When the announcement that Ravina Raj Kohli would be the president of Star News was made in April last year, critics and professionals alike had sniggered. Their contention - she had no experience in running a news channel.

Today, the snide remarks haven’t stopped, but decreased nevertheless. After all, Kohli has to be credited with having brought her channel into the limelight, despite severing its content relationship with Prannoy Roy’s NDTV. Significantly, her associate in this venture, throughout, was news director Sanjay Pugalia - another debatable choice according to critics.

In the recent past, however, Media Content Communications Services (MCCS) India, which runs Star News here, has been making news for all the wrong reasons. It has been dragged knee-deep into controversies, and has been the target of a media campaign relating to the "alleged" flouting of guidelines.

In an attempt to target the channel from all sides, a section of the government and the Indian media even compelled some domestic media companies to converge under the banner, Indian Media Group (IMG).

Needless to say, the consequences have been rather demoralising for the Star News staff, especially journalists. However, they have managed shine through and how!

Star News seems to be on a consolidation mode now, an upbeat Kohli points out. Her optimism can be gauged from the fact that she is not shying away from questions anymore. Sitting in a spacious-but-now-cramped-looking seventh floor office of Star News in Delhi, Kohli is forthright and straight.

The countdown has begun for Star News to find a credible Indian partner to take 51 per cent stake in MCCS by 28 September.

Efforts to needle Kohli on the controversy regarding the structuring of MCCS, of which she is a board member; and allegations of Star actually controlling the show through shell and backend companies; do not have the desired effect.

Kohli, however, resorted to some delightfully plain speaking in this interview with Indiantelevision.com’s Anjan Mitra. Excerpts:

It’s almost five months since Star News is functioning without NDTV. How would you describe the operation?
We got off to a great start and it certainly exceeded our expectations. When I say this, I am not considering some initial glitches we encountered -- which is true for any new operation.

Today, we seem to be settling down well. We are living up to the channel’s philosophy 'Aap ko rakhe aage’ (keeping the viewers in step with time). Our coverage is up-to-date and the whole machinery seems to be well-oiled. I also believe that we are a trifle different in terms of originality. Some of our innovations have been adopted by our competitors.

What innovations has the new-look Star News come up with? Which of them have been adopted by competitors?
To begin with, the overall look and feel of the channel itself is refreshing.

Our new ideas of features like News 100 (brief news items in 100 seconds) and City 60 are now being followed by others. For example, Zee News started showing news items in brief after us.

Aren’t you a bit ambitious in saying that, considering that Sahara Samay came up with the concept of news-in-a-minute?
No, I don’t think so. I do believe we were the first ones to come up with such ideas. I reiterate, the look and feel of our channel is most refreshing. We put the viewers first and keep their interest in mind.

The viewer, today, is better served with all the variety. But our motto is to keep the viewer's interests, tastes and preferences in mind and work accordingly. It is what you as a viewer would want to see and not what we want to show you.

We have set certain guidelines for ourselves and follow these diligently. The coverage of the Mumbai blasts is ample example -- we were the first ones to come out with visuals and we had a restrained coverage too. Bodies and gory visuals were edited. How many other news channels have laid down such parameters?

It appears that innovation for Star News also mean thrusting upon viewers, news in a flippant way. Besides, anchors like Vir Sanghvi speak anglicised Hindi...
That’s what the media feels. What we have done is to broadbase the viewership and expand the viewers’ taste. We give news that is relevant to the masses; it may not be politics all the time.

Sanghvi’s Vir Ke Teer is widely watched. It has opened up an audience for Sanghvi that was not present before -- an audience that watches Hindi language television.

An anchor speaking anglicised Hindi on a channel that prides itself for being a Hindi channel! Would you call that innovation?
I reiterate, that seems to be the opinion of a certain section of media -- not the viewers on the whole! Today, people who didn't know Sanghvi as Hindustan Times' editor, know him through our programme.

Even abroad, there are anchors who speak English in various accents. So, why not have an anchor on a Hindi news channel with a different Hindi accent?

Having said this, I admit that Star News’ news format is less formal or conventional. However, that too may be termed an innovation, as far as I am concerned.

How do you know what the masses actually want? They probably prefer news on Doordarshan for its sheer news value...
We are constantly getting feedback on what viewers would like to watch. We are also in the process of commissioning a study that would give us further insight into viewers' preferences.

What is the new programming lineup for Star News?
We have recently introduced a rural India based programme Mera Gaon Mera Desh (MGMD), produced by BAG Films. The initial feedback of this show has been quite good.

We are also starting a (state) election-related package under the brand name Kaun Banega Mukhyamantri (who’ll become the chief minister) or KBM. It will be guest anchored by Vinod Dua.

At the moment, we plan to make KBM a weekly 30-minutes show, but as the elections draw near, it would be ramped up to cover a wider canvas.

We are also planning on programme that would view the hits and misses of the print medium without actually commenting on these.

Also Aaj Ki Baat would now have a new anchor and be produced in-house by Star. Rajat Sharma’s contract for the show comes to a end around late October. But we’d continue to have the programme, as the brand name belongs to us.

By terminating Rajat Sharma’s contract, it seems that Star News is cutting down on outsourcing of programmes?
No, we would continue to outsource programmes, the logistics of which we think we can't handle. One example is MGMD. The show needs a wide network of people in the country, including in the rural areas. The crime show Red Alert, is another example.

But, yes, with the type of budget we have, Star News cannot afford to outsource news shows like Aaj Ki Baat.

"We are constantly getting feedback on what viewers would like to watch. We are in the process of commissioning a study to get further insights into viewer preferences"

Does outsourcing mean handing out lucrative contracts to people you want to oblige? Is MGMD is a good example of that?
We have not obliged anybody. When MGMD was conceptualised some months ago, we debated a lot on whether it should be produced in-house, outsourced, or be a joint production.

