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JAIN TV PLANS FOR
ELECTION COVERAGE
Jain News, the channel promoted by the
controversial Dr J.K. Jain, closely affiliated to the
Bharatiya Janata Party, has worked out novel strategy
preparing for its coverage of the vote counting scheduled
to take place next month. The channel, according to
Jain, is chatting with regional language newspapers
all over the country to get second-by-second updates
during the vote-counting phase.
"In earlier elections though we were
uplinking from Moscow we succeeded in beating even DD
to some of election results and news," says Jain. "So
what if Star has Prannoy Roy and Zee TV its Vinod Dua.
Jain News will have its network of local print journalists
who know the terrain better than any glamorous television
personality."
His plan is to run a ticker tape with
the latest results on the channel which will enable
him to be out first with them.
Plans are afoot to import a satellite
news gathering unit within this week. "We are just about
deciding on the brand," he says. Jain is also likely
to apply soon for statutory clearances from the ministry
of information and broadcasting, home, and communications
and the department of space for his earth station project.
"We have managed to get permission to have it housed
on a 11 acre site from the 19 government bodies we needed
to," he says. "We hope to get it up and running by next
year."
Jain is confident that the channel will
become profitable in the first year itself. "Our business
plan says we have to make money in year one itself.
We have managed to get backers once more. Last time
round, we had a three year contract with our financers
who wanted a return equivalent to 20 times their investment.
When the stock market collapsed and we could not achieve
that target, we decide to discontinue the partnership."
He, however, is confident that his current foray will
not meet the same fate as his previous one. "We have
come back from the dead. We've seen the worst and the
best," he says. "This time we intend to stay around."
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