Micro analysis of News Channle

8/14/2019 Micro analysis of News Channle

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MRP-II Effectiveness of NEWS Channels.

CHAPTER 1

Seek knowledge from the cradle to the grave.

-Prophet Muhammad

NSVKMS MBA College, Visnagar 1


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NEWS:

The proverb goes no news is good news which signifies that a situation wherein onehas received no news itself is a sign of good news.

News: the plural of the adjective new - a translation of the French novellas, is derived

from the Old French novels, or Medieval Latin nova, plural of novel- a new thing. Theoriginal sense ofnews was 'new things'; this is long obsolete. Since the 15th century ithas been used to mean 'tidings, the report of recent events, new occurrences as a subjector report or talk.'

On the term news per se:

News is something that people want to know, and they have a right to know. It issomething that empowers the common man, educates and informs him, and helps him inhis own life.

The word NEWS can be understood in three different senses-

1. It means newly received or noteworthy information about recent events.2. When it is used as the news it means broadcast or published news report.3. When used as news to it holds informal information not previously known to.

Popularly the origin of the term news has been explained as an acronym whose lettersstand for the four points of the compass -North, East, West and South.

EMERGENCE OF NEWS CHANNELS:

The Evolution of Broadcasting

It was Guglielmo Marconi who first invented wireless telegraphy and importantdiscoveries which led to the emergence of radio broadcasts almost 100 years ago. Sincethat time, there have been major advances in broadcasting including; radio, television,cable networks, the Internet, to recent innovations now launching.



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It was commonplace in the first half of the Twentieth century that, in the evening atalmost any household, one would see the entire family gathered around the radio gettingtheir entertainment, news, and information. This was the pre-eminent broadcastingmedium of that time. Companies like NBC then made the jump to network television inthe early 1950s with the advent of television.

Television really changed the broadcasting landscape. Not only was news andinformation transmitted to people by sound, but also by moving pictures. At first it was just black and white, but soon color sets were available. Live shows began to becommonplace, and advertisements, news, and information was received in a moreconvenient manner.

In India:

Broadcasting began in India with the formation of a private radio service in Madras in

1924. In the same year, the British colonial government granted a license to a privatecompany, the Indian Broadcasting Company, to open Radio stations in Bombay andCalcutta. The company went bankrupt in 1930 but the colonial government took over thetwo transmitters and the Department of Labour and Industries started operating them asthe Indian State Broadcasting Corporation. In 1936, the Corporation was renamed AllIndia Radio (AIR) and placed under the Department of Communications. When Indiabecame independent in 1947, broadcasting was also charged with the task of aiding in theprocess of economic development. Thus, AIR was made a separate Department under theMinistry of Information and Broadcasting. The early history of radio broadcasting inindependent India became important because it set the parameters for the subsequent roleof television in the country

A Snapshot of Indian Television History:

In India, Television was introduced in 1959. The government had been reluctant to investin television until then because it was felt that a poor country like India could not affordthe medium. Television had to prove its role in the development process before it couldgain a foothold in the country. The government constituted Doordarshan on 15 August1959. Programs were broadcasted twice a week for an hour a day on topics such ascommunity health, citizens duties and rights, and traffic and road sense. In 1961, thebroadcasts were expanded to include a school educational television project. The first



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major expansion of television in India began in 1972, when a second television stationwas opened in Bombay. Stations in Srinagar and Amritsar (1973), and Calcutta, Madrasand Lucknow followed this in 1975. Relay stations were also set up in a number of citiesto extend the coverage of the regional stations. By 1976, the government found itrunning a television network of eight television stations covering a population of 45

million spread over 75,000 square kilometers. In 1982, television began to attain nationalcoverage and develop as the government's pre-eminent media organization. 1991 saw thebeginnings of international satellite broadcasting in India and the government launched amajor economic liberalization program.

A spark came in the early nineties with the broadcast of satellite TV by foreignprogrammers like CNN followed by Star TV. Taking advantage of the growth of thesatellite television audience, a number of Indian satellite based television services werealso launched between 1991 and 1994, prominent among them was Zee TV, the firstHindi satellite channel. By the end of 1994 there were 12 satellite-based channelsavailable in India, all of them using a handful of different satellites?

Zee Telefilms Ltd. marked its presence with the inception of the first 24-hour newschannel- ZEE NEWS in 1998.



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CHAPTER 2

The winds and the waves are always on the side of the ablest

navigator. -Edward Gibbon



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NDTV:

New Delhi Television Ltd. (NDTV Ltd.), founded on 8 September 1988, is India's firstand largest private producer of news, current affairs and entertainment television. Lateron it was converted to a public limited company on 31st August 1994. NDTV is home to

the country's best and brightest reporters, anchors and producers; 23 offices and studiosacross the country host India's most modern and sophisticated production andnewsgathering facilities. As an organization, NDTV is totally committed to one cause: touse its extensive expertise, experience, technology and reach to create unparalleledcoverage of the latest in domestic and international news and entertainment for viewers athome and around the world.

New Delhi Television (NDTV) president and broadcasting icon Dr Prannoy Royofficially launched NDTV's two new 24-hour news channels, NDTV 24x7 in English,and NDTV India in Hindi, on 14 April 2003, which targets the Indian Diasporas acrossthe world.

Programs:

NDTV Indias leading 24 hour news channel brings well balanced news, views andupdates.

Walk The Talk (NDTV 24x7):

Noted editor Shekhar Gupta travels with a known personality

to an area of special relevance to the guest. Together, theydiscuss the guest's roots, and the journey that the guest madeto become a face that stands out in a crowd.



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Highlights:

NDTV is the first broadcaster in the world to have successfully implemented DSNGsystems incorporating MPEG-4 over satellite for live links back to the studio.

At the time of its inception, NDTV adopted the promotion strategy of roping in A.R.Rehman to score the background music for NDTV India which was of greatconcern for the production-house-turned-broadcaster. Even before its news channelshave made their debut, NDTV has supposedly signed up advertising worth overRs.10-12 crore for both NDTV 24x7 (the English channel) and the NDTV India (theHindi channel).

The news channel showcases well-positioned news programmes between 6 pm andmidnight, a track record that dates back more than a decade, and the strength incurrent-affairs-based feature programmes, especially on weekends, have helped it

gain a dominant position.

NDTV India bagged the Indian Telly Award for the Best News Channel of the Yearin 2004.

Chai Stop on NDTV 24x7 won the award for the Best Current affairs Programme ofthe Year and the The Big Fight was awarded the Best Talk Show of the Year by theIndian Telly Awards in 2004.

The Indian Telly Award 2004 for the Best Editor of the Year went to Jatin Gupta forthe programme Jhalak 03 and the Best Comic Shots was given to Gustakhi Maaf of

NDTV India.

NDTV Profit:

News broadcaster NDTV launched its business channel, PROFIT, on 17 Jan 2005. Themajor chunk of NDTV Profit's content includes reports from the stock market, interviewswith experts from markets and banking apart from corporate honchos, corporate earnings,tracking market indices, advice on personal finance and the stock market and phone-inprogrammes. Some of the upcoming NDTV Profit programming slots are Big Fish, HotProperty, Eating Out, etc. The channel's tagline is"News You Can Use".

NDTV Profit plans to launch a business channel in Hindi once it stabilizes its positions inEnglish.



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Future Plans:

NDTV plans to launch a Rs.10-crore marketing campaign for its channels - with a

different theme for English and Hindi - cross 60-70 cities. To reach every small town inIndia, NDTV will leverage its distribution platform, alliance for cross promotions, andtake prominent positions in national dailies, vernacular, magazines and radio to enhancebrand recall. Its objective is quite clear: To build a strong association of the Hindi channelwith the masses through a simple message of truth and credibility.



