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Autocar India – The Leading Automotive News Magazine in the Country

Autocar is clearly the established world leader when it comes to automotive news media. With a history of over 100 years, it easily bears the legacy of the world’s oldest automobile magazine. Autocar was first introduced in 1895, as a weekly British automobile magazine published by Haymarket Motoring Publications Ltd. Today, along with the UK, there are other editions including India, China and South Africa.

Launched in September 1999, Autocar India is the country’s leading authority for motorbike and car owners; always seeking to be a forerunner. The magazine is known for pioneering road testing in India, and is the last word on new cars and bikes because of its authentic road test verdicts. It was also the first magazine to explore the Tata Nano, and showcase its interiors. Other magazines are envious of its reputation for exemplary editorial content, as well as high production standards with the magazine receiving accolades from both the industry and consumers alike.

The Autocar India editorial team ranks among the most experienced editorial teams in India, producing daily news and reviews on the latest cars and motorbikes. Hormazd Sorabjee is the Editor, with an experience of over 25 years in writing about cars; from a 65-ton battle tank to a Formula 1 car, he has driven it all. Shapur Kotwal is Deputy Editor and a part of each of the magazine’s extensive road testing activities. He also supervises test instrumentation, data acquisition and has commanded the most experience as a road tester in India. Akbar Merchant leads the staff writers, who cover all the latest scoops, launches, developments, and breaking news in the Indian automotive industry.

Autocar India’s monthly content includes exclusive news, features, and fascinating automobile stories. The magazine was the first to pioneer the concept of advertorials in India. Incidentally, it contains the largest and liveliest classified services section among any other monthly automobile magazine.

Autocar India promises to- “Get you the perfect fix of heady automobiles and dish out thorough reviews of the latest cars and bikes on Indian streets.” The world of cars is exciting to so many of us and Autocar brings alive its piquant stories and engaging features; making it the must-read magazine for everyone interested in cars.

Autocar India has always remained true to its heritage with its exhaustive and authoritative road tests. The best in the business, they have grown from being just a car magazine to becoming the expert on any car brand. The magazine boasts of a readership of more than twice the readership available for the closest rival, making it, by far, India’s best-selling car magazine. But more than the numbers, it is the content that makes it India’s best car magazine.

Autocar is known for being the only magazine to provide content towards leading dailies like The Telegraph, The Hindu, The Hindustan Times and more. Editor Hormazd Sorabjee also hosts the popular show on UTVi on cars and bikes.

According to a report, the Indian vehicle manufacturing industry has increased its growth by 13% over 10 years now, and contributes 6% to India’s GDP. Autocar India had joined hands with Bloomberg TV to present the awards praising the role of the automotive industry for increasing the growth rate of the Indian economy. Awards include: Renault Duster for “Car of the Year (Jury’s Choice)”, “Viewer’s Choice Car of the Year”, and “SUV of the Year”. Mahindra and Mahindra won the ‘Manufacturer of the Year’ award. “Bajaj KTM 200 Duke” won “Bike of the Year (Jury’s Choice)” and “Viewer’s Choice Bike of the Year” awards.

With India being the third largest internet user in the world, there is little doubt that at least a quarter of them will be hooked onto digital reading, which gives them access to an Autocar India digital subscription. Going by the population of the world and the number of internet users, there is no doubt that digital magazines are the future. Also with the access to mobiles and tablets that can be used as readers, the development of apps for publishing and reading has taken the market by storm; to announce that the future is here! Publishers that have made the switch have already realized the benefits and profits.

Autocar being the oldest automobile magazine has also been the first to switch to the digital version of the magazine. With an Autocar e-magazine you can do much more than you would with a paper magazine. As the magazine is always in the cloud, you can access it at any point in time from practically anywhere; get interactive content on the go and within the app too. Consumers who are unable to carry their favorite magazines around during travel can switch to the digital format of the magazine with ease.

India’s Influential News Media

Indian press has such a deep influence over the lives of people that the Indians trust their media more than their government in terms of news authenticity. A survey shows that the most preferred medium of news in India is television (about 37 per cent), followed closely by newspapers (at 36 per cent). Then comes radio at 7 per cent and news magazines at 4 per cent. Thus, media training is a must to handle the Indian limelight.

