News channels - a reality check


Indiantelevision.com Team

Posted on 24 September 2003

A view to a kill. That was what the news channels that dot the cluttered and getting even more so television skyline had in their viewfinders on 25 August after two deadly bomb blasts ripped through the heart of Mumbai's diamond market and outside its poshest hotel. With more than 50 dead and 150+ on the injured list, all in a matter of minutes, it had all the ingredients for classic live news television drama.

So how did the channels measure up? With the populace desperate for information, and each channel desperate to be first off the block, what we got in large measure was over-excitable television coverage. Three blasts, four blasts (one channel even said six) is the sort of information that was thrown at an already panic-stricken city when a basic police check would have ascertained the facts.

EVENING AFTER: The wreckage of a car damaged by a powerful bomb blast lies in front of the historic Gateway of India in Mumbai. (Photo courtesy AFP)

The aftermath of the blasts was if anything, even worse. The sight of channel crews roaming through hospitals already harried with trying to cope with the emergency and still wet behind the ears presenters thrusting microphones at wailing relatives, asking for their comments was hardly award winning TV journalism.

There were more irritants on that fateful day. At a time when everyone's principal concern was the blast and its aftermath, the peculiar Indian obsession with politics was evident in the almost equal airtime as the blasts story that some channels gave to the shenanigans of the Mayawati government in Uttar Pradesh, which was in crisis then.

The performance of the channels during the Mumbai blasts was certainly a good wake up call to everyone in the business. But that's only the downside to what has been a tough and challenging six months as the channels come to grips with the realities of doing business in a competitive scenario that probably has no parallel anywhere in the world.

Five new channels on the news landscape - Star News, NDTV India, NDTV 24x7, Sahara Samay and Headlines Today - and more to come, no easy pickings that's for sure. The upside is that while business continues to be tough with so many players fighting to extract that extra rupee from the same pie, the number of advertisers coming to news as a whole has been showing a steady increase, even if the rise in viewership for news channels has been marginal.

According to TAM data, the last six months has seen an increase of the collective news viewership pie from 3.3 per cent in March to 3.7 per cent at present. A clear feature of news viewing is the link it has to events of major portent. The highest spikes in news channel viewership were seen at the end of March (the height of the US-led invasion of Iraq) and the week of 25 August, which was when the Mumbai blasts occurred.

So, while the channels have to run ever-harder just to stand still, a picture is emerging as to who are in it for the long haul, and who look like being also rans.

Shuttling between Kolkata, Delhi and other cities, news director for TV Today Network Uday Shankar is keeping a busy schedule because competition is slowly covering the lead the country's "subse tez" news channel channel Aaj Tak enjoys. The chasm between the No. 1 and a distant No. 2 is comfortable, but complacency has seen the downfall of many a TV channel (Zee News being a good example in this case) and that is not acceptable to Aroon Purie, owner of The India Today Group and TV Today Network.

On the other hand, referring to data thrown up by TAM in the 36th week, Star News president Ravina Raj Kohli says figures she has with her show that in the 8-9 p.m. slot on weekdays National Reporter, with 30 per cent GRP, is ahead of Aaj Tak, which has a GRP of 20 per cent. Zee News is slightly behind, followed by NDTV India and Sahara Samay with 15 per cent GRPs each.

But Kohli is not satisfied after that initial feeling of triumph. "The channel has to rock and start rocking soon," she says, hinting at tough times not only for the employees of Star News, but also the competition.

And Kohli has good reason to be wary. According to an industry executive till recently in media buying, over the next six months, the battle for the Number 2 spot is likely to be truely joined with Prannoy Roy's NDTV India steadily gaining ground.

Says NDTV Media CEO Raj Nayak: "The initial hurdles have been long overcome and today the distribution of NDTV is easily comparable to that of any other news channel. This is also borne out by the viewership numbers. The fact that we are India's No. 1 English News Channel is an indicator in this direction."

Still, when analysts look beyond this hype of the number game of TRPs and weekly GRPs, the feeling that they get is despite India witnessing mushrooming of news channels in various languages, the channels are still treading the beaten path --- occasional innovations notwithstanding.

