Business TV in spat for No 1

NDTV Profit claims leadership position.

A slugfest has broken out between two of India's leading business news channels, with both CNBC TV18 and the newly launched NDTV Profit claiming market leadership.

Within weeks of its launch, NDTV Profit, the channel from the NDTV stable, claimed it had cornered a neat 6.9 per cent of the cable and satellite homes in the country in the week ending January 22.

However, NDTV, citing TAM numbers, said its channel had pushed CNBC TV 18 to the number two position in that particular week. According to NDTV, the reach of CNBC TV18 was only 5.6 per cent during that period.

NDTV Profit also claimed its reach had gone up to 9.8 per cent in the week ending January 29 compared with CNBC TV18's 5 per cent.

"The successful launch is because of the business content we have. Besides, the good distribution network and the brand equity have helped us," said Sameer Manchanda, director, NDTV. He added the business channel sector looked good, riding on the boom in initial public offers.

It is estimated that the business channel segment, worth about Rs 100 crore, has gone up by 10 per cent as a result of the deluge of IPOs. Meanwhile, CNBC TV18 said it had outplayed NDTV Profit with a market share of 47.6 per cent for the week ending January 22, 2005.

"It is too early to talk about reach and market share, as the launch of these channels has been very recent. We think there has been an increase in the market as a result of the number of new launches the market has seen," said Ajay Chacko, vice-president (marketing) CNBC TV18.

Chacko also said the new channel from CNBC TV18, Awaz, had received good response from both viewers and advertisers as result of its differential content.

"Compared with the traditional business channels, which depend on corporate reporting and business reporting, our attempt has been to offer consumer-related information. This has helped us build a base of viewers and advertisers. Besides, the language of the channel has also helped us," Chacko said.

Broadcast industry experts are of the view it is too early to predict the future of the business channels. They believe the market has space for only two or three channels and that the early movers would have a clear advantage.