He can be called an outsider to the broadcasting world, but he claims to have seen the media from both sides. Having spent close to 30 in the world of advertising where he did everything, except the creatives, he’s now getting to know things from the other side having joined a broadcasting company. India TV’s newly-appointed CEO Chintamani Rao can be said to be in an enviable position.
However, it would not be an easy job for him to establish the India TV brand further in the market --- his primary aim --- as competition is cut-throat and the market is so fragmented that sometimes even angel’s fear to tread here.
Rao, who has been associated with Universal McCann, was responsible for all the non-advertising businesses of the group including Result McCann (direct marketing and event management). In his advertising career, he has also been associated with other brand names such as O&M and Lintas and done stints in India and abroad.
In this interview with Indiantelevision.com at the company’s studio facility in Noida, on the outskirts of Delhi, which is his first brush with the news media after joining the Rajat Sharma-promoted India TV, Rao gives sneak preview of things to come and what he’d be trying to do, while maintaining that he’s still in the “learning process.”
Excerpts:
Do you see yourself as an outsider in the broadcasting industry? |
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What is the difference that has spurred you on to join a news broadcast company?
In this very road, I see no new mountains to climb, at least none that beckon me. Television is full of action, and the news space is growing rapidly. I look forward to a great deal to learn and do here. I am certainly not in the retiring mode. |
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In this quest for new challenges, how did India TV happen? But after having joined India TV, I find this place interesting and stimulating. Especially as India TV is in the Hindi news space, which is brimming with activity, and the fact that this organisation has got such a strong brand in Rajat that it would be challenging to exploit the brand value for further benefit of the company. (When Sharma was asked the reason for getting a CEO and that too an advertising professional, he had this to say: "As we have grown and been expanding, on this road of growth we will be facing many more challenges. India TV indeed would need an experienced and rich hand to advance the further growth of the channel." Rao, according to Sharma, is the “best professional” amongst the many the company was searching for and his understanding of the media business would be an asset. Especially from the marketing point of view.) |
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What do you find exciting and challenging in the broadcast business now that you are in the thick of it? |
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What would be your main agenda at India TV? |
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How do you plan to do brand extension for India TV? |
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Do you seriously feel that India TV’s biggest asset hasn’t been properly exploited till now, which might be a reason for the news channel to languish behind others? I would not like to comment on the latter half of the question as I have just joined and am still learning the tricks of the trade and India TV is fairly young in the business. But the answer to the first part of your question, is, of course, the asset hasn’t been properly exploited. |
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Would we see more of Rajat Sharma in marketing and advertising initiatives? |
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What is your opinion of the news market in India? Keeping these facts in mind, it would be safe to say that all news channels in India start off with the same base, depending on happenings and events out there in society and in the country and the world. So within this limitation it’s a function of being different and being able to get into a viewer’s repertoire of what he/she typically watches. |
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As the CEO of India TV, do you have an idea what does a typical viewer of news channels typically watches? |
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Do you feel that a certain limitation in understanding the news business, has goaded the TV news channels, especially Indian ones, to mindlessly dub almost every event an exclusive and every happening an a breaking news? I hope to bring a fresh perspective to the business, a perspective of a non-journalist. If something is irritating, it’d be rejected. That’s what I have learnt in the advertising industry, which is a two-way response street. You do something and you’ll get a response. That’s how things should be. |
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With India TV poised to make forays into the regional news market, do you feel it’d be a financially sound move? On the other hand, the regional market does offer certain prospects. If at a marginal extra cost, one can open up market, then why not? The Gujarati news market is big enough, I think and at a little incremental cost that market could be targeted by India TV. |
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Has the total ad pie being keeping pace with the growth in the number of news channels in India? I’ll reiterate, one should decide who the customer is. There’s no point if I compete with, say, Star Plus in trying to attract the type of advertisers or all of them, which get on to entertainment channels. It’d be foolish for me to do so. As a news channel, I should know my strength, and my target audience. This knowledge would help me in selling my product better. |
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Do you really feel that there is severe misunderstanding of the selling aspect when some news channels are doing extremely doing well in terms of ad revenue? If you are selling a news channel - in fact any so-called niche channel, or what I prefer to call unique content channels - you must be clear about the role of your channel in the media plan. Essentially, to whom you are relevant and why. In my experience, media typically don’t have an answer to that question, much less the question of what is the competitive advantage of their channel. |
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What's the time frame for India TV to be in the top three brackets from where it is now? |