Surprisingly, Indians trust local newspapers, television, and radio more than news websites and blogs. So the pressure is on for Indian reporters to produce engaging news stories every hour.

The Most Prominent Newspapers Of India

In most of the Indian households, the day starts with a morning cup of tea, along with a newspaper. They are an integral part of the lives of Indians.

In a survey of Indian newspapers, the Hindustan Times (www.hindustantimes.com), published from Delhi, came up as the largest circulated single edition daily with 1,175,339 copies followed by the Ananda Bazar Patrika, published from Kolkata with 1,130,167 copies. The Times of India, published from New Delhi and printed at New Delhi and Sahibabad came third with 1,102,772 copies. The Times of India, the most read English daily in India (www.timesofindia.com), having eight editions with a combined circulation of 2,771,669 copies, came first among multi-edition dailies.

The Dainik Jagran (www.jagran.com) in Hindi having 15 editions, claiming a combined circulation of 2,483,432 copies stood second. Dainik Bhaskar http://www.bhaskar.com (Hindi) with 16 editions and a combined circulation of 1,901,384 copies, occupied the third position. The Economic Times, Financial Daily (www.economictimes.com) sells 400,000 copies. The Economic Times is the most preferred daily reaches by the business population.

India’s Most Influential Magazines

Business Standard (www.business-standard.com), Business World (www.businessworld.in), and India Today (www.indiatoday.com) have a strong grip over the Indian audience. They touch the lives of the Indian public with their accurate reporting and leave room for the reader’s views on current issues.

The Most Popular TV Shows Of India

Aaj Tak (www.aajtak.com) currently dominates the Indian media. It is the most preferred and trusted news channel among the Indian audience. Then comes DD TV, followed by Sun TV, Star news, NDTV, AIR, Zee news, and BBC.

The Indian media has captured the interest of Indian audiences by its various TV shows featuring famous personalities from diversified fields, shows on lifestyle, and other entertainment topics, including serious shows airing people’s views, problems, and controversies. Shows like the Big Fight, Seedhi Baat, Special Correspondent, National Reporter, and others have rocked the newsrooms of India. The latest rage is crime shows and those discussing the law and order problems of cities.

A majority of the Indian people trusts the media seeing them as credible news providers, believing that the media brings them closer to the freedom of speech and their own culture. They feel that they can voice their opinions through the media. However, many viewers find a substantial amount of western influence in Indian media.

Indian media has reached the pinnacle of performance and will continue to reach new heights. Hence, it becomes all the more important for you to take media training and develop a healthy relation with the Indian media.

Letter Writing Techniques – Good News Vs Bad News Letters

There are different strategies and techniques to be discussed when writing good-news and bad-news letters. In good-news letters a writer is conveying good news to the receiver. The first paragraph (introduction) provides the good-news topic (reason for the letter). The second paragraph (discussion) provides the details of the good-news and the third paragraph (conclusion) calls for action.

Bad-news letters use the indirect approach and opens with a neutral idea while providing facts and supporting evidence. The second paragraph presents the reason for the bad news letter. The third paragraph ends with a neutral close. Tact and politeness is required when writing a letter of bad news. A writer of a letter of bad news must pay attention to tone and structure throughout the letter to avoid future problems. Writers must prevent themselves from offending the reader.

All writing is a form of persuasion. A writer tries to persuade their reader to understand his, or her point of view. Attention to wording is essential in a bad-news business letter to prevent breaking the code of ethics. An example for a reason for a bad-news letter is:

A company I work for has been advised to downsize labor cost by any means possible. The only choice I have is to terminate all temporary positions within the company. This decision requires that I write bad news letters to each of the temporary employees, terminating them and explaining to each one the reason for termination. I must take care to use tact and politeness throughout the letter while making it clear that their job performance was excellent and had no bearing on my company decision. When writing to the employee, I should offer a severance pay and to write a letter of recommendation to help the employee with job search. Additionally, medical benefits should be extended for a short time after termination. Additionally, letting the employee know that with his, or her given qualifications and proven abilities, I am confident that he or she will find another position in the near future. End on a calm and upward happy note.

Ways To Market Instead Of Using News Release Services

Years ago, a press release was the best tool to use if you want your story to be picked up by media outlets. This is still what many new business owners believe which is why their first thought in marketing their company is by sending out a press release.

The question is, do journalists actually read them today? People rarely read nowadays so it might be time to consider new ways to market instead of using news release services.