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AAJ TAK:

Aaj Tak, India Today Groups foray into the audiovisual media began in 1988 with Newstrack, a video news magazine that shook up the establishment. By 1995, TV TodayNetwork had evolved to produce one of the most influential current affairs programmes,

Aaj Tak. Telecast on the terrestrial network, it enjoyed a strong nationwide viewer ship.Because of its popularity, the group launched a 24-hour Hindi news Channel, Aaj Tak, inDecember 2000, which covers India with insight, courage and plenty of local flavour.Within six months of its launch, Aaj Tak emerged as Indias number one news channel.And within 11 months, it was awarded Best News Channel by the industry. Aaj Takwas probably the most impressive media success story in India, then.

Aaj Tak focuses on accuracy and timeliness of content and its innovative presentationstyle has been well facilitated by its strong credo of "Ankhen Khol De" journalism.

Programs:

Besides the 24 hour news bulletin, the programme line up of Aaj Tak includes showslike Cinema Aaj Tak, Jurm Aaj Tak, and Duniya Ravivar.

Highlights:

Aaj Tak has a team of over 300 professionals, involved in newsgathering acrossIndia.

Aaj Tak was awarded as the Best News Channel by Indian Television Academy

Awards for two consecutive years - 2001 and 2002. The Best CEO award and Best Channel Promo awards from Indian Telly Awards

were bagged by Aaj Tak in 2002.

Aaj Tak received the award for Best Distribution and was declared the only mediabrand in the Brand Derby 2002 study.

Aaj Tak was rated as the top news channel in the country as per the ORG - surveyratings in 2003.



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The Best Promo for a News Programme by Indian Television Academy Awards in2004 was won by Aaj Tak.

As per the latest TAM (television audience measurement) ratings on televisionviewership, Aaj Tak had a share of 57 per cent in full-day channel viewership inHindi-speaking markets, with a prime-time share of 61 per cent.

Future Plans:

Aaj Tak, the extremely successful Hindi news channel of TV Today Network, plans tolaunch a news channel in regional languages. It will launch its channel only in thosemarkets where there are no existing players. The projected time for the regional channelto break even is 12 to 18 months.

HEADLINES TODAY:

Inspired by the success of Aaj Tak, TV Today Network launched its English news channelHeadlines Today in March 2003. It took almost a year for the channel to get a

respectable market share. Enthused with such a performance of the channel, HeadlinesToday had launched a campaign which communicated that Headlines Today stands forremoving the over analysis and undue complexity, which dominates the news coveragestyle of its competitors. Today's urban viewers want the news to be short, sharp andcrisp. Headlines Today is consistent with the overall brand message Sharp news for

Sharp People.



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BBC WORLD NEWS:

BBC World News is the British Broadcasting Company's commercially fundedinternational 24-hour news and information channel, broadcasting around the world fromits base at BBC Television Center in London.

BBC World, owned and operated by BBC World Ltd, a member of the BBC's commercialgroup of companies is an integral part of the BBC's commitment to global broadcastingand provides a focal point for viewers around the world. Viewers who wish to keepahead of global news events, but not just the headlines - turn to BBC World for the storybehind the headlines - the whys and hows of the event as well. BBC World keeps itsviewers not just informed, but also well informed, with in-depth analysis and innovativeinterviews - the story from all sides.

BBC World, under the original name of BBC World Service Television, on October 1991was launched across Asia & the Middle East. Later on, in January 1995 it was made

available in Europe, India & the Middle East. It rapidly expanded to Japan, Africa andEurope, and in 1996 to Latin America and The Caribbean.

Programs:

BBC World provides news, business and weather 24 hours a day. With up to 14 sports bulletins each weekday plus the best of the BBC's award-winning current affairs,documentary and lifestyle programming.

During weekdays, the channels schedule is built around comprehensive half-hour global

news programmes On The Hour, Around The Clock containing all the most up-to-datenews, interviews, business reports, sports results and weather. The other weekdayprogrammes, World Business Report and Asia Business Report go behind the headlineswith the latest business, economic, share and market news to examine trends acrosstechnology and business. Questioning and insightful, Hard Talk puts the importantquestions to those in the news spotlight, while Panorama examines global issues in moredepth with world class correspondents.



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At the weekend, the schedule combines international news bulletins on the hour and arange of the BBCs finest factual programmes. Important breaking news-stories arecovered in-depth at all times, both on weekdays and at weekends, overriding the schedulewhen necessary. Some prominent programmes of BBC WORLD are described below.

Wheels:

Wheels is the popular weekly automobile show on BBC World for all car and bikeenthusiasts. Presenter Niret Alva and his team bring viewers the latest and the best fromthe automobile industry, reviewing both cars and bikes before they hit the Indian marketgiving an unbiased review of the vehicles by treating the research and presentation withjournalistic objectivity.

India Business Report:

India Business Report brings all that is worth knowing in the world of business andfinance. India's leading business programme, presented by Manvi Sinha, brings theweek's economic news from across India. India Business Report features weekly reportsand analysis on key economic developments from all parts of the country, the latest newsand views on Indian business and interviews with leading personalities from the world offinance and industry.

Highlights:

BBC World draws on the resources of BBC News, which possesses the World's

largest newsgathering operation comprising 58 international news bureaus and theexpertise of more than 250 correspondents worldwide.

It has the world's first fully digital 24-hour newsroom which brings to us impartialand objective journalism of the highest standard every hour from the BBCs award-winning team of forecasters.

In the past years, BBC News has won 50 awards in recognition of its journalisticexcellence.

According to reports, in August 2002 BBC World reached 222 million homes across

200 countries and territories



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CNN NEWS:

The Cable News Network, popularly known as CNN, ranks as one of the most importantinnovation in cable television during the final quarter of the 20th century. Launched inJune 1980 by the then tiny- Turner Broadcasting of Atlanta, in the beginning, CNNaccumulated losses at the rate of $2 million a month. Ted Turner transferred earningsfrom his highly profitable super station to slowly build a first-rate news organization.CNN then set up bureaus across the United States, and then around the world, beginningwith Rome and London.

Today CNN is one of the world's leading 24-hour global news network, providing news,

views and analysis from the major business capitals of the world. This channel also hasthe most recent national and international news from the CNN news desks worldwide,providing the latest in stock market details round the clock.

The basic aim of CNN is to focus not only on one region or one perspective but many.CNN aims at providing news from all over the world to the people in their homes. Thisfact, in turn, drives home the philosophy that every country is CNN's beat; the wholeworld is its market and everyone on the entire planet a potential customer.

Programs:

CNN telecasts breaking news reports from all over the globe as well as politics, sports,information technology, financial news and more. Some of its famous programmes arelisted below:

Talk Asia:

This programme is all about intimate interviews withAsia's most intriguing personalities from politics to filmand business to sports.

International Correspondent;

In this programme, some of the worlds leadinginternational journalists meet for a discussion on currentnews programmes.



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Cross Fire:

Broadcastin front of a live audienceand featuring daily

political guests,"Crossfire" examines thepolitical and social issuesimpacting the United

States. Check back for specific guests and show topics asone of the longest running political debate shows,continues to schedule cutting edge debates focusing ondaily news events.

CNN Business Traveller:

CNN business travel is a programme anchored byRichard Quest from London. This monthly programmeaims to give the business traveller handy hints and tipsfor a trouble free journey.

Highlights:

CNN launched the Young Journalist Award in 2003 to recognize and encourage

journalistic excellence.

By 1989 CNN had 1600 employees, with an annual budget was about $150 million,and was available in 65 countries.

CNN.com relies heavily on CNN's global team of almost 4,000 news professionals.



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CNBC -TV18:

CNBC, with its unique formula, has revolutionized business around the world,

empowering viewers to control their financial destinies and enabling business leaders to

take informed decisions about their businesses.

In India, CNBC-TV18's influence and reach has grown tremendously and today, the

channel is the business brand of choice for millions of people. Business leaders,

professionals, retail investors, brokers and traders, intermediaries, self employed

professionals, High Net Worth individuals, students, housewives, and more, all tune in to

the channel's diverse and eclectic programming.

