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"With the industry offering so much choice, branding obviously becomes important. One has to highlight his strengths within the genre, as the challenge is to ensure that the viewer tunes into his channel first."

- Piyush Jain,
COO, Channel 7.

Branding the News Channels in India

With close to 30 channels dotting the Indian skies and a few more in the offing, news is without doubt the most happening segment in the television industry. As per a recent study by TAM Media Research, the category witnessed a whopping 74 per cent growth in viewer-ship in 2004, and is slated to grow further this year.

However, the entry of more news channels has also made for a lot of clutter in the market, making channels realise the need for brand building. While channels such as Aaj Tak (Sabse Tez) and Star News (Aapko Rakhe Aage) have positioned themselves on the speed and high impact plank, Zee News claims to offer the most in-depth coverage. NDTV has positioned itself on the truth platform, while Channel 7 claims to bring to its viewers everything that revolves around life, with its Zindagi Live tagline. The new entrant in the news space market CNN-IBN is banking on hardcore journalism aspect.

It is quite easy to break loyalty on television as all one needs to do is switch channels. Therefore, it is essential for the news channels to tell the viewers where their core competence lies - whether their channel's strength lies in delivering news faster than the rest, or whether it specializes in providing the most in-depth information.

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* Contributed by -
Pritesh Y. Chothani, Arjun Siva & Radheshwar Dawar,
Batch of 2006,
IMT, Ghaziabad.