The competition for a journalists’ attention is pretty stiff, almost everyone is vying for the much-coveted pick up by news reporters and be used as their next big scoop.

There are DIY methods that are also effective in getting media mileage. Let’s take a look at some of them.

You need to build relationships with your target journalists and editors. Start coming up with pitches that are personalized. Doing this will show the journalist that you did your homework in researching about them and their publication. It takes time and effort to do this and journalists appreciate this being done for them. A pitch that is targeted to their publications audience is heaven sent because it makes their job a lot easier.

Find out the name of your target journalist and make a pitch that is personal to him or her. Don’t send copy and paste pitches that are impersonal. Know more about the journalist and how your content will help him and the publication that he is working for. Show interest in his work by coming up with an introduction that you have read his work.

Use a subject line that can get attract attention. Don’t use generic “For your information” or “To whom it may concern.”

You can format your email as a blog post or article. Break the ice by being conversational, try to tell a story. Tag your email with keywords and include a link to your company website.

Before you send your email pitch, try to engage the journalist by sending a tweet. You can also turn your email content into one or two tweets. After sending your tweet material, you can follow up with your email pitch.

You can also try sending a message on Facebook. Add known journalists and influencers to your Facebook friends list. Start engaging by following them, liking their posts and commenting.

If you have the guts to do it, you can give a journalist a phone call to see if they are interested with your release. This will save you a lot of time and effort, getting a positive or negative reply will help you focus your efforts to other journalists or build upon what you have already started.

Why not go a step further and meet up with the journalist over coffee and make your pitch face to face. There are journalists who would take advantage of this invitation as a way to get out of their offices.

If you have built a relationship with the right reporter then you can reap the benefits of that relationship by giving an exclusive story. Reporters love getting exclusives which are newsworthy and relevant. Once they write your story there is a huge chance that you will get publicity on a lot of other publications. You get to achieve PR results without having to write a press release.

There is a trend of people preferring to watch videos than reading. There are over 500 million people watching videos on Facebook every day. A quick video can take the place of a free press release distribution and get better results. You can start sharing your video on the various social media platforms for better exposure.

News Media Interviews – 7 Tips on How to Prepare For Mainstream News and Feature Media Interviews

Today, many business people are focused on social media, new media and on-line media. While these efforts are important and necessary for marketing, traditional media outlets are still important and can play a major role in your business success.

So, the question is, “Will you be ready when Oprah or Donny Duetsch from The Big Idea calls?”

You will be if you prepare now. Following are 7 tips for conducting successful media interviews:

Define your agenda: decide what you want the audience to do. Buy your services? Attend your event? Support your cause?
Know your story: to effectively assert your agenda, you must deliver your message confidently, calmly and concisely. You are the expert on your topic. Stay focused on your agenda during the interview.
Develop key talking points with supporting proof points: prepare three key points you wish to make during the interview. Then support each talking point with three points that offer tangible proof including stories, case studies, and other examples.
Know the interviewer and the media outlet: before agreeing to an interview, do your due diligence. Research the media outlet and the interviewer. A quick Google search will give you an idea of what to expect and how to best prepare for the interview.
Prepare the interviewer: reporters are very busy and anything you can do to help them is greatly appreciated. To this end, provide background information as well as sample questions on your topic. You will often find that they will use these exact questions.
Anticipate questions and controversy: Your preparation is not complete without anticipating questions and controversies that could arise in the interview. Create a list of all anticipated questions. Then answer each question. Be sure to include the ones that could be asked – remember; “if you dread it, you’ll probably get it.”
Practice, practice, practice: nothing takes the place of practice. It alleviates pre-interview panic and post-interview remorse. To hone message points and to prepare for actual interview questions, even the most polished spokespeople find there is simply no substitute for practicing out loud. Better still, role play with a buddy or coach. Are your answers coming across? Are they concise? Are they believable or do they need more support?

Follow these tips and you will master mainstream media opportunities. And, who would not want to be interviewed on the Today Show?

Big News – Forever Living Products Opportunity Review

Big news and a big product line-up, does this add up to an income opportunity? Aloe Vera nutritional products from Forever Living Products for over 30 years bringing success home. Is this a cool network marketing opportunity or just another in a long line of Herbalife pretenders. This is my review of what this opportunity has to offer.