Apart from throwing light on the latest business developments, CNBC-TV18's coverage

extends from corporate results and the dynamics of the stock market, to the economics of

various industries. From a focus on critical sectors like infrastructure, automobiles,

telecom, pharmacy, banking and finance, to the intersection of business with lifestyle and

fashion; from the dissemination of quality management strategy and thought, to the

intricacies of health and fitness; from exclusive interviews with global business and

thought leaders to the business of entertainment, CNBC-TV18 covers the business

dynamics of every sphere of life.

From the metros to the mini metros and rural regions, the channel interacts with allgroups of people, cutting across barriers of age, income and status, by providing expertadvice and analysis.

Programs:

People worldwide turn to CNBC for accurate, up-to-the minute real time financialinformation and analysis. CNBCs award winning team of journalists consistently breakcompany news, conduct high-profile interviews with top CEO's and leading experts, andprovide comprehensive analysis of the day's business news.

CNBC -TV18 broadcasts various programmes during weekdays and on weekends. Asmall description of some of these programmes is given below:



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Asia Squawk Box:

CNBCs signature morning show, focuses on what viewersneed to know after the markets close in the U.S. and before

the markets open in Asia. This unscripted, fast-paced guide

to global markets gives viewers unique insight and advice

they wont find anywhere else.

Business Center:

Business Center is the place to go for financial news from

around the globe and analysis of the impact on Asia.Anchored by Christine Tan, Business Center gets ahead ofthe news, taking todays headlines and focusing on howviewers can profit tomorrow.

e:

Technology is driving Asia and "e" is Asia's premier source

of technology news. Anchored by CNBC's own tech guruKeith Liu, "e" sorts through the hype and the headlines toget at the real stories in technology. "E" tests new productsto determine which ones are really hot and which aren'tworth buying.

World News Update:

Everyday-Monday through Friday every hour, CNBC Asia

brings World News Update. Viewers begin their day withAnchor and CNBC correspondent, Fauziah Ibrahimdelivering the latest global news from CNBC Asia's homeoffice in Singapore.



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Highlights:

CNBC brings together a global network of over 1,700 journalists and over 129 newsbureaus in 89 countries, establishing unparalleled resources across the globe.

CNBC was awarded the Best Business Show of the Year for two consecutive years,for its programme India Business Hour in 2002 and for another programme- StoryBoard in 2003 by Indian Television Academy Awards.

In the year 2004, CNBC won the award for the Best Entertainment News Show-Trend Mill and Best Game Show of the Year- Trial By Fire endowed by IndianTelly Awards 2004.



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DOORDARSHAN NEWS:

Indian small screen programming started off in the early 1980s. At that time there wasonly one national channel Doordarshan, which was government owned. Though therewas a single channel, television programming had reached saturation. Hence the

government opened up another channel, one part of which was national programming andthe other, regional. This channel was known as DD 2. Later DD Metro, DD news, DD 1,etc were introduced. All these channels were broadcasted terrestrially.

The Regional News emanating from the 18 State Capitals at present, contribute 71 newsbulletins every day. This is an enormous task by moderation in contrast to PrivateChannels, who often sensationalize the issues. All these Bulletins are produced in-house.During the course of the major Bulletins, news scrolling is available for a quick glanceand recap of the major stories of the day. During Cricket Matches, a running updatewindow of the current score is also available.

Overall, there is as much as 3 hours and 25 minutes of live news every day on DD News.Apart from this, there is invariably a live telecast of Breaking Stories and special events,such as the Annual Budget, the Exit Poll of Elections, Exim Policy and several other liveevents.

Programs:

For every Public Service Broadcaster, News and Current Affairs Programmes has alwaysbeen the flagship of the network. Away from entertainment and general information, the

programmes on DD News focuses on the process of developing society and theprogrammes and policies of the Government in achieving the objectives of governanceand development. For the last several decades, Doordarshan News and Current Affairshave provided to the viewers, a balanced and objective presentation of day-to-day newsand developments covering a wide canvas of issues relating to Politics, Business andEconomics, Sports, Health, Youth, International Affairs, Science and Technology, etc.



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Highlights:

As part of the National Network, Doordarshan News and Current Affairs at present is

catering to alteast 30 per cent time-slot on the Channel. It is providing round-the-clock News Bulletins with headlines on the Hour every hour.

DD News broadcasts two half an hour long bulletins every morning with Live inputsfrom different regions of the country. The same is available at prime time everyevening.

The anchoring and reporting capability has also increased substantially with theinduction of 21 Anchors/Reporters, who form the core group in the Headquarters atCPC, Asiad Village and some of whom are being posted to different State Capitals tostrengthen the coverage span of the network.

News segments like Newspaper Review, Business Capsule, Sports Capsule, Making aDifference, Personality of the Week and others have been introduced recently on DDNews.

Future Plans:

DD News is planning to reactivate the Regional News Units in the State capitals to bemore responsive to daily developments and contribute significantly to the overallcoverage of news events across the nation.



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Star News:

Star News, launched on 31 March 2003 in Mumbai, made a successful transition to a 24-hour Hindi News channel, reaching out to wider audiences across India. The channel, inits very first day, broadcasted an exclusive interview with Mr. Yashwant Sinha, CabinetMinister for External Affairs.

STAR NEWS with its unmatched flair for quality offers its viewers 24-hour Hindi newsthat is relevant to todays Indians. The motto of Star News is to provide balanced and

unbiased information in Hindi, thus making Star News a 24-hr channel in the languageof the people. Based on extensive research to understand the information and televisionneeds of viewers, it covers the full spectrum of news ranging from politics to business,investigative reports to consumer issues, crime, environment, etc. Reporting news as ithappens in India and with links to international news agencies, STAR NEWS keepsviewers across India fully informed and engaged. The famous reporters of Star Newsare- Sandeep Chowdhary, Ajay Kumar, Aparna Kala, Gaurav Banerjee, Sidharth Sharma,Radhika Chaturvedi, etc.

Programs:

Star Savera:

The Channel broadcasts its first news bulletin in themorning at 06.00 a.m. with Star Savera, whichcarries special reports by the Night Shift team,which bring audiences the news that unfolded whilethey were asleep. It also includes updates on thedomestic news from the night before, covers

international news and showcases a look at the day ahead.

National Reporter:

National Reporter is a daily 8.00 pm reporter's news bulletinwhere the senior-most Star News journalists covers the day'sdomestic news of national importance. It focuses on the political,financial and legal developments in Delhi and the state capitals.



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City 60:

City 60 is all about the big cities, creating news onfamous people, glamour, nightlife, crime and passion. This city focused primetime newsbulletin provides comprehensive coverage of theday's news from Mumbai, Delhi, and other majorcities in India, also dealing with issues like civicamenities, public transportation, and the quality oflife.

Star Report::

This fantastically produced primetime newsbulletin is a roller-coaster look at the day's newsfrom India and around the world. Fashioned alongthe lines of America's most successful newsformat on prime time, its unique, fast-pacedpresentation bring news to Indian audiences likethey have never seen before.

Other prominent programmes of Star News are Khabar Din Bhar, Aaj Ki Baat, Red Alert,Sansani, City 60, Kal Ki Baat, etc. The channel also features Vir Ka Teer with TVColumnist Vir Sanghvi, Akbar Ka Darbar with TV Columnist M.J. Akbar and Masand KaPasand, a special show on entertainment hosted by Film Critic Rajeev Masand.

Highlights:

An added unique feature is that the reporters can multitask in shooting, editing andreporting by the use of laptop editing systems to stay connected while on location.

The Star News Hindi team comprises more than 300 dedicated staff in India, basedacross its new headquarters in Mumbai, its super bureau in Delhi and 19 regionalbureaus located through out India.

A reliable global network of alliances with major international newscasters and newsagencies ensures that viewers of Star News Hindi are among the first to learn aboutthe news, whenever and wherever in the world it happens.



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Star News correspondent, Rajdeep Sardesai was awarded the TV News Anchor OfThe Year in 2002. In the same year it was also awarded the Best Current AffairsProgramme for its famous programme Reality Bites.

Star News also won the award for Best Prime Time News Show-Star Report in2004.

Star News is available in six different markets of the world: Europe, India, MiddleEast, Philippines and Thailand.