It is on innovations that NDTV claims to score over the others. Says Nayak: "The innovative formats like I to I, Walk the Talk, 24 Hrs, Jai Jawan, Safari India, Kamra Deke Dekho, Doctor NDTV, Indianama, Rasoi ke Raaz, etc. The range, variety and depth of programming, in NDTV India is unparalleled and have been a first on the Indian news horizon. Programs like Muqabla, Hum Log, Kashmakash are already a big hit."

The critics have still to be convinced though. "The number of news channels has increased, but our study shows that on most channels the repeat programming is as high as 65-70 per cent," says Navin Surpaneni, executive director of the Delhi-based Centre for Media Studies (CMS), which is undertaking a client-specific study of the five Hindi news channels launched in the last six months.

Nayak however, argues, "In the era of 24 hour news channels you will always come across a scenario where you cannot have breaking stories all the while. The repeats will be there, and this is not just unique to India but true of international news channels as well. News is consumed by audiences at different day parts with different intensity and you need to keep repeating the main news so as to ensure that the audiences in tune with the happenings."

Meanwhile, with over 10 news channels in Hindi, English and several Indian languages, the news market has almost exploded with offerings since February-March 2003. The tide doesn't show signs of retreating as more news products are in the pipeline from the stable of media companies like Gujarat Samachar and Dainik Bhaskar and white & electronics goods manufacturer, the Videocon group.

As already touched upon, the boom in news and current affairs (N&CA) shows has also seen increased competition in filing stories for 24-hour news channels. Zee Telefilms' director for news group and head of Zee News, Laxmi Goel, proudly says that more than 100 stories are filed by various reporters daily and most of them are used too. The fact that the same cannot really be said about the quality of the stories is another matter.

According to Nilanjan Mukhapadhaya, a television researcher who does work for broadcasters like Doordarshan, the number of stories certainly have increased on various news channels, but the "depth of the coverage has not."

While Zee News' Goel agrees that when stories are being produced in volume, at times top quality cannot be maintained because of various constraints, the basic dictum followed by most channels is to give stories and be finished with it.

CMS' Supraneni feels that broadly speaking three things have happened with the news channels in India --- the channels have increased, but the depth in the broadbasing is still to take place; the number of stories have gone up certainly, but the quality of news leaves much to be desired and, more importantly, news channels are generally not setting the agenda for the nation, which is still being done by the print medium.

Counters Nayak, "If the Musharaff interview, Opinion Poll in Iraq, admission scam, Cry Freedom, etc is any indication, the new age agenda setting will see television taking a very important place.

Prabhat Dabral, vice-president in Sahara's media and entertainment division and head of some of the regional channels for the Hindi heartland would disagree with the other part of the criticism - on the lack of depth of broadbasing.

Analysis: News Channel Peak Market: All India Target Group: CS 15+ years Time Period: 4 Weeks (03/08/2003 - 30/08/2003) Source: TAM Media

Dabral's contention is that Sahara Samay meant for Uttar Pradesh is ahead of the likes of Star News and NDTV India (the Hindi channel) in UP as per TAM's date for the 36th week. "Our popularity in UP is because we are focused on the state and give news that is relevant to the state from a national perspective," Dabral says, adding, "Going regional is the only route to broadbase viewership."

But is that broadbasing really happening or being targeted?

A spread of the news content, for example, on the Hindi news channel would be illuminating. According to Mukhapadhaya, Sahara Samay continues to be fixated with politics and there are far too many Delhi-centric stories. Star News' stories are originating more from Delhi (22%) and Mumbai (19%), with NDTV India also showing a similar trend. It is Aaj Tak where one sees a lot of stories generated from various centres.
"The basic point that I am trying to make is that news channels are still being city-centric, mostly metro-centric, with reporting from rural India very little," Mukhapadhaya says, adding, "Unless that happens viewership would not get broadbased."

