The most talked about and the most famous premium English news channel of India is NDTV (the short for New Delhi Television) 24x7. It is owned by New Delhi Television Ltd. and is the largest private producer of news and current affairs programming. Considered the best 24-hour English news channel in India, it has won the Asian Television Award for Best News Channel not only for the year 2005 but also for the year 2006. Adding to this great honor, NDTV has also bagged four awards at the Hero Honda ITA Awards Ceremony in the year 2006. The year has been a golden one for NDTV. `Muqabla`, a popular debate show wins it for NDTV India in the `Best Talk Show` category, Barkha Dutt has been awarded the `Best Talk Show Anchor` for NDTV`s hallmark show, `We the People`, while, Sreenivasan Jain bags the `Best News/Current Affairs Anchor` for `Witness` and in the `Best Lifestyle Show` category, the winner was NDTV`s very own, very innovative show, `Spectacular Spas of the World`.
The channel has a team of award winning journalists, like Mr Prannoy Roy and Ms Barkha Dutt, who spearhead the news campaign, infact it has the best and the brightest of all. Apart from news the channel also airs other programmes like "The Big Fight", "We the People", which are highly popular. Featuring political news, entertainment reports and lots of cricket, the channel continues to produce original content such as documentaries and special reports. The channel is also available in in the UK on the Sky Digital platform, in the U.S. on the DirecTV platform, in Canada as part of the Asian Television Network, and in Australia on the Vision Asia platform. The famous show `We the People` hosted by Barkha Dutt has received critical acclaim and has won several key awards. It also airs other shows like `Walk the Talk`, `Cricket Controversies`, `Your Day Today`,`Sports 24x7`, `The X-Factor`, `Wittness` and the like. It has 23 offices and studios across the country host India`s most modern and sophisticated production and newsgathering facilities. NDTV 24x7 and NDTV India - two round-the-clock English news channels, broadcast via the far-reaching Global beam on PanAmSat`s PAS-10 satellite. Entertainment programs like "Limelight," which covers the world of art, theatre, and film, and "Chuppa Rustum," the popular gag show, are aired on these channels.the channel also features live analysis of election results and the country`s annual general budget.
NDTV was founded in the year 1988 as India`s first and largest private producer of news, current affairs and entertainment television. NDTV 24X7, the flagship English news channel is the market leader, in India, with an unrivalled reputation for excellence. NDTV has launched its first channel outside India in partnership with Astro, a leading South East Asia media group. "Astro Awani", launched in Indonesia, is a 24-hour news, infotainment and lifestyle channel. The channel started broadcast in the UK only in November 2005.
In the year 2006, NDTV 24x7, announced the launch of `Southern Edition` - a daily news programme using the Opt-Out telecast technology - for its viewers in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala. The `Southern Edition` is on air every weekday on NDTV 24X7 at 7.30 p.m. On weekends, there is a bouquet of region-specific programming.
In the year 2004, Prannoy-Roy promoted English news channel, NDTV 24x7, in Africa as well. The news broadcaster has signed up with MultiChoice Africa (MCA), a pay television platform that provides television entertainment to over one million subscribers in over 50 countries in the African continent and the adjacent Indian Ocean islands through it DStv bouquet. With the help of this tie-up NDTV was actually targeting the large Indian population present in the African Continent.
In the year 2007, the channel was converted into a free to air (FTA) channel in the Cas-notified areas of Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata. The channel was already a pay channel in Chennai and is still is. The Set-Discovery One Alliance distribution bouquet distributes NDTV 24x7.
There has been a substantial ramp-up of advertising on NDTV 24x7. The channel has attracted more top-end advertisers at premium rates. Rich programming content - news in the prime-time band on week days and feature programming at week-ends - that enjoys high audience share is likely to ensure that advertisers remain hooked to this channel; they may take exposures in other English news channels at substantially lower rates. Advertisement rates remain stable for NDTV 24x7 with a moderate upside bias, though the rest may to have operated at lower tariff levels. NDTV 24x7 and NDTV India are well known growth themes for the company. NDTV Profit - the business channel - appears poised to join their ranks sooner than most would have anticipated.
Reliance Infocomm, India`s largest mobile Service provider, had also tied-up with NDTV 24X7, in the year 2004, to provide on the hour news updates of actual newscast with streaming video of NDTV news. Now, RIM customers could watch streaming video of election updates as well as other news coverage from NDTV news through R World on their multimedia enabled handsets.
NDTV is also planning to promote a 100 per cent subsidiary, which will be called NDTV Ventures for expansion beyond news into entertainment and lifestyle channels and New Media. This model would help NDTV to garner funds for the new ventures it is lining up. The new model is to be based on an entrepreneurial management structure aimed at attracting and rewarding the best global talent in the business, including the large talent bank within NDTV.
NDTV is India`s largest private broadcaster and is known for its credibility, speed and accuracy. NDTV has evolved into India`s first name in news.