Recent Make Over:

Star News has recently donned a new 'avtaar' in February 2005. The channel has seen a

complete makeover in terms of look, feel and presentation, the idea being to evolve as abrand after one and a half year of existence. Bright colours, sharper edges and a slightlymodified signature tune mark the new look of Star News. According to the CEO andeditor of Star News, the idea to undergo a makeover was not because there wassomething lacking in the old look, but it was more of an evolution process.

Future plans:

The Media Content and Communications Services India, a joint venture between ABPTV and Star Group plans to launch the country's first 24-hour news channel in Bengali

and indicates that it might launch similar channels in other regional languages in thecoming days.

The channel has already applied for permission with the government of India to launchthe Bengali channel, the name of which would be decided based on feedback fromviewers in the state.

The exclusive 24-hour news and information channel will be headquartered in Kolkatawith an extensive bureau network across the rest of West Bengal and India and will belaunched as soon as government permission is received. Equipped with a strong technicaland editorial team, the channel will cover local, national and international news in

Bengali.



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Zee News:

Zee News, the news and current affairs channel of the Zee Network, has taken giantstrides ever since its inception in 1995. Reaching millions of viewers across fivecontinents, the channel revolutionized the way news was delivered to the viewers. ZeeNews pioneered the television news segment as the first private news broadcaster inSouth Asia and created history in 1998 by becoming the first 24-hour Hindi newschannel.

Since its inception, Zee News has endeavoured to be the fastest to provide news, workingtowards a single goal of Sabse Pehle (Always First). It serves millions of Indians withup-to-the-minute information through the provision of hourly newscasts, instant coverageof breaking stories, special reports, updates, features, customized reports and news feed

material. Zee News for the Asia region is uplinked from Noida in India and uses thesatellite Asiasat-3S.

Programs:

Being the Pioneer in the field Zee News is the first one to give a right mix of news andprogramming. The programmes like Special Correspondent and The Inside Story havecompleted a successful run of 170 episodes, which is a record for any current affairsprogramme. The Inside Story has recently got international recognition as one of the fivebest investigative programmes. Another programme- Pehal, which brings out those

people in the lime light who may not be resourceful or page 3 socialites but infusing lightinto other people's life. Zee News has recently launched a programme Kuchh KarDikhana Hai which is about employment related information given in an interestingmanner. Crime File, Encounter and Cinema A to Z are giving very good content in therespective fields.



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Apart from all these programmes, Zee News also broadcasts tailored programming inspecific time slots catering to varied tastes of viewers, including News at 7, News at 8,Metro News, News at 9, Prime time, Din Bhar, World View, and Beyond Headlines.

The channel broadcasts groundbreaking news and documentary programmes like-

Special correspondent:A weekly programme based on field experiences of journalists, relating more than just theend story.

Encounter:Hard hitting one-on-one interviews in Encounter seeking to uncover the person behindthe persona.

Dream Destination:A programme that seeks to bring alive travellers dreams to the small screen.

Manoranjan:A film review programme for those who want to know more about the REEL life ratherthan the REAL.

News Infrastructure:

Zee operates an advanced news network in the country which comprises seventeenVSATs with dual channel capacity on INSAT, OB Vans and DSNG terminals which helpto link the regional news centers with the uplink facility at Noida. The entire networkserves the Zee News channel as well as news for the Alpha Punjabi, Alpha Gujarati,Alpha Bangla and Alpha Marathi channels. Regional studios at Mumbai, Chandigarh,Ahmedabad, Chennai, Hyderabad and other locations are fully integrated using the online



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The advanced network and technology used in its news network has placed Zee Newschannel as the leading news network across Asia, in terms of its coverage and reach.

Highlights:

Zee News was awarded the finalist certificate for the International TelevisionProgramming & Promotions Awards 2004.

Zee is first to launch a 24-hour Hindi News Channel in India - Zee News.

Zee News has a strong work force of 400 spread over 22 news bureaus.

Zee News won the Best Public Service Programme award for the programme-Ek Duje Ke Liye.

SAHARA SAMAY RASHTRIYA:



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"Address the masses and offer class products. Media is more of a mission rather than

a business. These are the broad tenets guiding Sahara group's foray into broadcasting.

The Sahara India Parivar on Thursday launched a 24-hour national Hindi news channel,Sahara Samay, on 28 March 2003, along with 31 city-centric regional Hindi newschannels in phases. Arup Ghosh heads the Sahara Samay national news channel. A team

led by Vinod Dua, Arup Ghosh, Prabhat Dabral, Rajiv Bajaj, Shireen and SudhirChaudhary supports over 1,000 journalists using 50 main news bureaus for all the newschannels.

The channels aims at giving maximum possible coverage to the local news on a round theclock basis.This News Channel not only reports and analyses news, views and issues asthey happen but follows them to their logical conclusion. Sahara Samay is not only aNews Channel, but also the voice of the people in every sense of the world.

Programs:

Sahara Samay Rashtriya has lined up some very interesting and enlightening programsfor its viewers, reporting and analysing the current affairs, in perspective.

Chunaav Express:The programme is hosted on a specially fabricated open-air Double Decker bus. Theprogramme involves discussion with key leaders of various constituency, some localdignitaries & general public moving together in the bus. A Sahara Samay Correspondentmoderates the discussion.

Kuch Aur Khabre:This programme is about people and issues, which are so small that they would get lost inanonymity. It reflects sentiments and viewpoints of the people from deep corners of thecountry.

One-on-one:This program is a well-researched interview based program with Chief Ministers andSenior Leaders of the country either in the CM constituency or the state capital, near a



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popular landmark. Arup Ghosh, Head of Sahara Samay Rashtriya, hosts the discussionwith the leaders. Catering to the little known facts & the work done during their tenure,the program attempts to rate the various achievements of the leader in question. Mr.Ghosh interprets elections has one of the most important phenomenon in a country likeIndia.

Apart from the above programme line-ups, Sahara Samay has its regular news bulletincovering the horizontal and vertical limits of the country and analyzing developments.The other general programmes are- Teh Tak, Khel Samay and Cinema Samay.

Highlights:

The channel uses the World's Most Advanced, Largest in Asia & India's First Fully-Automated Electronic News Production and State-of-the-art TransmissionTechnology.

The channel concentrates on in-depth and exhaustive coverage of local news and presents it with an international standard. It promises maximum coverage withminimum repetition of news.

Over 1000 journalists are involved in the presentation of the news and the channel has50 live bureaus further linked to 1600 V-SAT centers.

Future Plans:

With the success of regional channels or city-specific channels in Uttar Pradesh andMadhya Pradesh, Sahara Samay plans to come up with eight such City-Centric RegionalSatellite News Channels covering Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Delhi, Maharashtraand Gujarat.

The company is expected to launch channels for all major cities in India. It is looking atinvesting over Rs 150-200 crore this year on its expansion. Sahara is planning to launcha regional channel for the national capital region and after that, a Bengali channel

The company is also looking at tapping the southern market as they see the south as a one

unit not as four different states. They are looking at launching an English channel for theentire south and their plan is to cover entire India by this year.

India TV:



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India TV, the free-to-air Hindi news and current affairs channel, promoted by the well-known television presenter- Rajat Sharma, was launched on May 20, 2004 as the flagshipbrand of Independent News Service (INS). INS promoted by Rajat Sharma and RituDhawan was established on June 2, 1997. It was started with the purpose of carrying onthe business of TV news and current affairs programming. The idea was to develop andestablish a news network utilizing cutting-edge technology, a goal that was achievedsuccessfully.

INDIA TV is beamed from the PAS 10 satellite, which is also used by such channels as

HBO, BBC, CNN and MTV. India TV, in which approximately Rs. 700 million has beensunk in, would continue to be a digital free-to-air news channel. Major part of thepopulation in India views Hindi news channels, and so it has distributed around 1,500decoder boxes in those parts of the country where Hindi is predominantly spoken andunderstood in areas like Bihar, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, and parts of Maharashtra andRajasthan.

