| Says Saikumar, "We have already done a pilot project
in Mumbai at the Hyatt where we charged Rs 500 per head. 1,500 people
landed up and we had to refuse over a 1,000
"We're now announcing the next stage in the plan where we
will be taking the CNBC investor camps to 26 cities across the country."
There will also be trade related activity around the investor camps,
Says Saikumar. A day prior to the camp there would be contact programmes
directed at the cable fraternity, Saikumar reveals. The aim of the
exercise is to ramp up the distribution of the channel from a presence
in 12 to 15 cities currently to 40 to 44 markets by the time the
channel is ready for launch.
Elaborating on the programming part of the initiative Saikumar
says, "For the investor belt, from a look feel programming
strategy point of view it's going to be completely different. We'll
spread the net wider and wider. I'll give you a small example: 'We
spoke to Sebi who said that today, we've become virtually the single
medium for retail investors across the country'. And there are 30
million of them."
"What is it that the small investor wants. Whether it is the
best places to buy second hand cars, to what is required to start
a small businesses, cash flow requirements, careers, vocational
guidance. These are the needs of the investor. Today we are the
single medium that has the highest interaction with the retail investor
and our influence on the retail investor is as good or as powerful
as that on the business community.
"This is where we believe there is more and more potential
to build programming that addresses his needs uniquely."
There is an even bigger mass contact plan that CNBC has up its
sleeve which involves the launch of a big new show, the details
of which will be revealed at a later date.
Queried as to why the new channel could not be timed to coincide
with the announcement of the budget which is to be presented in
July, Saikumar says there are still some logistical issues that
need sorting out. "We are shifting into new premises in end
July-August. We have to ensure that the change in broadcast operations
of the existing channel is fully integrated and then move in for
other plans," he says. There is also an investment of Rs 60
million that is going into the setting up the bureaux, for human
resources and outdoor broadcasting vans.
Having set forth the outlines of what the Hindi offspring will
look and feel like, what of the mother brand, which will become
a 24-hour English channel in tandem with the launch of the Hindi
channel?
ENGLISH CHANNEL FOCUS ON INFLUENCE BUILDING, QUALITATIVE PROGRAMMING
On this Saikumar offers, "The focus here will be on influence
building, qualitative programming, stickiness. It will largely be
a quality buy for advertisers. That's the strategy there. We don't
want to go mass or retail there."
The changes are already being affected in the CNBC-TV18's evening
band, where the idea is that it should become a more and more influential
brand.
And shows like the gameshow The Challenge, that launches
today, are all part of that effort. Hosted by quizmaster and television
personality Derek O' Brien, the quiz show pits management students
against experienced corporate managers. Another show aimed at the
"elite" is The Lounge, which launches 4 June. The
Lounge is a celebrity based show hosted by television star Simone
Singh.
Chawla gives his take on what the channel will be like thus: There
will be far more analysis and detail than what is there at present.
There will be more international news and the channel will have
a more management and analysis focus.
And rather than just be about reporting it will also throw light
on the latest trends in technology, business, society, says Chawla.
To sum up, the TG of the English channel will be businessmen, financial
analysts, management students, and the like.
Quite the complete business package, covering high end to low end,
is what the two channels will encompass once they are on air. At
least that is what the TV18 brains trust is promising the business
community.
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