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Channel 7 will be primarily a premium 24-hour free to air news
channel in Hindi, laced with non-fictional programming. Permission
from the information and broadcasting ministry was received last
month and the channel will beam from the Insat II E satellite. Rather
than naming the channel on the lines of Jagran, the group has decided
to name it Channel 7 as both products have different identities
and brand properties.
The emphasis will be to interpret news as it impacts audiences
and presented in a format that is both novel and contemporary in
its approach and treatment. Says Gupta, "The core idea of this
channel is innovation and the dire need to be different. There will
be a lot of focus on non-fiction content from segments like crime,
automobiles, cookery and lifestyle".
An emphasis on non-fictional programming is being laid as a survey
carried out by Jagran highlighted people's requirement from news
channels was more than just political and sports news. "Our
non fiction content will be somewhat on the lines of National Geographic
and The Discovery Channel, but will have a distinct Indian flavour,"
Gupta adds.
The news and information channel is headquartered in Film City,
Noida (on the outskirts of Delhi) and will begin with a 25-bureau
network across the country, which will be further increased in the
months to come.
"Tele-viewers are gradually moving towards appointment-viewing,
rather than the random sampling, as was the initial case with news
channels. Beyond the core, which is news, we shall win the loyalty
of audiences by beaming superior and innovative content that is
in accordance to the company's exhaustive research on viewer expectations.
"The channel aims to occupy a top three slot in the first
year and gradually move towards the numero uno slot," says
a confident Gupta.
The packaging of the channel has been done by the Sydney based
design solution company Bruce Dunlop & Associates (BDA), which
has done work for the likes of Hallmark, ITV and Disney.
The editorial team will be under former Sahara Samay national channel
head Arup Ghosh, who is the director - news for the channel. On
the technical front, Channel 7 is equipped with the best newsroom
and newsgathering technology available to broadcasters today. This
includes Associate Press’ ENPS software, Leitch editing and
servers, VIZ RT Graphic Systems as well as various Dell, Thomson,
Panasonic and Ikegami broadcasting equipment. The channel's current
manpower strength is over 300.
As far as the marketing and advertising activities to promote the
channel are concerned, Gupta says that Jagran will be unleashing
a 360 degrees campaign, including print, television, outdoor, cinema
and the Internet, which will go on for almost two months. While
in North India, the campaign will be print-centric, in Maharashtra
and other parts of the country, stress will be laid on outdoor.
Gupta said that channel had already secured a good advertisers'
base.
While, the group has gone the whole hog in making sure that the
new channel gets a red carpet launch, it remains to be seen whether
it lives up to expectatins.
Also read:
Government
grants uplinking permission to Jagran's news channel - Channel 7
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