Programs:

The programming on India TV incorporates an in-depth analysis and minute-to-minutecoverage of relevant issues. Twenty-minute news bulletin is supported by a 10-minute

analysis of key events, every half an hour. Forming one of the largest newsgatheringnetworks in the country, India TV has its reporters stationed every 100 miles. Thus thechannel does not limit itself to metro-centric news reporting. Instead, it has entered theheartland of India bringing news from the most neglected areas.

Some of the major attractions at India TV includes-

'Aaj Ki Baat Rajat Sharma Ke Saath':It is a programme blending news reporting and analysis between 9 and 10 p.m.broadcasted every day from Monday to Saturday.'Jeene Ki Raah':It is a daily special bulletin related to discussions and views on environmental issues andanimal welfare, anchored by Menaka Gandhi.

'Aaj Ka Tehelka':This programme focuses on exposing the corruption at all levels, hosted by a popularreporter-Tarun Tejpal.

Aap Ki Adalat:



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CHAPTER 3

FOUR Ps OF MARKETING

It is more important to do what is strategically right than what is

immediately profitable. -Philip Kotler.

FOUR Ps OF MARKETING:

Since 1991, India has seen an emergence of TV channels, each battling for a piece of ahighly potential audience. This is the junction where most Indians have been getting theirinformation. Today these TV channels are not only trying to occupy a dominant positionin the market, but they are also craving for a good market share. And the same is in thecase of news channels. Viewers are drawn to the events as they are displayed on the news



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channels. These channels thus help foster a certain culture, an emergent pattern of sharedbeliefs, norms, and values, unique to both the individual and the community.

These channels are having some impact on the thinking and attitude of the people. Buthow did these channels come to the position they hold today? What political or social

factors influenced their corporate culture, which in turn affects their approach to coveringthe news?

Starting from within the organization and looking outwards, we will study which factorsmost affect the channels' output. All news channels, regardless of the quality of theirnews coverage, have a common denominator-a news service. In their relationship to theaudience/consumer, they provide a service or "product" that is in demand.

Marketing Mix:

The recent exponential growth in broadcasting alternatives means that marketing hasbecome a high priority. Organizations must learn how to market themselves with greatersuccess, despite opposition from their competitors.

Theoretically, each of the Product, Price, Place, and Promotion variables can becontrolled by organizations and at the same time. Taken together, they constitute themarketing mix. An organization must come up with a mix that will clearly differentiate itsproduct from those of its competitors, while simultaneously considering the corporategoals.

Many people have already heard about the "4 Ps of marketing". Generally speaking, theso-called "marketing mix" is a framework that acts as a guideline for marketers toimplement a marketing concept. It consists of a set of major decision areas that acompany needs to manage in order to at least satisfy consumer needs.

1. Product:



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Traditionally, the first element of the 4 Ps of marketing, Product, focuses on theindividual goods and the product line. Technically, a Product means-

"Anything that can be offered to a market for attention, acquisition, use or consumptionthat might satisfy a want or need. In includes physical objects, services, persons, places,

organizations and ideas."

Here, we are classifying news, as a tangible product, since it requires the elements of themarketing mix to reach the audience. The product is a constant variable and in ouranalysis is categorized as "the news on air." All the news channels are presenting politicalnews, business news, national-international news, sports news, weather reports as well asentertainment news. Apart from all these news, these channels also schedules somespecial shows and debates in the respective fields.

Product Levels:

There are five different product levels, each of which represents a customer valuehierarchy. These product levels are described as below.

Core Benefit:Core Benefit is the most fundamental product level. It is the fundamental service orbenefit, which the customer is really buying. It basically includes the core ingredients ofthe product. In the case of news channels, the core benefits that the customer is buyingare- social awareness, education, knowledge of current affairs, etc.

Basic Product:At this level, the function of a marketer is to convert the core benefit into a basic product.His major emphasis is to satisfy the basic need of the customer. The basic product for thenews channels is continuous supply of news.

Expected Product:



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An expected product is a set of attributes and conditions, which the buyers normallyexpect when they purchase a product. The consumers expect the news channels to supplythe rights news containing the real matter at the right time with good presentation.

Augmented Product:

An augmented product is the product, which contains additional features. Such a productcontains those features, which the competitors operating in the market do not supply.This type of product normally exceeds customers expectations. In order to attract morenumber of viewers, a news channel can provide a variety of augmented services. It canprovide extra services like- good and fluent newsreaders, attractive studios, etc. Alongwith all this, it can also conduct debates and special shows on current events, canbroadcast live events, or it can also broadcast some special shows related to health, crime,education, etc.

Potential Product:A potential product is the maximum possible level upto, which a company can provide

the augmented, and the expected product in future. Innovations form a large andimportant part of this type of product. Producers, at this stage, invest extensively inresearch work and find niches to satisfy the customers. As far as news channel isconcerned, a potential product is difficult to define. But still a news channel can satisfycertain niches by broadcasting some special shows, like, it can introduce some newsshows related to kids, which the kids can understand and enjoy besides learningsomething new.

Product Hierarchy:

Each product is related to certain other products. The product hierarchy stretches frombasic need to particular item that satisfies those needs. We can identify six differentlevels of the product hierarchy.

Need Family:A need family consists of the core need that underlies the existence of a product family.The need family for a news channel is current awareness.

Product family:All the product classes that can satisfy a core need with reasonable effectiveness areincluded in the product family. In the case of news channels the product family is thenews.Product Class:A group of products within the product family recognized as having a certain functionalcoherence are a set of product class. The product class related to the news is newschannels, newspapers, Internet, radio, etc.

Product Line:



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A product line is a group of products within a product class that are closely relatedbecause they perform a similar function, are sold to the same customer groups, aremarketed through the same channels, or fall within the given price ranges. The productline for a news channel is- Zee Telefilms Ltd., Star India Pvt. Ltd., Sahara Media andEntertainment Network Ltd., etc.

Product Type:A product type consists of a group of items within a product line that shares one of theseveral possible forms of the product. For example- Zee News, Star News, SaharaRashtriya, etc.

Item:A distinct unit within a brand or a product line distinguishable by size, price, appearanceor some other attributes is an item. For example- Zee News in Hindi and English,NDTV 24X7 and NDTV India, etc. are the items for news channels.

The product hierarchy described above can be summed up in the figure mentioned below:

Product Classification:

Products can be classified into three different categories according to their durability andtangibility.

a. Durable goods

b. Non-durable goodsc. ServicesNews channel is an intangible service that needs day-to-day updating.

Product Mix:

A product mix is a set of all products and items that a particular seller offers for sale. Acompanys product mix has a certain width, length, depth and consistency.



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Product Width:The width of a product mix refers to how many different product lines the companycarries. For news channels, the width is- Zee, Sony, Star, Doordarshan, Sahara, etc.

Product Line:A product mix consists of various product lines. For example, Zee offers a bouquet ofvarious channels like- Zee news, Zee TV, Zee English, Zee Cinema, Zee Music, etc.

Product Line Length:The length of the product line refers to the total number of items in the line. In the aboveexample, the product line length is 5 because the product line Zee carries five differentchannels.

The following table further clears the concept of product mix from the view point ofnews channels as a product.

ZEE SONY STAR DOORDARSHAN SAHARA

Zee News Sony TV Star News DD News Sahara One

Zee English Set Max Star Plus DD Metro Sahara Rashtriya

Zee Cinema M TV Star Movies DD 1 Sahara Samay

Zee TV Star World DD 2 Sahara Mumbai

Zee Business Star One DD Gujarati

Zee Music Star Gold DD Bengali

2. Price:



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The next of the 4 Ps of marketing is Price. Technically, Price means "The amount ofmoney charged for a product or service, or the sum of values that consumers exchangefor the benefits of having or using the product or service."

In other words, price refers to the value that is charged for a product or a service.Considerations include whether the seller charges the same amount all of the time or varyit in some way. Varied pricing could occur according to geography, time frame, orvolume. Additionally, with a service, price can be varied according to the level of service.

