MUMBAI: The show must go on, come what may. News channels, which have been tagged under the essential services category, continue to produce fresh news content by disseminating information to the viewers irrespective of the Covid2019 challenges. How do they go about their daily business in spite of the restrictions of social distancing? Mathrubhumi News chief executive officer Mohan Nair explains the modus operandi deployed by his channel during the lockdown, which has worked well for him even as it has now moved into a faster pace, following the lifting of the curbs in Kerala.

Nair told indiantelevision.com:  “It is the most trying time, and being a news channel, you cannot compromise on the content and quality at a time when there has been a massive surge in the television news consumption.” The channel has implemented a three-pillar formula to continue with their smooth operation during the Covid2019 pandemic.

In an attempt to maintain social distancing and curb the spread of the virus at office premises, Mathrubhumi News divided itself into three parts with respect to the workforce, wherein two teams would come to the office and work for extended hours, while the third team is kept as a standby in a ‘no work remain home’ system, which has been monitored by the HR department,” says Nair. These are the two pillars of their strategy: the reduced staff at the office and a team on a standby as a last-minute resort.

He adds that these teams function in a rotational manner each week. For example, in the first week, if the first two teams have been working from the office with extended hours and third-team standby at home, then the consecutive week second and third team comes to the office and first-team stays as home as standby.

This division is done within all teams across bureaus that include PCR, MCR, anchors, editorial, admin, housing, technical among others, except for the reporters of the channel. Nair says: “The news we run is only of Covid2019 and reporters have been reporting from fields, hospitals, and interviewing those who are under quarantine. So the chances of them being exposed to the virus are high, and hence, we have asked them to report from wherever possible through video calling or TVU mobile applications.”

“We have a protocol of sanitising the office in between the shifts and also sanitise each employee coming to the office. Not just that, we don’t let the cameraman along with his equipment in before sanitising him, as well as the vehicle he has been travelling in,” says Nair. The moment Kerala started seeing a spike in Covid2019 cases, the Mathrubhumi News management had taken a decision to provide employees with all the necessary safety equipment such as gloves, masks, sanitizers.

The third and most important pillar is technology. “We have been using all necessary technologies to not only connect with reporters but also guests, politicians, chief minister’s office, and other important ministers through video calling applications or by the TVU mobile application. Through OFC lines, which are installed at chief minister's office, ministries, and other political party offices and their places, it becomes easy to connect to them digitally,” says Nair.

Nair adds: “The technology we have been using to connect to people is not new; we had been using it earlier too; however, the increase or dependency of it has increased substantially over the period of time due to the Covid2019 situation.” The channel uses Skype, WhatsApp, Zoom and all other video calling applications for broadcast but most-preferred one is TVU application that helps it to maintain broadcast quality and to overcome the other technical challenges.

The channel, so far, has hosted many interviews virtually, one of them with the state health minister to answer people’s queries and address their concerns about the virus. Moreover, in order to entertain the audience, the channel also brings the celebrities to talk to people, motivate them, entertain them and also share their daily lifestyle during the pandemic period.

Every other channel, be it mainstream or regional, is trying their best to run the show while engaging the audience. While news channels follow each other’s steps, Mathrubhumi is ensuring the show of broadcasting news continues uninterrupted.