Then we started checking for production houses having a wide network. Sharma’s company certainly had a network, but then he was already doing a show for us. Then, we zeroed down on BAG Films because not only does it have the required network, but has also done similar programmes for Doordarshan.

However, without any of these justifications, don’t I have the right to choose the production house I want, being the head of a channel? I would also like to point out, that Star News’ involvement is very much there in MGMD -- the anchor is ours and we go through the scripts, etc, very diligently. It would be wrong to assume that we chose BAG Films for any other reason.

Does Star News have a particular programming strategy?
We do have a programming strategy, but no agenda. The strategy that I am referring to is to build up programmes as brands, more than the people.

Every channel has its own brand character and at Star News we are building up brands like National Reporter, City 60 and even KBM. KBM is a political programme, but would unfurl more variety and panache, as time goes by.

But isn’t it true that viewers watch news channels for its anchors? CNN has its Larry King, BBC World its Tim Sebastian and NDTV 24X7 its Prannoy Roy. What about building people as brands at Star News?
I agree with you to an extent. But people become brands only with time. You must not forget that Star News, in its new avatar, is a fledgling channel.

Moreover, a lot of people who are stars in the Indian media are so because of the promotional power of Star. Even in the early days, our anchors like Aparna, Ajay and Sidhartha are quite popular. Anyway, I strongly believe that a channel is always bigger than the people it has.

Since you mentioned Star’s promotional powers, isn’t the popularity of the news channel mostly because of the aggressive distribution and marketing of Star?
We are certainly grateful for that. The cross-promotions on Star channels and the company’s aggressive distribution have helped us a lot. I feel that Star’s brand power has rubbed onto the channel too. We have had a great beginning, but now is the time to consolidate. We have zoomed to the number two spot and the effort now should be to sustain the good work.

Isn't the initial push given by Star 'plateauing' off? You seem to be content at the number two slot...
We are number two in terms of market share and TRPs (among news channels). That’s fine by us; actually the position doesn’t matter much. I have no qualms in saying that the leader (Aaj Tak) is way ahead, but what matters more to us is the reach and the popularity of the channel.

Also, I don’t think there is any 'plateauing' taking effect. It’s a period of selling down and all this number one, number two talks are in the minds of media persons. For us, it’s a consolidation mode.

What about the controversy that has been following Star News from the time it split from NDTV?
I think we are the only news channel that is making news. But on a serious note, the new guidelines (for uplinking) have been issued and we'll conform to the regulations.

That's reassuring for the Indian government. Would there be drastic changes in the shareholding pattern of MCCS?
I cannot exactly comment on it yet, but yes, there would be changes. Our lawyers are studying the revised norms and various options are being explored right now. However, I am of the view that to form such a big joint venture, four weeks' time is a bit unrealistic.

(According to the new uplinking norms for news channels, the applicant company should have at least 51 per cent equity held by a single Indian entity, either singly or in the form of a group of companies, amongst other riders. It would have to comply to this before 28 September.)

Is there a possibility that Suhel Seth, who at present holds 30 per cent stake in MCCS, will hike his shareholding to 51 per cent?
I don’t know the answer to that yet. Various options are being explored.

Do you feel that the Indian government in targeting Star News because of vested interests?
I would not say that. Every government has the right to form guidelines. But there was no need for the controversy in the first place.

The controversy started because of the proxy control that Star -- the foreign shareholder in MCCS -- was wielding through shell and backend companies. What do you have to say about that?
First of all, there is no shell company and whatever corporate structure had been done was as per international practices. As the president of the company, I can vouch for the fact that I run the company. The real power lies with Indians who are professionals and have the national interest in their minds and hearts. We have never been told by anyone, including Star, what to do or what not to do.

Does that mean, the umbrella organisation IMG was daydreaming about Star News flouting rules and, thus, needed a level playing field?
The sequence of events reassure us that we have made an impact on competition. What you call the domestic media’s call for level playing field, I see as broadcasters who have got rattled by us. It has made us realise the impact that we have had.

The way, we as a team, came together during the coverage of Mumbai bomb blast or the Nasik Kumbh Mela stampede, amongst others, was very satisfactory. Our editorial policy of 'Aap ko rakhe aage’ was bang on target for a channel that cares about people.

What would you say is the need of the hour in the industry?
More collaborations amongst the players, especially where coverage of big and planned events -- that cannot be termed as breaking news -- are concerned. Only in India, we duplicate the resources for covering separately an event that is big, but not exclusive.

Why do we have to do that? Abroad, there is this practice of sharing resources and also information and footages. Why cannot that be replicated here too, which will result in huge financial savings.

Has Star News dared to take a lead in such collaborative ventures?
Yes, we did that with Sahara recently for an exclusive Leander Paes interview from the US. We commissioned the interview abroad and later split the cost. The interview was run on both the channels (Sahara Rashtriya and Star News) simultaneously with each giving credit to the other on their channel.

We are actively looking at more such collaborations professionally. We need to pool our resources for big events as an industry and then develop it further.

Is Star News also bang on target with the business plan, considering advertising is now being split amongst many seekers?
I inherited a business plan and I am sticking to it. The advertising has been good so far.

Do you see a shakeup in the news channel segment in another year's time with some channels downing shutters?
Not really. There’s enough scope for growth and I don’t foresee a shakeout in the near future. Healthy competition is best for the moment.

Also read:

Time to consolidate gains: Star News president Ravina Raj Kohli

Rajat Sharma, Star News to part ways; Vinod Dua on board