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Tag: BV Rao

  • Unnithan, currently Managing Editor, India Today, is scheduled to join on March 1. News9 Plus is slated for a beta launch this month and a full-scale take off late March.

    Sandeep Unnithan to head TV9’s News9 Plus

    By Our Staff

     

    Sandeep Unnithan
    Sandeep Unnithan. Picture source: India Today

    There is much action in English news journalism all over again. According to sources, Sandeep Unnithan, currently, Managing Editor, India Today, is all set to join the soon-to-be-launched News9 Plus, the subscription-driven English video newsmag from the TV9 stable. Unnithan is scheduled to join on March 1. News9 Plus is slated for a beta launch this month and a full-scale take off late March.

    Unnithan, a specialist in defence and strategic affairs, is author of Black Tornado: The 3 sieges of Mumbai 26/11 and co-author of #OperationX: The Untold Story of India’s Covert Naval War in East Pakistan.

    According to our sources, other than Unnithan, Sandhya Ravishankar will also be part of the team as Chief of Bureau (South) as also Aditya Raj Kaul, who is also known for his coverage of security, diplomacy and conflict.

    Unnithan will report to BV Rao, Group Editor, TV9 Network. The attempt of the new offering, is to reach out to the ‘GenFlix’ English news viewer, a coinage for the Netflix-like streaming service watchers who are interested in serious news content.

    It obviously helps that Unnithan has worked with Rao not many moons ago at the Indian Express in Mumbai.

  • An OTT news service platform for the 'GenFlix'

    TV9 Network to launch News9 Plus

    By Our Staff

     

    TV9 has announced the launch of News9 Plus, a subscription-driven English video news magazine in an OTT format. News9 Plus is slated for a beta launch this month and a full-scale take off late March.

     

    Said Barun Das, CEO, TV9 Network: “Historically, the Indian news genre has undermined itself with a huge self-created handicap. It has never leveraged India’s core strength – its large consumer base. Newspapers have always subsidised the reader and TV news channels are mostly free to air. Hence, we have lived with tremendous pressure on ad revenue. On the other hand, consumers have just about started paying for digital news. However, this propensity to pay for digital news will depend on how effectively digital news platforms can serve the consumer ‘what they want, when they want.”

     

    Added BV Rao, Group Editor, TV9 Network: “News9 Plus is all about the Network meeting the future even as it is unfolding. “At TV9 Network, it is clear to us where the discerning English news viewer is going and why. The ‘GenFlix’ English news viewers are not running away from news. They are running away from the cacophony that television news has come to represent. Exposed as they are to the best of the best global content on OTT, these discerning news viewers do not relate to the ‘you bite me, I bite you’ journalism that has struck deep roots on television. ‘GenFlix’ has no appetite for such content.   So, the future news business battles will have to be fought in the OTT environment.  For us, that future is now. And we call it News9 Plus.”

     

  • Firstpost print will be an amalgam of contemporary journalism delivered with conventional panache

    Network18 bets big on its new weekly newspaper, Firstpost

    By A Correspondent

     

    Network18 has announced the launch of its first weekly newspaper titled, Firstpost. Through various soon-to-be launched initiatives such as Club Firstpost and the Firstpost App, it aims to engage with users and the launch of Firstpost as a weekend newspaper is a part of that effort.

     

    Said BV Rao, Editor, Firstpost: “By taking the viewspaper from the virtual to the physical world we are signaling two things: Firstly, there is a market opportunity in the weekends for deep, thoughtful and reflective journalism, the kind that allows us to step-back from the cacophony of the moment and analyze events calmly. Thus, the difference between the two products is not the quality of the content, but the kind of content. Secondly, content is platform-agnostic, especially good content. The digital consumer reads a lot but not necessarily the best. Reading the best becomes somewhat of a lottery, dependent on whether they open the right links from among the dozens they are dumped with every day. Firstpost print content, arranged to enable quick access in one place, will provide that reading pleasure to digital readers as well. Existing digital readers can access the content free for a limited period and then signal their readiness to put a premium on the content they cherish.”

     

    Added Praveen Swami, Group Consulting Editor, Network18: “Firstpost is a new kind of newspaper. Instead of the usual, mundane recounting of events already well-known to readers through digital media and television, every single article aspires to exceptionality: to offer a unique perspective; to excavate new information; to bring to life a new story”.

     

    Positioning itself as the last word on news, Firstpost will be a 20-page broadsheet appearing every Saturday and shall cater to readers in Mumbai and New Delhi.

     

    Speaking on the launch, Rahul Kansal, Business Head, Print & Brand Advisor, Network18, said: “I am extremely proud to be a part of this milestone in the journey of Network18’s growing news prowess.  Firstpost sees itself as a ‘viewspaper’ with a focus on politics, and will offer a ringside view of the complex democracy and society of our multi-dimensional nation. The offering will serve discerning readers looking for an intelligent read, many of whom feel that Indian newspapers have dumbed down in their bid to capture the mass market.”

     

     

  • On mobile, Firstpost has recorded a similar growth trajectory with monthly unique visitors and page views growing at 175 per cent and 280 per cent, respectively

    Firstpost.com turns 7; lays out strategic roadmap for next year

    By A Correspondent

     

    Digital news platform Firstpost.com is celebrating seven years in the industry. Said Azim Lalani, Business Head of the website: “The digital universe is expanding and just like any other sector the digital space too is growing to become highly competitive. So, to have been around for seven years and to have recorded some great growth numbers certainly speaks volumes about the effort put in and the force that Firstpost is today. We look forward to further strengthen our presence and keep our audiences thoroughly engaged year after year.”

     

    Added Editor BV Rao: “It’s only marriages that wait for the seen-year itch. At Firstpost we itch constantly to break new ground every day. Beginning with the very concept of a breaking views paper to introducing marathon real-time video digicast of elections and budgets, to launching new products such as Firstcricket, Showsha, FirstCulture and Firstpost Hindi the itch to innovate to serve our readers has been a constant companion. And will continue to for several decades more.”