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"I have been in the news business for almost 10 years now
and I know the strengths and weaknesses of this medium. Having been
a reporter I value news above anything else. These are some of the
values I will be bringing on board at The Times of India Group.
This job was an opportunity of translating my vision of news into
reality. If there is one group that can pull it off and needs to
make its mark in the television space it is The Times of India Group,"
a buoyant Goswami says.
He is of the opinion that the news business has evolved in fits
and starts. "It started out by being a consumer driven need
for change where consumers wanted better programmes, new formats,
a different style of presentation and delivery and a greater finesse
in terms of production quality and they got it from people who came
into television outside the traditional providers like DD. Over
the last few years it has become a supplier driven growth where
more than attempting to look at what the viewer needs, it is more
about what you want to provide," says Goswami. "In the
last couple of years, the number of players has multiplied but there
is not much difference in what they provide and hence this translates
to this common man view that there are lots of news channels but
nothing dramatically different between any of them. That's something
that we are looking forward to changing," he adds.
Commenting on entering an already cluttered news channels' space,
Goswami says that they didn't look upon themselves as being "just
another news channel." Coming from the stable of the country's
largest and diversified media group, the Times news channel will
be looking at changing the rules of the news reporting business.
While new appointments have been happening in fits and starts until
now, April is when major appointments of news anchors and reporters
will be made. With ex-Sony hand as the CEO of the news venture,
the Times will be hiring experienced professionals as well as scouting
for new talent. "We have been incredibly fortunate in the professionals
that have come on board. I can say with complete confidence that
in terms of human resources we will be the most talented pool of
professionals and also one of the youngest team of people to be
leading a news channel. My team brings with it a mix of experience,
a breath of fresh ideas and the willingness to experiment. We have
a group of people who have been a part of the growth of this industry
over the last decade and they have been a part of news channels
like CNBC, NDTV, Star News, Headlines Today etc," says Goswami.
Asked as to what would be the differentiating factor between the
Times news channel and the other players in the market, Goswami
says, "I am extremely possessive about this issue. We have
a good product and we do not believe in following any set formats
that are there in the market. All I can say at this point in time
is that our content will change the rules of the game."
Emphasis will also be laid on the look and feel of the channel,
packaging and set design, which is being overseen by international
designers. "I am personally obsessed with look and feel and
production quality, so utmost care will be taken in the area,"
he stresses.
The Group's new swanky office equipped with live studios, production
control rooms and news rooms is in the process of getting ready
in Kamla Mills situated in Lower Parel in Mumbai. A large bureau
in the Capital, with live studios and production equipment is also
being set up. "We hope to have a fair spread of correspondents
and bureaus across the country. I don't believe that the number
of correspondents or the quantum of your reach is what matters.
It is the quality of your product, the editorial vision and the
sharpness of your editorial focus that matters. And that is something
that we want our channel to be driven by, rather than the number
of people we employ," says Goswami.
Loathe to talk about either the tilt of the news reportage, date
of launch, name of the channel or the programming bit at this stage,
Goswami says, "We want to be completely prepared when we launch
and that's the reason why we are not committing to any precise launch
date till now."
Speaking about the kind of content that the new channel from Times
will be looking at and also throwing light on how there is little
content differentiation in the existing news channels, Goswami says,
"In the existing market, there is no content differentiation
on news channels today as some formats are repeated across channels.
I don't see too much of a difference in one news channel from the
other in the English as well as the Hindi space. There is a lot
of potential in content differentiation and we will do it in our
own way. I don't want to speak too much on competition at this stage
because my focus is more on creating a different product through
this channel."
Delving on the issue of "breaking news first," Goswami
is of the opinion that this issue has been taken a bit too far today
to a point of triviality. "I am disappointed with this trend
today where everything almost becomes breaking news. There is a
false sense of breathlessness, which some channels have been tempted
to fall into the trap of. I don't think viewers are impressed with
this kind of false pace that channels want to inject into their
delivery of news," he voices.
What the Times of India Group's news channel will therefore be
looking at is "serious and well researched content." "The
focus in news channels has shifted from reporting to sourcing information
from agencies or wires and claiming it as their own. I hope this
trend stops sooner than later. The focus on original reporting needs
to be there. We will restore some of these lost values on our channel
when we launch," says a confident Goswami.
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