The founder and CEO of Forever Living Products, Rex Maughan loves helping average ordinary people become millionaires. A prosperous and healthy lifestyle are two major aspirations of this business opportunity. So much of this is common to most all network marketing or multi level marketing companies.

Of course Forever Living Products and their distributors have found some success promoting and selling Aloe Vera and Bee derived natural products. The company is large, doing business in 137 countries around the world and their naturally healthful products can be a fine addition to anybody’s nutritional routine. Forever Giving a charitable foundation dedicated to improving the lives of children around the world is one of the best achievements related to Forever Living Products.

Yes, it is true that for centuries people around the world have used Aloe Vera for it’s health enhancing properties. Also true that Forever Living Products manufactures fine quality products and has garnered the Aloe Science Council Seal of Approval related to product consistency and purity. The product packaging is eye catching and the flavors and nutrients that make up these products are appealing. Overall the company and products do make an attractive presentation on their website.

The bottom line is Forever Living Products offers a genuine opportunity for success. Are the company and it’s products positioned well in an ocean of similar nutritional products? That answer remains to be seen. The key to success in this business will prove to be how well a person can recruit masses of people into the opportunity and in turn help those recruits become successful. Of course the product is essential and people must be enthusiastic about the promotion of these nutritional products. Always be diligent when seeking home business opportunities. Operate your business with a firm belief in developing new skills and marketing ideas in yourself and those with which you share the opportunity. Your business success will rely more on your ability and tremendous effort in promoting yourself as well as mentoring or coaching others into success. Rather than the contents of the product you offer in trade for dollars.

News Reading in the Internet

One of the benefits of modern media is the use of the latest technologies has changed the speed of relaying information to different parts of the world. Decades ago the catch phrase was the latest news; today the popular phrase is breaking news because people received the latest news by the hour, every hour. Unlike ages before, people received news days or weeks after the incident occurred. Before, it was plain global news, at present it has become more specific using phrases such as Islam news, culture news, middle east new, and online news to name a few. Due to internet the world has been getting smaller and people get easy access with latest news development. It is a welcome development as people will be able to digest specific information easily.

Online technologies have allowed people to search and received news developments at a click of a mouse. And not only that, they can type specific key words such as gulf news, international business news, and middle east news to arrive easily at the web pages they want immediately. Long ago, newspaper readers’ patience has to be tested before they can read latest Muslim news, Islamic news, and Middle East News. The search bar features have slimmed down time constraint of accessing specific news to readers. In addition, some functions of these sites has exposed readers to links that give related information of the events.

Readers have to skim from different pages to find one article about world business news. Oftentimes, readers have skipped the news that they want to read as it is buried in the inside pages. In addition, newspapers then do not provide in depth analysis of events that unfolded during that time. Online editions have categorized different news items such as world business news, international business news, news in middle east, and Islamic news, to give more details as the event progresses every seconds of the day. And because of these readers have are better informed and are more clarified with the issues.

The internet has further created additional source of information for everybody. The web does not host online editions of major newspapers. It is home to websites and blogs that concentrate on specific news categories. Thus, you have sites for Islam news only, blogs for culture news, and webpages that caters only gulf news. In addition, thousands of articles that deals specifically with topics like Islamic news, international business news, and middle east business news, just to name a few are easily accessible. It gives readers of more objective and detailed information of specific interest.

It has been predicted before that the web will replace newspapers as major source of current events information. This is the reason why newspapers have invaded the web to benefit from this development. At present, both off line and online versions are available for everybody. It is not yet definite if land base newspapers will suffer extinction just like the dinosaurs of long ago. At any rate, people are still enjoying both versions.

Social News And Bookmarking Sites – What Every Online Business Owner Needs To Know

If you run a business online then you’re probably looking for a way to increase the number of sales and the number of visitors to your site. One simple and cost effective way to do this is through social news and social bookmark sites.

Social news and bookmark sites are community driven. The community vote for the content that they want to see reach the popular pages. If your content reaches the front page then you are likely to attract tens of thousands of new visitors to your site. Imagine – all that traffic from one article!

Many website owners will spend vast sums of money on traditional advertising, yet treat social media sites almost as an afterthought. If you’re not using social bookmark and news sites then you’re missing out on a huge opportunity to grow your business.