That is why Star News is trying to "rock" the channel, as Kohli, points out. "We need to get big stories that would be talked about and set an agenda and we also need to cover a wider spectrum of people with news that is relevant to them," says she.

As Supraneni points out, content always drives a channel, but lack of "enough content to support a wider news coverage" and a dislike for innovations is what is hampering news channels from attracting viewers who traditionally are not news viewers.

When Aaj Tak was launched, it used a new idiom and that is still its selling point at the top of the heap. "India is still predominantly a single TV home country and to attract the woman and kids of the home to the news channel, channels must have compulsive viewing, which does not seem to be happening," Supraneni says.

Though it should, such observations and criticisms are not worrying people like Zee News' Goel when he stresses, "Our news selection is based on people's feedback and relevance and usefulness to the nation."

With news channels, old and new, getting caught in the quagmire of the set-and-and-the-routine, advertising is one aspect that may become criticial.

According to Supraneni, if the news as a genre doesn't expand, the initial enthusiasm of advertisers would evaporate. "Out of the total time spent on television, about 5 to 6 per cent is spent on news. If this time does not increase, the news channels may find it diffcult to get the type of advertising that they are getting now in the future," he adds.

A media buyer indiantelevision.com spoke to, however, remains fairly bullish on the news genre. There are new categories like automobiles, insurance and the basic telephony and cellular operators that are putting spends into news channels. Additionally there are many smaller players representing local brands that are increasing exposure to news channels, he says. There is another category that is going to be important for the news channels and that is the omline lottery business. The second half of the year is going to see a veritable slugfest among the online lottery players, which will of course be good for the news channels. Both Aaj Tak (Forbes Group's DhanDhanaDan) and NDTV (Apollo Group's Lottus) have entered into arrangements for announcing online lottery results, something Zee TV pioneered with some success for its Playwin online lottery.

Accordingly there will be a 20-25 per cent increase in overall ad spend in news channels. The downside side to this tale is that for the established news channels (as opposed to those that just launched) the increased clutter raises the possibility that they may see negative growth this fiscal.

One channel that is seemingly sitting pretty away from all the melee is business channel CNBC TV18. Says chief executive Haresh Chawla, "We are very happy with our growth and we remain largely unimpacted by the recent developments in the news channel space." That is for now only though. Zee is awaiting clearance for its Zee Biz channel and the white goods major Videocon Group says it is serious about launching by March 2004. So insists Videocon's COO Alankar Jain after having moved from NDTV some time back.

Looking at the TV advertising overall, how do the numbers tally? According to industry estimates, ad spend on news channels last year totalled about Rs 2,300 million. It breaks up thus: Aaj Tak - Rs 900 million, Star News - Rs 450 million, Zee News - Rs 400 million, CNBC - Rs 230 million, BBC - Rs 120 million, the rest (national broadcaster Doordarshan, regional, etc) - Rs 200 million. Assuming a 20 - 25 per cent increase in overall ad spend Rs 2850-2950 million is what the news channels, new entrants included, will be fighting over.

In conclusion, let's have a snapshot look at where the news channels are at today. Aaj Tak remains and will continue to remain the channel to beat in the near to mid-term. What looks like being an interesting battle in the next six months is the expected slugfest for Number 2 position between Star News, NDTV India and Zee News, if it can get some fresh momentum going. One doesn't know whether it is a perception problem or what, but Zee News despite being on the ball as far as news breaks are concerned, seems to be slipping in the viewership stakes.

If there is one clear loser in this race, it must be Headlines Today. When Headlines Today was conceived, it was meant to provide the value proposition as far as the advertisers were concerned while Aaj Tak was to deliver the volumes. Facing up against NDTV 24x7, it has been a no contest from Day 1 and questions are being asked as to how long parent company TV Today will continue the channel.

Another disappointment has been Sahara Samay. After such a promising start, big things were expected of the channel, but it seems to have fallen away somewhat. All eyes are now on Sahara Samay Mumbai which launches 26 September.

If Sahara Samay Mumbai can make a mark, Sahara's aim to have localised TV stations springing up in different cities and towns might be worth its while.

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