|
The
pace grips, the presentation rivets and the variety
of news offered is enough to relax that itching finger
on the remote control.
But
the rate of re-runs of interviews, news and features
on NDTV India during the course of a day is a major
turn off. The Hindi offspring of Prannoy Roy’s ambitious
two pronged news channel offerings has all the right
ingredients in place; the right content married to
right timing. ‘The 15 years of breaking news’ that
underscore the efficient functioning of the channel
are evident in every frame, every confident smile
of the anchor. True, it may have had its share of
glitches, but these have been few and far between
compared to the other fledgling news channels, which
lacked on-air experience.
Although
one must admit that with the race hotting up this
summer to claim numero uno status among the plethora
of news channels, it is becoming more and more difficult
to distinguish one from the other, NDTV’s quality
is a class apart. But while its English sibling can
boast of having the charismatic Roy on screen once
in a while, NDTV India makes do without. True, it
has other familiar faces one has been accustomed to
on the erstwhile Star News and others like Dibang
(who defected from Aaj Tak) being touted about as
the new stars on the horizon.
Where
NDTV India scores is on the presentation front. The
programming slots like Aapka Shaher (akin to
City 60 on Star News), Namaskar India
(Star Breakfast News on Star News), Yeh
Hai India, Bollywood Hollywood and India Bole
have a ringing similarity with those on rival channels.
It is innovative camerawork, confident reporting,
some intelligent probing by the anchors that however
hold the viewer.
The
fleet of helicopters pressed into service must be
helping. NDTV’s impressive network of correspondents
is everywhere, Pune, Hyderabad, Patna, Chennai – they
cover the gamut in a matter of minutes. The cache
with the political bigwigs and other celebs is obviously
a big help. You have Laloo Prasad Yadav spouting shayari
from Bihar to Rajdeep Sardesai and you have Rani Mukherjee
playfully throttling Chunmun Das after an interview
session. The camaraderie translates as easy viewing,
involving the viewer in the shared rapport between
interviewer and interviewee. Political stories take
up nearly half the programming, the rest divided between
softer human interest, a little business news and
then Bollywood info.
The
background score is pacy, the revolving ’24 ghante’
that serve as a backdrop to flashing news every half
hour also gives the impression of a dynamic newsroom.
The studios are simple, but classy, without the clutter
of a hundred monitors and flitting staff in the background
seen on some other channels. The channel’s signature
colours – orange, grey and white and the prominent
crimson dot have good recall value. But the logo,
innovatively placed in the bottom left corner, crammed
between the time, the temperatures in leading metros
and the news scroll, is lost. To a viewer accustomed
to flicking channels by looking for the logo in the
usual top right corner, this can be confounding, till
of course, he stays on for the content to hold his
interest.
The
twin NDTV channels have tried innovative tracks like
venturing onto Iraqi streets for a poll on what they
think of the American invasion. The exercise needed
guts, perseverance and sensitive questioning, all
of which has been managed pretty well and showcased
on primetime. The channel also went the Good Samaritan
way like the rest of the new news channels by picking
out a forgotten actor, Rakesh Khanna, narrating his
plight and then having the film industry pour aid
for him. The plaudits it fetched were dutifully played
out on the channel at least seven times in the span
of as many hours this Thursday, but perhaps the channel
is assuming that the same viewer does not return to
check for fresh news on the hour!
The same was the story with the innocuous interview
with Rani Mukherjee and badminton star P Gopichand.
With a correspondent network as vast as it does have,
NDTV probably needs to have fresh news oftener. The
news scrolls are uptodate enough, but interspersed
at more than regular intervals with exhortations to
the viewer to contact the cable operator if he/she
doesn’t receive NDTV 24x7. Hopefully, that’s a passing
phase.
The
channel has been aggressive with its outdoor promotions,
hoardings all over the country are attempting to entice
the discerning viewer (no clear urban slant visible
here) into watching the channel that shows 'khabar
wohi jo sach dikhaye' (the channel that portrays the
truth). Roy has vowed to resist political pressure
– thus far, there hasn’t been occasion to witness
any journalistic daredevilry, though.
The
ad breaks are innovatively being filled with short
films on the girl child, the NDTV team’s glorious
past and the plight of women in the country. Though
it does have McDonald’s, Motorola and Raj Travels
on its roster, advertising is clearly yet to pick
up for the fledgling channel.
Given
the track record of the talented and tenacious team,
that, hopefully, should not be too difficult.
Click
here for Archives
|