Understandably, most people who run a small business or website are pushed for time. There are only so many hours in a day to get things done, but not using social media sites as a marketing channel is a big mistake. Here are just some of the reasons why you need to start thinking about social media marketing:

Drive traffic – social media sites will definitely drive traffic to your site if you reach the popular pages. You can attract a large number of visitors to your page that might otherwise take months to achieve from traditional internet marketing methods.

Reach influencers – by submitting your content to social media sites you can reach key “influencers” on the web. Why does this matter? Well, since most of these influencers have their own websites, reaching the popular pages will often mean that they will link back to your website, which helps you to climb up the rankings in search engines and also helps spread your products.

Build authority – building authority in your particular niche will undoubtedly increase sales. People are more likely to buy something from someone who appears to know what they are talking about. Reaching the front pages of social news and bookmark sites will help you build trust with your audience. You’ll also come to be regarded you as an expert in your field.

Grow your brand – social media sites can also help you to grow your brand. You can almost think of it as a form of public relations. You are increasing your visibility on the web and again, this helps you to gain trust with your audience.

Understand your customers – some users will leave comments about your submitted content. While not all will be helpful, there might be some valid suggestions from users. If you listen to your users and engage in a conversation with them they are far more likely to trust you in the future and you can also get some useful feedback on your website.

Increase sales/subscriptions – this is what every business or website owner wants. Not only can you increase sales in the long-term by building up your authority, but using social news and bookmark sites to promote your business will also see an increase in sales in the short term.

If you’re not using social news and bookmark sites as part of your overall marketing strategy then you’re missing out on potentially tens of thousands of new customers. Just one piece of content can drive traffic to your website and increase sales dramatically. So what are you waiting for? Start today and watch your online business grow!

Booming: Television News Channels in India

News programmes have suddenly become hot property and are vying for attention with other popular programmes telecast in different channels. All major television broadcasters are including at least one news channel to their bouquet. The biggest headache for launching a satellite channel is programme software for round the clock. In this juncture, newsgathering is a major task for the 24-hour news channels. To cater this task, the emerging electronic channels have always made an attempt to cover all the incidents irrespective of position, location and time. These channels not only revolutionized the concept of news on Indian television but also changed the news formats. Before 1990s, Doordarshan had monopolized newscast on Indian television and also turned the news programs into a dowdy exercise. Now the private channels made the news an essential commodity like food, cloth and shelter. The strong point of all today’s news bulletins is their topicality, objectivity, glossy editing and high-quality visuals. News has traveled a long way from the DD era. From Local events to International events, breaking news to news analysis, television soap to page3 news, every happening comes under purview of news. In this article, we have covered some significant changes in news broadcasting in India before and after the Gulf War.

Indian Television – Flash Back

Television in India is undergoing significant changes in the current liberalized environment. To understand these changes, one needs to have some brief idea of the road covered by the television channels so far. The journey started as an experimental basis with a financial grant from UNESCO in 15th September 1959. The makeshift studio at Akashvani Bhavan in New Delhi was chosen for location of the experiment. The experiment started with one-hour program, broadcast twice a week, on community health, citizen rights, education and traffic sense etc. As far as news is concerned, it was launched exactly six years after the inception of television broadcasting. Daily one-hour program with a news bulletin was served to the Indian viewers. But one major drawback of television was that you could not enjoy the original colour of the objects because of black and white transmission. First multi-color programme was the Prime Minister’s address to the nation from Red Fort in Delhi on India’s 35th Independence Day. In the same day, DD National channel was launched. The aim of launching the National channel is nurturing national integration, and inculcating a sense of pride in Indians. Indian viewers also enjoyed the colored version of the Asian Games hosted by New Delhi in their drawing room. The coverage of major events and different occasions lend a big hand behind the infiltration of television signals to the nook and corners of the subcontinent. Indian Government had taken all possible steps to expand the television broadcasting demographically and geographically. In 1983 television signals were available to just 28% of the population, this had doubled by the end of 1985 and by 1990 over 90% of the population had access to television signals. In 1984, DD Metro channel was added to provide an exclusive entertainment for the urban viewers. In the beginning, this channel was confined to metropolitan cities.