The news channels that we are focusing on are free-to-air. This plays a critical role instrengthening the other elements of the marketing mix. Since the customer is notevaluating them based on price, the channels must offer other competitive advantages.

The pricing objective of a news channel is to earn high profits and to increase its marketshare. Moreover, the news channels earn on the basis of their viewer ship share. If theviewer ship share of a news channel is high, it gets high sponsors and advertisementcontracts, thus increasing its profits and sources of revenue. Hence, higher the viewership share, higher is the profits in this case. Therefore, the price in the case of newschannels is the price paid by the sponsorors or the advertisers for advertising theirproduct on these channels.

Pricing Strategies:

There are four basic pricing strategies that are used to determine the price of a product.They are:

1. Economy strategy (Low price and Low quality.)2. Penetration strategy (Low price and High quality.)3. Skimming strategy (High price and high quality.)4. Premium strategy (High price and low quality.)



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While deciding the suitable pricing strategy the marketer has to consider three majorfactors- customer, competition and cost.

Based upon the value offering, a customer decides whether to buy a product or not.Similarly, in the case of news channels, the customer will select the channel with the bestvalue offering. If the news channel supplies faster news, better coverage, goodpresentation and reliable information at a reasonable price, the customer will give priorityto that channel.

If the competitors value offering is higher, then the customers would naturally prefer tobuy the competitors products. Hence while deciding the price, a marketer has to keep inmind the value offering that is provided not only by him but also by the competitors. Wecan better understand this by taking an example of two different news channels- NDTVv/s Zee News. If NDTV offers the same services as Zee News and in addition to theseservices, if it also conducts some other special shows and debates related to crime,current affairs, etc. which are not conducted by Zee News, then in that case, the customerwould prefer to watch NDTV.

A price of a product should be such that it covers the cost of production, distribution andselling the product; including a fair return for its effort and risk. The same strategy is

applied to the news channels. The broadcasters of these channels also expect that theprice should cover the cost of broadcasting and promoting the channels, studio setups,newsreaders, etc.



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CHANNELS BROADCASTING

STATIONS

AajTak Noida(Delhi)

BBC News Singapore

CNN SingaporeDD News Delhi

Headlines Today Noida(Delhi)

India Tv Delhi

NDTV 24X7 Delhi

NDTV India Delhi

Sahara Rashtriya Delhi

Star News Hongkong

Zee News Noida(Delhi)

After transmission, the antennas of the Multi Service Operators (MSO) operating indifferent areas catch these channels. These operators then transmit the channels tovarious consumers either through cables, dish antennas or any other way. Thus the finalproduct reaches the consumers.

Area Coverage:

A huge industry by itself, the Indian silver screen has thousands of programmes in all thestates of India. Initially, there was only one national news channel-Doordarshan, whichwas government owned. Today there are 20 news channels operating on both- the

national and the regional level. The area covered by different MSOs in Ahmedabad is asfollows:

Siti Cable and Syndicate:

Sabarmati

Maninagar

Navrangpura

University Area, etc.

Incable net:

Satellite

Ambawadi

Naranpura

Raipur

Usmanpura,etc.



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4. Promotion:

The most important factor of the marketing mix with regard to a TV channel, particularlyan all-news channel, is promotion. Promotion can be defined as "Activities thatcommunicate the product or service and its merits to target customers and persuade them

to buy."

Promotion is the advertising and selling part of Marketing. Often, promotions arecategorized into push versus pull. Advertising pulls by making the consumer aware of,and ask for the product or service. Incentives, such as premiums or price reductions, pushthe product out the door by encouraging the customers to purchase in volume, more, ormore often than he would otherwise purchase.

Promotion is a concept of organizational culture, popularly recognized as"artifacts"-everything that can be seen, heard and felt, such as the day-to-day behavior,physical environment, and communication of an organization. Thus, out of the 4 Ps thesechannels compete exclusively in the area of Promotion. Channels can promotethemselves by advertising, copywriting, media selection, selling (both personal andmass), sales promotion, and positioning. Promotion can be in-house, whether on theirown channel during commercial breaks, or outside, i.e. by advertising.

Promotion Strategies:

Channels use various tactics and promotional strategies to attract the viewers andstrengthen their brand image. Thus here we look in depth at the fourth P, Promotion, andhow the channels differentiate themselves. The basic aim of these news channels is tomould their product to fit what the viewers are looking for. Their strategies are areflection of their own individual corporate cultures. Various promotional strategies thatare normally used by all the news channels are listed below:



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field. The news channels must understand the importance of having experienced reportersdoing live injects for extended durations, and from dangerous spots.

Special Programming:

Traditionally, special events are an important part of any channel's news coverage. Someevents like inaugurations or summits are scheduled and planned in advance. Others, likethe outbreak of war or the death of a world figure, may pre-empt regular scheduledprogramming. News executives have the option to pre-empt programming with breakingstories but they must operate with considerable discretion. The decision to pre-empt aprogram takes into consideration the nature of the channel's programming policy, theimportance of the event, and the editorial material available.

Various programmes broadcasted by the news channels during a special event i.e.Elections are listed below which further clear the point.

NDTV INDIA

NDTV's programming lined up for the elections had a distinct flavour ofexperience- Election Watch, Chai Stop, Follow The Leader, Battle Ground, Opinionand Exit Polls, And the winner is..., Jeet Uski Janta Jiski, Village Voice, PartyOnline, Party Political, Apni Party Apni Baat, Choti si baat, Campus India, GustkhiMaaf (Puppets), Votenama, Vote Yatra, Gaon Gaon Se, Party Se, Small Talk, andUniversity talk.

AAJ TAK

The programme names regarding elections were based on Hindi films and the motifsused were very common day so that the target audience of Aaj Tak had no problemin understanding them. These programmes were- Chunaav 2004, Aap Ki Sarkar,Vote Bank, Aaj Ka MP, Election Express, Kahani Chunaav Ki, Thodi Si Bewafaai,Yeh Raaste Hai Vote Ke, Chunaavi Chat, etc. Along with all these programmes AajTak had also featured Chunavi Qawwali, a colourful and musical election show thattakes an unconventional look at elections 2004.

ZEE NEWS

Janata Mange Hisaab, Chunav Chaupal, which bought the people and their elected

representatives face-to-face with a host of issues on the agenda, Daurey Par Netajiwas some of the election-related programmes that Zee News had. Adding sparkle tothe whole proceedings was Daurey Par Abhinetaji, featured with so many film andTV artistes' in the electoral fray or campaigning for their respective parties. Someother programmes were- Kaun Kitne Paani Mein, Chunaavi Gupshup, Shatranj KeKhilaadi, Chunaavi Chatpat and Chunaavi Bhatti.



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Several promotional techniques are used to attract the viewers to the news product. Whileit seems that the channels are not competing on the levels of place and price, promotion isan area where the battle for the hearts and minds is being fought. Just as in any war, thereare no absolute winners. Each channel tries to foster its own organizational culture. Indoing so, they use their own promotional techniques. The success of each can only be

measured by those who define the promotional goals.

Limitations:

Interesting conclusions can be drawn from understanding which channels viewersdecided to watch and on what basis. One can add a fifth P- People. Statistical dataabout audience ratings is still unreliable and hence it is totally ruled out by the newschannels while considering the Four Ps of Marketing.

Another limitation is the reluctance of channel employees to speak about theiroperations. The one who decides to speak do so anonymously.



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CHAPTER 4

RESEARCH PLAN

Research is all about doing something, others already did, but

thinking the way no one else thought. -R. W. Emerson



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Manufacturers, retailers, suppliers of all kinds of services and many other organizationsmay need certain kind of information in order to be able to satisfy their customers wantsand needs and to design effective marketing programs while still earning a profit.

Definition of Market Research:

Marketing research is the function that links the consumer, customer and the public to themarketer through information i.e. used to identify and define marketing opportunities and problems; generate, refine and evaluate marketing actions; monitor marketingperformance, and improve understanding of marketing as a process.

