process."
Asked to elaborate on this, Kohli said that since people have many
choices (amongst news channels), they are surfing a lot, even as
news channels are trying out news ideas and technologies.
"It'll take some time to settle down and, maybe, by next year
things would be calmer and less hectic," she added, pointing
out when the real picture would emerge.
Reiterating her pet theory that TV channels cannot afford the luxury
of showing viewers what they think is worth watching, Kohli said
that the today's viewers are demanding and want to watch what they
want. "If you don't give them what they want, they skip you,"
she explained.
In this regard, Star News is attempting to be constantly in 'touch'
with the viewers through the SMSs and e-mails received as feedback.
Pointing out that Star News is not willing to enter into the numbers
game of who's No. 1 or not, Kohli also took a swipe at competition
and the leader saying it is too "over powering," at times.
However, she was quick to add that it was a "matter of time"
before they catch up with the leader (Aaj Tak)."
Asked the role that aggressive distribution can play in such a
'hectic' scenario, Kohli said with so many options a desire has
to be created amongst viewers to watch a particular news channel.
Without divulging vital statistics that go on to tell on the bottomlines
of a company, Kohli said, "Star News is a revenue driver for
the (Star) network."
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