As a public broadcaster, Doordarshan presented the news in naturalized manner. All controversial issues were pushed under the carpet. The ruling government had a strong hold on the television broadcasting. Doordarshan news bulletins were unable to provide the international news to the national viewers. Objectivity had been the first casualty as news was invariably slanted to suit the party in power. The news was liberated from the confines of the DD newsroom and gained in objectivity and credibility when New Delhi Television (NDTV) produced ‘The World This Week’ in 1988. Everyone was waiting for the Friday night to watch ‘The World This Week’. This was the only India-based programme, which looked out at the rest of the world. The World This Week was the best current affairs programme on the international scenario and carried good stuff of news, which the regular DD news was failed to carry out. This program is ranked as one of the country’s finest and most popular television shows. In 1989, NDTV produces India’s first live televised coverage of the country’s general elections. The critical and commercial success of the coverage sets a new standard for Indian television. After the Gulf War the media panorama has changed forever.

Golf War – The Catalyst

Post-1990 satellite television in India has become transnational in nature. It coincided with the entry of multinational companies in the Indian markets under the Government policy of privatization. International satellite television was introduced in India by CNN through its coverage of the Gulf War in 1991. In August 1991, Richard Li launched Star Plus, the first satellite channel beamed the signal to Indian subcontinent. Subhash Chandra’s Zee TV appeared in October 1992. It is India’s first privately owned Hindi channel to cater the interest of Indian viewers. This ignition followed by Sony and a little later by domestic channels such as Eenadu, Asianet and Sun TV. Entertainment programs had begun to occupy center stage in the organization’s programming strategies and advertising had come to be main source of funding. Doordarshan’s earlier mandate to aid in the process of social and economic development had clearly been diluted. Doordarshan had faced a stiff competition in news and public affairs programming with international channels like BBC and CNN. Doordarshan planned to sell some slots for news programme under sponsored category. In February 1995, NDTV becomes the country’s first private producer of the national news ‘News Tonight’, which aired on the country’s government-owned Doordarshan set a new landmark for Indian television because of its on-the-spot reporting with pertinent visuals. In the same year, TV Today Network occupied a 20 minutes slot in DD Metro channel and aired a Hindi and current affairs programme ‘Aaj Tak’. This programme became popular for its comprehensive coverage and unique style presentation by Late S. P. Singh. Still we remembered the sign-up message “Ye Thi Khabar Aaj Tak, Intizar. Kijiye Kal Tak”. Large number of viewers across India had been watching Aaj Tak as a daily habit because of its innovative style of news presentation. Besides that Nalini Singh’s five-minute fast paced, condensed daily news capsule Ankhon Dekhi, TV Today Network’s Business Aaj Tak and Newstrack was aired on the Metro channel of Doordarshan. This is the period when satellite channels concentrated on entertainment programmes for their respective channels. Doordarshan was still ruled the most wanted area ‘news’.

Major Players

Doordarshan’s monopoly was broken in 1992, when private television channels infiltrated into the Indian boundaries and entertain the viewers as much as possible. In the beginning of 1990s, the private channels offered only entertainment programmes. The entertainment programs include family drama, comedy serials, children programmes, cartoons, movies, talk shows, recipe shows, musical concerts, non-fiction programmes etc. Private entertainment channels added some infortainment programmes to their Fixed Point Charts (FPC). Keeping the demand of infotainment programmes in mind, the media houses started to produce news magazines, entertainment magazines and news programmes for different channels. India’s premier business and consumer news broadcaster and a leading media content provider, Television Eighteen India Limited (TV18) started India’s first ever entertainment magazine ‘The India Show’ on Star Plus in 1993. This emerging media powerhouse provided prime time television content to almost all leading satellite channels in India including BBC, Star Plus, Sony Entertainment Television, Zee, MTV and Discovery. After The India Show, TV18 produced a weekly business news program India Business Report for BBC World. Indian viewers had very limited options (like public service broadcaster Doordarshan, BBC and CNN) for watching the television news. For televised news, the viewers had to watch Dordarshan and some international news channels like BBC or CNN. In this race to provide more news, more information, Zee Television jumped into the battlefield by launching the news channel Zee News in 1995. This News and current affairs channel revolutionized the way news was delivered to the viewers. Since its inception Zee News has endeavoured to be the fastest to provide news, working towards a single goal of Sabse Pahle (Always First). The other round-the-clock news channel, the Murdoch-owned Star TV beamed its exclusively 24-hour news channels, Star News in 1998. Star made a contract of five year with Prannoy Roy-owned NDTV (New Delhi Television Company) to provide news content for this news channel.