Primary and Secondary Data:

In order to achieve the objectives of the market study, information may be obtained from

primary and/or secondary sources. Primary information represents the data that iscollected for the first time to meet the specific purpose on hand. Secondary information,on the other hand, is the information that has been gathered in some other context and isalready available. Secondary information, though useful, often does not provide acomprehensive basis for market and demand analysis. It needs to be supplemented withprimary information gathered through a market survey.

The market survey may be a Census Survey or a Sample Survey. In a Census Survey, theentire population is covered. Census Surveys are employed principally for intermediategoods and investment goods when such goods are used by small number of firms. Acensus survey is prohibitively costly and may also be infeasible.

Due to the above-mentioned limitations of the census survey, the market survey, inpractice, is typically a Sample Survey. In such a survey, a sample of population iscontacted or observed and relevant information is gathered. Based on such information,inferences about the population may be drawn.

Steps in a Sample Survey:

Typically, a sample survey consists of the followings steps:

1. Define the target population:

In defining the target population, the important terms should be carefully andunambiguously defined. For the purpose of market research of news channels, wedivided the target population into various segments having different characteristicssuch as- age, occupation, gender and educational qualification.



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2. Select the Sampling Scheme and Sample Size:

There are several sampling schemes such as Simple Random Sampling, and StratifiedSampling. The sample size, other things being equal, has a bearing on the reliabilityof the estimates- the larger the sample size, the greater is the reliability. Our sample

size was of 2000 respondents in Ahmedabad city.

3. Develop the Questionnaire:

The questionnaire is the principal instrument for eliciting information from thesample respondents. The effectiveness of the questionnaire as a device for elicitingthe desired information depends on its length, the types of questions, and the wordingof the questions. Our questionnaire was divided into three major sections i.e. peoplewatching news channels in Hindi or in English, if not in Hindi or English then in anyother language and the people not watching news channels at all.

Developing a questionnaire requires a thorough understanding of the product/serviceand its usage, imagination, insights into human behaviour.

Since the quality of the questionnaire has an important bearing on the results of themarket survey, the questionnaires should be tried out in a pilot survey and themodified in the light of problems/ difficulties noted. We also had conducted such apilot survey in which we had surveyed people of different classes, age and gender.The sample size of our pilot survey was 100.

4. Obtain information as per questionnaire form the sample of respondents:

Respondents may be interviewed personally, technically, or by mail for obtaininginformation. Personal interviews ensure a high rate of response. In our survey wepersonally interviewed respondents of different age groups, gender and occupations.

5. Scrutinize the Information Gathered:

Information gathered should be thoroughly scrutinized to eliminate the data which isinternally inconsistent and which is of dubious validity. Information, probablyinaccurate, should be deleted. Sometimes data inconsistencies may be revealed onlyafter some analysis.

6. Analyze and Interpret the information:

Information gathered in the survey needs to be analyzed and interpreted with care andimagination. After tabulating it as per a plan of analysis, suitable statisticalinvestigation may be conducted, wherever possible and necessary.

An in-depth analysis of the viewers preferences on the basis of different

demographic parameters is described in the next chapter.



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Limitations of Market Research:

Market research will never provide with all the answers. In fact, it might not evenaddress all the problems. Research techniques have their own limitations since they do

not stimulate real life consumer situations. Moreover, consumers do not necessarilybehave as they say. Therefore, blind adoption of research recommendation is to beavoided.



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CHAPTER 5

ANALYSIS

Judge not the play, before the play is done.

-John Davis



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DEALERS ANALYSIS:

In order to get a brief idea about the distribution of news channels, we conducted adealers survey including 50 cable operators in Ahmedabad city and two major MultiService Operators (MSOs)- Siti Cable and Incable net. The results of the same are

presented as below:

There are two main MSOs in Ahmedabad- Siti cable and Incable with the marketshare of 60% and 40% respectively.

All the distributors provide Indian news channels; while the International Newschannels like CNN and BBC are provided only by some of the cable operatorsbecause of the cost constraint.

All the news channels are free-to-air.

There is no major problem in the transmission of these channels.

Many times the cable operators are paid an extra commission for the promotion of thenews channels. The prominent examples are Aaj Tak and NDTV.

According to the dealers, most viewed channels in the city are-

i) Aaj Tak

ii) NDTV India and

iii) Zee News

The following table represents a quick picture of the dealers analysis.

Market ShareNo. Of

ConnectionsSupply of New Channels by the Cable Operators

Siti Cable IncableLess than

200Greaterthan 200

Indian News Channels International News Channels

Yes No Yes No

60% 40% 50% 50% 94% 6% 76% 24%



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CONSUMERS ANALYSIS:

Introduction:

Television is emerging as the most powerful media in India with capacity to influence

nearly 80 million households i.e. about 40% of India's population. It accounts forapproximately 60% of the entertainment industry revenue. Channels in all genres havebeen increasing, each fighting for its share of the advertising pie and for eyeballs. Wehave carried out a consumer survey in mid December 2004 to understand the awareness,mind share and preference of channels in different categories amongst TV watchingaudience. The respondents were restricted only to the residents of Ahmedabad city. Thestudy has thrown up some very thought provoking results. We are pleased to share a briefanalyses restricting only to News channels at the moment.

A. Gender Wise:

A total of 2000 households were interviewed in Ahmedabad, out of which, 968 weremales and 1032 were females. The sample break-up by gender in percentages is depictedin Figure 1.

Figure 1: Gender wise Break-up

48%52%MaleFemale

B. Age Wise:

We approached viewers of different age groups classifying them into following:

Age Group No. of Respondents

Below 25 Years 795

25 to 50 Years 948

Above 50 Years 257



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Figure 2: Age wise Break-up

40%

47%

13%

Below 25 Years

25 to 50 Years

Above 50 Years

C. Occupation Wise:

The viewers of news channels may belong to any occupation, well acquainted to this factwe kept no bar and divided the occupations in 6 different groups comprising of business,profession, service, student, housewife and retired.

Occupation No. of Respondents

Business 262

Profession 207

Service 356

Student 704

Housewife 349Retired 116

Others 6

Figure 3: Occupation wise Break-up

13%

10%

18%36%

17%6% Business

Profession

Service

Student

Housewife

Retired



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D. Educational Qualification Wise:

People with different Educational Qualification watch News Channels. So to get a briefidea of the target audience, we have classified the viewers in three major groups- UnderGraduates, Graduates and Post Graduates.

Educational Qualification No. of Respondents

Under Graduate 634

Graduate 890

Post Graduate 476

Figure 4: Break-up as per

Educational Qualification

32%

44%

24% Under Graduate

Graduate

Post Graduate

1. Among the 2000 respondents we interviewed, 1523 respondents watch news channels,while the remaining 477 respondents do not watch news channels.

Figure 5: Break-up of News Channel

Viewership

1523

477

0

500

1000

1500

2000

Yes No

No.ofRes

pondent



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1.1. It is found that the 477 respondents who do not watch news channels keepthemselves updated by other source viz. newspapers, radio, magazines, internet, etc.

Figure 10: Break-up of Sources of News

other than News Channels

14%

24%

17%1%

44%

News Papers

Radio

Magazines

Internet

Others

1.2. The frequency of viewing news channels varies from person to person. The sameis illustrated in the table mentioned below:

No. of Respondents

Twice a day 414

Once a day 753

Once a week 117Occasionally 239

Figure 6: Break-up of Viewership

Frequency

27%

49%

8%

16%Twice a day

Once a dayOnce a week

Occasionally



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1.3. The parameters which affect the viewer ship frequency can be categorized asfollows:

1.3.1. Gender:

Male Female

Twice a day 246 135

Once a day 379 374

Once a week 43 74

Occasionally 91 147

Figure 7: Gender wise Break-up of Viewership Frequency

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

400

Twice a day Once a day Once a week Occasionally

No.o

fRespondents

Male

Female

The above graph depicts that majority of the males are interested in keeping themselves

updated with the current affairs, because they are directly or indirectly affected by thehappenings in the political and business world.

Although females do watch news channels, they are comparatively less interested inknowing about the outside world, resulting into lower viewer ship frequency.



