The Godot finally arrives
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Yet another news channel hits the screens today. But Siddharth Gupta, CEO of Channel 7, tells SANGEETA BAROOAH PISHAROTY that it is not quite `yet another' addition to the bunch.
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Siddharth Gupta, Chief Operating Officer, Channel 7.
THE NEWS that it is being launched is quite stale now. But the name it has finally acquired is news. Rather a fresh one at that. At least in the Indian arena of channel names.
Tagged as Jagran TV before its birth, the long-awaited Hindi news channel from the Dainik Jagran group is now to be called Channel 7. And, it hits your TV screens this Friday morning.
The name Channel 7, you would assume as anyone would, as an idea from the West's popular channels like Channel 9, Channel 4 etc. Though Siddharth Gupta, Chief Operating Officer of Channel 7, would not deny this but takes his time to brief you with the name searching drill that the group had gone through before zeroing in on the present name.
"It was easier to call it first as Jagran TV because it is from the Dainik Jagran group. But then, we soon wanted to change it as people identify the name with our print edition. We wanted to give the news channel a separate identity and not make it a glamorous cousin of the print version. Many names came up in the process like Nagrik, Prabhav and Zindagi, etc. But these names were limiting. So, when the name channel 7 finally came up, we knew we were looking for something like it," explains Siddharth.
Sitting at his plush office in Film City, NOIDA, which still smells of fresh paint, he seems relaxed that the channel is finally going on air. "We are ready. The dummy run has already been for over a month and I promise viewers to give something extra, something out of the box," he says.
The viewer target on the first day itself is an approximate 60, 000 homes in the Hindi belt.
Politics first
"Our first priority is political news followed by entertainment," he adds.
Since it is difficult to avoid being the same with other news channels when it comes to political happenings, Siddharth says, "We shall demystify news. We shall be different from the others in its interpretation with adequate back-grounding."
As far as entertainment is concerned, it would go the whole hog as the others with ample scope for coverage of fashion shows, pubs and night hang-outs across metros.
"We are no doubt targeting the upmarket crowd. We are an aspiration channel that way. But we shall do all that with Indian sensibilities in mind. All our anchors would speak correct Hindi, wear Indian outfits," he insists. The trick in being out of the bunch, he stresses, is to become visually distinct.
But what becomes a victim in the process is shrinkage of air-time for regional news. "When it becomes a national news, we shall not be found short of giving good coverage even if it happens in the regions. But when it comes to everyday news, we are forced to be metro-centric. After all, the target is as many eyeballs as possible in the metros. The advertisement revenue finally comes from it," he describes, honest at his approach.
But one realises sadly that regional news have to be either bad news or a shocking one these days to feature in our electronic media.
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