The untiring exhaustive coverage of the Kargil war between India and Pakistan gained more publicity and attracted more viewers towards the electronic channel. This televised conflict also sets a news benchmark for wartime journalism. During the Kargil war, common citizens witnessed how their brave Jawans fought despite in hostile conditions and watched the war front live by the exclusively news channels, Star-TV and Zee-News. The live coverage of the battlefield helped to create a euphoria of patriotism among the Indian masses, which later facilitated into collecting huge funds for the welfare of the families of Kargil martyrs. Every news programme draws the attention of large number of viewers but Kargil war attracts private broadcasters to invest more money in the broadcasting business by launching a news channel. In November 1999, TV18 entered into a 49:51 joint venture with CNBC Asia to launch CNBC India. TV18 is the sole program provider to CNBC India, and produces 12 hours of local content per day on this 24-hour satellite channel.

After the huge success of news programme ‘Aaj Tak’, TV Today group launched a 24-hour Hindi news channel with the same name ‘Aaj Tak’, in December 2000, which covers India with insight, courage and plenty of local flavour. Within 11 months of its launch, Aaj Tak emerged as India’s number one news channel and was awarded Best News Channel award from Indian Television Academy Awards. Some mega events apart from regular interesting items (such as Kandhahar hijack, September 11 attacks, Afghanistan war, attack on Parliament, Iraq war, Godhra carnage and riots) have driven up the viewership. As time passed, NDTV’s five years contract with Star group for outsourcing of news and related programming expired on March 2003. With the expiry NDTV forayed into broadcasting business by simultaneously launching two 24-hour news channels; NDTV 24X7 – English news channel and NDTV India – Hindi news channel, which targets the Indian diaspora across the world. News crazy Indians received more news at faster speed from different channels. Any unusual happening can be caught by the television camera anywhere form Rastrapati Bhawan to bedroom. The power of TV journalism was become more visible by the major sting operations like Operation West End and Shakti Kapoor Case. This style of investigative journalism has brought about a change in the way we look at news, amidst new notions of editorial freedom. The world’s largest family ‘Sahara India Parivar’ launched a 24-hour national Hindi news channel, Sahara Samay, in March 28, 2003. It is the first ever city-centric satellite news channels covering 31 cities in India with their own city news bulletins. Keeping the demand of news in mind, the Union cabinet approved the proposal to convert the DD Metro to DD news in a meeting held on 3 October 2003. Consequent to these decisions, DD-News channel was launched on 3 November 2003. You might have noticed that the news channels are language specific. But DD’s news channel contains the round the clock news bulletins in Hindi/ English are also telecast twice a day on the National Network of DD National.

‘Aap Ki Adalat’ fame Rajat Sharma, Sohaib Ilyasi, the man behind the highly successful ‘India’s Most Wanted’ and Taun Tejpal, editor-in-chief of Tehelka roped together and launched a free-to-air Hindi news and current affairs channel India TV on May 20, 2004. Indian viewers had more expectations from this channel. The much-awaited news channel hopes to set itself apart from the existing ones by setting new benchmarks of responsible journalism. Speaking on the occasion of the launch, Rajat Sharma, chairman, India TV, said, “We aim to change the way broadcast news reporting is being conducted in the country. India TV will set new benchmarks by maintaining international standards of responsible and credible news reporting. We will stay away from graphic depictions of violence and sensationalism of news. We will uphold the viewer’s right to correct information and their right to truth and verity. India TV is not just a news channel, it is a movement.” NDTV as a pioneer in Indian television news, set to create a fresh revolution in high-quality business news with the launch of NDTV Profit. NDTV launched this 24-hour business channel on January 17th, 2005.

There is no saturation point in launching of news channel, just booming like sky as the limit. Entertainment channel to infotainment channel, infotainment channel to news channel, news channels to business channel and Business channel to lots more. Now the satellite channels become more topicality with international standard. When we are talking about topicality, CNBC TV18, the only business channel, continues to be the medium of choice for India’s decision makers, affluent audiences across the country since 1999. It has set the pace for the growth in number of television channels by launching a 24-hour consumer channel in Hindi called ‘ Awaaz’. This news channel focusses on empowering consumers on decision-making related to investment, saving and spending. All the programmes are catering to consumers across different walks of life, which included personal finance; variety of markets including commodity, stocks, savings etc.; small businesses; education & career guidance; and verticals like health, shopping etc.