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1.3.2. Occupation :

Business Profession Service Student Housewife Retired

Twice a day 78 35 83 110 37 32

Once a day 111 96 151 273 98 23

Once a week 12 11 22 52 19 1

Occasionally 26 10 27 109 54 15

Figure 8: Occupation wise Break-up of Viewership

Frequency

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

Busin

ess

Profes

sion

Service

Stud

ent

Hou

sewife

Retire

d

No.

ofRespondents

Twice a day

Once a day

Once a week

Occasionally

The above graph indicates that majority of the people belonging to different occupationswatch news at least once a day to keep a track of the latest events. Further, it is inferred

that most of the business and service class people watch news more frequently accordingto the type of occupation and the degree of interest. As far as housewives and people ofother occupations are concerned, it is found that they watch news occasionally, just tohave know-how of some events like elections, natural calamities, etc. Regarding students,it is found that they watch news once in a day in order to be with the world. A majorchunk of our sample consists of students because of which the ratio of viewer shipfrequency of students is more than those of others.



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1.3.3. Education :

Under Graduate Graduate Post Graduate

Twice a day 86 175 99

Once a day 212 356 162

Once a week 38 51 25

Occasionally 90 107 33

Figure 9: Educational Qualification wise Break-up of

Viewership Frequency

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

400

Twice a day Once a day Once aweek

Occasionally

No.ofResponden

ts

Under Graduate

Graduate

Post Graduate

From the above graph it can be inferred that out of the people having differenteducational qualifications, the graduates stand out with the highest number of peoplewatching news once a day.

2. Out of the total number of respondents, more than half watch news in both- Englishand Hindi. 23% of the viewers prefer to watch news only in Hindi and 14% in

English.

Language No. of Respondents

English 213

Hindi 351

Both 803

Any Other 156



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Figure 11: Language wise Break-up of Viewers

14%

23%

53%

10%English

Hindi

Both

Any Other

2.2. The data regarding the parameters which affect the viewer ship frequency inlanguages other than Hindi and English is as described below:

2.2.1. Other Languages :

Language No. of Respondents

Gujarati 132

Tamil 6

Bengali 11

Others 7

Figure 12: Break-up of Viewers as per

Regional Languages

85%

4%7% 4%

Gujarati

Tamil

Bengali

Others



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Out of the total respondents, 10% watch news in regional languages likeGujarati, Tamil,Bengali and others. Others over here include the languages like- Punjabi, Urdu andMarathi. Gujarati language holds a dominant position with the share of 85%.

2.2.2. Reasons for selecting other languages :

Figure 13: Reasons for Preference of

Regional News Channels

80

93

70

75

80

85

90

95

Language Inaccessibility Preference for Regional

News

When the respondents were asked about the reasons for not watching news in Hindi orEnglish, the most prevalent reason came out to be preference for regional news. A personliving in a particular city would be more concerned about the events happening in hissurroundings rather than those which happen on the national or international front.

3. During the survey, it was found that out of all the channels people in Ahmedabadpreferred to watch Hindi Channels in comparison to the English ones. The graphsbelow depict the same.

3.1. Out of English news channels, highest rank was given to NDTV 24x7 with themarket share of 50.14% followed by Headlines Today and the International newschannel BBC World News.



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Rank 1 Rank 2 Rank 3

NDTV 24x7 522 166 76

Headlines Today 83 167 83

BBC World 132 162 159

CNN News 43 137 139

CNBC TV 18 124 162 134DD News 137 72 130

Figure 14: Rank wise Break-up of English News

Channels

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

NDTV 24x7 Headlines

Today

BBC World CNN News CNBC TV 18 DD News

Rank 1

Rank 2

Rank 3

Even after dividing the viewers preferences on the basis of occupation, it iis found thatthe first preference was given to NDTV 24x7. But the second and third preferencediffered depending upon the occupations.

3.1.1. Business :


NDTV 24x7 77 36 11Headlines Today 17 25 12

BBC World 26 17 27

CNN News 9 21 14

CNBC TV 18 30 37 27

DD News 16 10 28



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0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

NDTV 24x7

Headlines Today

BBC World

CNN News

CNBC TV 18

DD News

Figure 16: Preference of Business Class for English

News Channels

Rank 1

Rank 2

Rank 3

After NDTV 24x7, it was CNBC TV 18 and DD News that occupied the second and thirdpositions.

3.1.2. Profession :


NDTV 24x7 48 21 5

Headlines Today 12 17 7BBC World 11 14 12

CNN News 1 10 10

CNBC TV 18 9 19 17

DD News 12 2 12



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0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

NDTV 24x7

Headlines Today

BBC World

CNN News

CNBC TV 18

DD News

Figure 17: Preference of Professionals for English

News Channels

Rank 1

Rank 2

Rank 3

Apart from NDTV 24x7, the Professionals also preferred to watch CNBC TV 18.

3.1.3. Service:


NDTV 24x7 95 31 19


BBC World 28 22 28

CNN News 5 31 21

CNBC TV 18 21 20 28

DD News 31 15 23



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0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

NDTV 24x7

Headlines Today

BBC World

CNN News

CNBC TV 18

DD News

Figure 18: Preference of Service Class for English News

Channels

Rank 1

Rank 2

Rank 3

In the case of service class preferences also included Headlines Today and CNBC TV 18.

3.1.4. Students:


NDTV 24x7 251 62 27


BBC World 44 77 68

CNN News 16 47 65

CNBC TV 18 48 73 49

DD News 54 25 44



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0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

NDTV 24x7

Headlines Today

BBC World

CNN News

CNBC TV 18

DD News

Figure 19: Prefence of Students for English News

Channels

Rank 1

Rank 2

Rank 3

Along with NDTV 24x7, students also preferred BBC World News.

3.1.5. Housewife :


NDTV 24x7 46 16 7


BBC World 12 11 14

CNN News 5 12 10

CNBC TV 18 7 9 12

DD News 16 15 11



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0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

NDTV 24x7

Headlines Today

BBC World

CNN News

CNBC TV 18

DD News

Figure 20: Preference of Housewives for English

News Channels

Rank 1

Rank 2

Rank 3

Besides NDTV 24x7, housewives preferred to watch Headlines Today and BBC WorldNews.

3.1.6. Retired :


NDTV 24x7 14 4 0


BBC World 2 6 4

CNN News 1 6 5

CNBC TV 18 1 1 5

DD News 6 4 7



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0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

NDTV 24x7

Headlines Today

BBC World

CNN News

CNBC TV 18

DD News

Figure 21: Preference of Retired People for English

News Channels

Rank 1

Rank 2

Rank 3

Retired people preferred to watch NDTV 24x7, CNN News, BBC World News and DD

News.

3.2. As far as Hindi news channels are concerned, the highest preference was given toAaj Tak with a whooping 63.82% market share followed by Star News and ZeeNews.


Aaj Tak 741 156 88

NDTV India 129 253 117

Star News 120 330 204

Zee News 58 179 258

Sahara Rashtriya 18 54 90

India TV 4 13 53

DD News 91 37 203



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Figure 15: Rank wise Break-up of Hindi News Channels

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

800

Aaj Tak NDTV India Star News Zee News Sahara

Rashtriya

India TV DD News

Rank 1

Rank 2

Rank 3

After dividing the viewers preferences on the basis of occupation, it is found that the firstrank was bagged by Aaj Tak, whereas the second and the third positions differeddepending upon different occupations.

3.2.1. Business:


Aaj Tak 115 32 14

NDTV India 23 40 19

Star News 16 56 28

Zee News 14 21 42

Sahara Rashtriya 4 7 10

India TV 0 4 7

DD News 12 1 6



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0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Aaj Tak

NDTV India

Star News

Zee News

Sahara Rashtriya

India TV

DD News

Figure 22: Preference of Business Class for Hindi News

Channels

Rank 1

Rank 2

Rank 3

After Aaj Tak, it was Star News and Zee News that occupied the second and third

positions.

3.2.2. Profession :


Aaj Tak 53 20 10

NDTV India 16

Documents

Micro analysis of News Channle