Business news channels: It's wartime now

Television Eighteen, NDTV, Bennett, Coleman & Co join the fray.

Television Eighteen Ltd, which runs CNBC-TV 18, launched Awaaz, a consumer affairs channel in Hindi, on Thursday.

NDTV Ltd's NDTV Profit is scheduled for launch on Monday.

Bennett, Coleman & Co. is planning to launch its business news channel in a few months.

Welcome to the battle for eyeballs in the business news category.

NDTV Profit will track the stock market from 9 am to 5 pm. It will also cover company results and government policy announcements.

"NDTV is a trend-setter so there'll be some lifestyle programming, too. Weekends will focus on info-tainment: food, books and art. International programming will also be made available," says Raj Nayak, chief executive, NDTV Media.

Awaaz, on the other hand is a "consumer-oriented channel with mass appeal", says Haresh Chawla, chief executive, Television Eighteen India Ltd. The channel broadly focuses on personal finance and markets, career guidance and so on.

Ahead of viewership battles, the channels are bickering over copycat programming and brand names. "Beware of Imitations" warns the CNBC-TV 18 advertising campaign and adds that NDTV 24x7 lost 30 per cent market share when it introduced business programming on the channel.

"When the competition reacts, it's time to celebrate. It means they are worried and taking us seriously," responds Nayak..

The big question, of course, is whether there is space for these new channels. The competitors emphatically say yes.

They are banking on over 50 per cent growth in ads for TV business news market over the next few years. "We expect our business channel to grow 100 per cent in the first year," said Arun Arora, president of Bennett, Coleman $ Co.

Currently, media industry estimates put the total business news advertising "" for both print and TV "" at Rs 350-400 crore for the last financial year.

Of this, newspapers and magazines still account for roughly three fourths, but their share has been growing at a slow pace.

Advertising in business news magazines grew between 5-11 per cent in the last two years. The financial newspaper advertising did better at about under 20 per cent a year. "Print media does not grow more than 30 per cent in any case as it has a large base," says Arora.

To get an idea of TV's share, consider CNBC's numbers. Last financial year, CNBC's revenue from advertising and subscription was Rs 48 crore, this year the channel is expecting to more than double that.

"We expect to close the year with Rs 80 crore," says Chawla. Growth apart, analysts also expect a shift. Optimum Media Solutions' regional director Kajal Thakur says: "TV channels are eyeing a chunk of the print media business and the shift is not unlikely."

But Chawla is not worried: "Business news is not a game of size and scale. It's about focus and credibility and therefore people like to stay with CNBC."