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'Aaj Tak will break even
within three years' |
TV
Today Network executive director G Krishnan is no stranger
to television. A print media professional for nearly 14
years, he was in charge of a proposal in the early nineties
to launch a cable network for The Times of India group in
partnership with TCI, a plan that was later aborted. He
later took responsibility for Times Television which procured
time slots on state-owned broadcaster DD and later took
to producing events such as the Femina Miss India Awards.
In 1995, Krishnan joined leading media publishing group
India Today and went on to produce a daily TV news bulletin
for national broadcaster Doordarshan called Aaj Tak which
gained rapidly in popularity, and was one of the top news
shows on DD for nearly five years. That daily show has evolved
into a full-fledged news channel with Krishnan at the helm.
Aaj Tak TV, despite its pedigree, is facing a tough time
in the market place with not many cable TV systems carrying
the channel. The network nevertheless made a rash of announcements
in the media saying that Aaj Tak was doing very well, thank
you. Indiantelevision.com's Harsha Khot interviewed Krishnan
via email. Excerpts:
How
do you rate Aaj Tak vis-à-vis Star News and Zee News? On a
weekly factored average, what are your daily viewership figures?
Aaj Tak as a brand has been there for over five years now.
As a 30-minute programme on Doordarshan, Aaj Tak used to reach
out to three million C&S viewers daily. Aaj Tak has been doing
extremely well since its launch as a 24-hour channel. The
weekly cumulative viewership for our channel has gone up from
138,6000 to 5,230,000 in a month's time (week ending 3 February),
a phenomenal increase of almost 400 per cent. Aaj Tak has
managed to capture an audience share of 33 per cent among
the news channels as against 42 per cent for Zee News and
18 per cent for Star News. Our average daily viewership for
the week ending 3 February is 60,000 as against 32,000 for
Star News and 76,000 for Zee News. The channel has created
a loyal audience base with the Aaj Tak viewer spending 114
minutes on the channel as against 33 minutes on Star News
and 52 minutes on Zee News.
Where do you have the maximum viewership, using a state wise
break-up?
We have got a good response from almost the entire Hindi-speaking
market. However, north and west India contribute the maximum
share of viewers for Aaj Tak. Your channel has been getting
a fantastic initial but are you confident that the kind of
growth rates in viewership that are being witnessed will be
sustained in the long term? What are the TRPs that you expect,
say six months to a year down the line? The reason for such
a great response is our easily comprehendible and in-depth
news coverage coupled with state of the art technology and
graphics. We expect to maintain our current growth rates of
viewership for at least five to six months, till we are able
to achieve the desired levels of connectivity. The long-term
task would be to maintain the high levels of viewership that
we expect to achieve.
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'Aaj
Tak has managed to deliver real news, really fast to
its viewers' |
Have
you set any goals for the channel in 2001? What are the revenue
projections you have?
Over the last five years, Aaj Tak has been strengthening its
market share in terms of both viewership & revenue. We have
therefore certainly set both viewership & revenue goals for
2001. Aaj Tak began its journey on 17 July 1995 as a 30 minute
programme on Doordarshan's Metro channel and created a loyal
audience base both in all TV as well as C&S homes. Our existence
in the Indian news scenario has lent us the extra advantage
as a 24-hour channel. Aaj Tak has managed to deliver the real
news, really fast to its viewers. The same has been possible
due to our regularly updated and easily comprehendible news
coverage coupled with state of the art graphics and technology.
Not only will our channel deliver reach, on account of our
highly attractive and incentivised rate card, we will also
deliver high opportunity to see (OTS) at extremely cost-effective
rates. Based on the above strengths, we are confident of achieving
a revenue figure of Rs 400 million in Year One itself. Given
the total ad revenue of over Rs 65 billion, our target is
an extremely reasonable 0.6 per cent of the total ad pie.
What has the investment in the 24-hour channel been? When
do you see the channel reaching break-even status?
The Group has invested over Rs 600 million on technical infrastructure,
for broadcasting and news gathering. A substantial amount
of resources has been devoted to newsgathering in terms of
building a widespread network of correspondents with appropriate
technical support. Sizeable resources have also been allocated
to broadcasting in terms of investing in dedicated lease lines,
best digital uplinking equipment, outdoor broadcast vans etc.
We also have the best lightweight cameras, non linear editing
systems and dynamic graphic facilities. We plan to spend an
additional Rs 200 million on strengthening our technical infrastructure
over the next two years. The channel will break even in thee
years time.
TV Today Network Limited has appointed Morgan Stanley
for a valuation exercise. The company is planning to raise
Rs 250 million by March 2001 by diluting 10 per cent of its
equity. According to reports, the funds are to be used to
upgrade technology and acquire modern equipment. The company
is also planning to make a public offering by 2003. Could
you tell us more about this?
A clarification here. We have not appointed Morgan Stanley
for a valuation exercise. The company will raise Rs 250 million
by giving 10 per cent of its equity to financial investors.
This would be used to upgrade our technology. The company
is planning to make a public offering by 2003.
You are also looking at a 24-hour business channel? Any
idea as to when it will launch and how are you planning to
raise funds for the project?
We will look at all opportunities after we stabilise the current
24-hour channel. |
