, former executive producer of Aaj Tak, moved to Star News in February 2004, he quit the number one news channel to join a laggard with barely 10 to 12 per cent market share. One and a half years later, Star News is neck and neck with Aaj Tak. In the week after the Mumbai deluge, Star News shared the number one slot with Aaj Tak with 25 per cent market share each. Again, in the week beginning August 14, the two channels shared the top rank.
Uday Shankar, CEO of Star News (run by Media Communications & Content Services, the ABP Ltd and Star India joint venture) spoke to Business Standard on the channel's journey in the last one year and its future plans.
How come it's a tie and Star News has not displaced Aaj Tak?
May be old loyalty is still at work. Jokes apart, according to TAM data for week 34, that is, August 14 - 20, Star News and Aaj Tak are tied at the number one slot with 23 per cent market share each in the Hindi speaking markets for C&S 15+ audience. But in the top 6 metros, Star News is a clear number one with 25 per cent share followed by Aaj Tak at 19 per cent.
Being Mumbai based, did the floods in the city help notch up Star News' market share?
It is not correct to say that Star News became number one only due to or during the Mumbai floods. The channel has been on a steady growth curve in the last quarter. However, we broke the 20 per cent barrier about six weeks back. The August 14 week was not an event driven week in terms of news that cuts across India.
What exactly has led to the change in position of the channel?
We ramped up our news coverage as programmes have high resilience to viewership fluctuations in any case. But it does not mean that we did not focus on programmes. Many new ones such as Pol Khol, Sansani, Fund Ka Funda, Saas, Bahu Aur Saazish, Match ke Mujarim have been launched in the last one year. And they have all done very well.
The challenge was to push news. I can tell you there is no single formula that works. We focus on doing exclusive stories and cover news that affects people.
Viewers have no faith in politicians, so we cover the politics of things like urban development, crime management and flood control. We have developed content that people can connect with, in line with our motto Aapko Rakhe Aagey.
But I have to say that in a news environment neither sudden changes nor just one department can deliver growth. It is a combination of the efforts of all departments and a steady improvement in content.
How much does Star News make in advertising?
We have signed a large number of new advertisers as may be evident on the channel. And the revenue is growing "" there's been a 40 per cent growth over the last quarter. I cannot divulge the numbers though.
Any new channels on the cards?
We are considering many options to consolidate our leadership position. It would be premature to share details.
Is Star News shifting its headquarters to Delhi?
We are considering many things, including this.
Is advertising and viewership growth of news channels slowing down?
News channels are poised for even more spectacular growth. The share of news as a portion of TV viewing is minuscule and there is tremendous hunger for news among Indians. There is room for more news channels.
