Aaj Tak and NDTV, take note! Your leadership among the Hindi news channels is facing challenge.
The challenger is none other than Jagran TV of the Kanpur-based Jagran group, publishers of Hindi daily Dainik Jagran. Their news and current affairs channel will start beaming in two months.
The group is confident it will be one of the top three among the news channels. It could be the top, says Mahendra Mohan Gupta, managing editor, Jagran Prakashan Pvt Ltd.
Gupta says a survey by a professional agency has found a lot of inadequacies in current news coverage. The new channel will address them all.
The valuation of the channel, even before it has started production, has been estimated at Rs 150 crore (Rs 1.50 billion) by professional agencies.
"We have been approached by strategic investors, both foreign and Indian, for a stake in the channel. This will be considered after the launch, since the investor would like to see the performance and we too can decide better then," Gupta said. Meanwhile, the company has appointed a consultant to advise on a possible strategic investor.
"We may go in for an IPO after the first year of operation and before the third," he said.
There is no dearth of advertising support. More channels have led to greater advertising and greater revenue. The target is to reach a revenue of Rs 100 crore (Rs 1 billion) in three years, Gupta says.
It has been estimated that the channel will earn a turnover of Rs 45 crore (Rs 450 million) in the first year and Rs 70 crore (Rs 700 million) in the second.
It has taken care of the distributorship factor as well. The group's newspaper chain, spread over 12 states, should be of help, feels Gupta.
A new company, Jagran TV Pvt Ltd, has been incorporated, with a paid-up capital of Rs 10 crore (Rs 100 million). It will beam in programmes from INSAT-II E to all of South-East Asia and South Asia.
It is the transponder from where Doordarshan and Zee programmes are telecast. The company has set up its studio at Noida and has invested Rs 40 crore (Rs 400 million) in fixed assets and all pre-operative expenses.
Wake up to Jagran