Another news channel was finally launched into the already cluttered news space in Indian television. Jagran TV Pvt Limited’s news channel, Channel 7 up-linked to the air on 27 March 2005. The channel has been set up to cater to the vast Hindi-speaking audiences, already being targeted by a slew of news channels. Channel 7 developed every programme with a bid to cater to all types of audiences and not just pre-dominantly male audiences who get attracted towards news channels.

Regional Leaders

To cater the interest among the Indians, Doordarshan televises programmes in Hindi and associate Official languages. It has launched a number of Regional Language Satellite Channels (DD – 4 to DD – 11 and DD – 13) and telecast programmes in Assamese, Bengali, Gujarati, Malayalam, Marathi, Kannada, Telugu, Kashmiri, Oriya and Tamil. The Regional channels relayed by all terrestrial transmitters in the state and additional programmes in the Regional Language in prime time and non-prime time available only through cable operators. The Doordarshan regional satellite channels telecast major news programme with some entertainment programmes.

If you think about the private regional channels, they have followed the path of the Big brother (i.e Doordarshan). They are neither completely entertainment channel nor exclusively news channel. They are following the middle path and claiming themselves an infotainment channels. The private channels televise through the state dominant languages. Rising advertising revenues and increasing numbers of viewers have provided the impetus for many big players to enter into the business. Some regional media leaders like ETV, Sun TV, Asianet have a strong grip over the regional market. Some major players tried their luck in different states. Zee television has three regional channels; Zee Marathi, Zee Punjabi and Zee Bangla. Star Network entered into Tamilnadu by launching Star Vijay, one of the most popular entertainment channels in India broadcasting in Tamil. Besides that ETV Network is a part of the well-established Ramoji Group, has created 12 dedicated infotainment regional channels. ETV network is the source of rich entertainment of eight different languages. Those are: Telugu, Bangla, Marathi, Kannada, Oriya, Gujarati, Urdu; and Hindi to viewers in Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh. Every ETV Network channel focuses exclusively on its audience’s unique cultural identity, its aspirations and its distinct socio-political character. Let us think about the south Indian language Telugu, there are around twelve satellite channels are roaming around the sky with different taste and different flavour. These channels include three news channels, one song-based channels and rest are infotainment channels. When we confine ourselves into news, three channels (ETV2, TV 9 and Teja News) exclusively devoted to news programmes.

Sahara India Pariwar is proud to have five news channels as the bouquet of Sahara Samay. These channels are: Sahara Samay NCR, Sahara Samay Mumbai, Sahara Samay Bihar & Jharkhand, Sahara Samay Madhya Pradesh & Chattisgarh, and Sahara Samay Uttar Pradesh & Uttranchal. Sahara Samay has already managed to gain a loyal audience in India through a bouquet of National & Regional News Channels since its launch. These channels are youthful and vibrant channels targeting students and women, besides that hardcore news stuff. The regional news channels covers the entire spectrum of genre with specific programs on lifestyle, fashion, food, shopping, health and fitness, sports, education, career and city issues, besides giving user-friendly information on traffic updates, city events, train and air timings, etc. Now national news channels cannot confine its boundary to national level. They cannot ignore the regional news because of the stiff competition form the regional cannels. Regional news channels are entering into the competition with a strong will power and also with an aim to portrait regional issues in national and international level.

Conclusion

Now the television industry becomes more specific. In this competitive market, channels are targeting specific viewers. News channels attract more viewers beyond their target by producing interactive and interesting programmes. Every channel needs to do an extensive research on different concepts and different themes to attract more viewers and in the same time more advertisers. After all, advertisements are the bread and butter for the channels. With increased consumer preference for news programmes, television news channels have grown faster than other niche channels. News channels are booming just like sky as the limit. Those days are not far away, when we will get satellite news channel for every major city in India. Staying in abroad, we can update ourselves about all the happening of our hometown. Now news is not restricted to political happenings. It will be extended its limit to every unwanted and hided corners of the society. At last we can reach in the conclusion that anything, which is strange or disgusting, is news. There are no rigid rules, which defines news.

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