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Latha Venkatraman

MUMBAI, Oct. 4

CNBC India, in which Television Eighteen India Ltd has a 49 per cent stake, is looking at the possibility of airing some of its programmes on Mumbai's FM Radio stations.

"We would prefer to air our programmes on the most popular FM station," Mr Haresh Chawla, Chief Executive officer, CNBC India, said but declined to name it. Currently, CNBC provides a business update on Radio City 91 FM.

However, the channel's primary focus is to `complete the repertoire of what a CEO needs today', according to Mr Chawla. "We have achieved a certain depth in our coverage. Now, we are trying to increase the width by including more areas of business," he said. The channel is looking at vertical sectors including pharmaceuticals, manufacturing, and automobiles.

In the process of growing from 11 million homes to 16 million homes over the next 12 months, CNBC India is looking at a whole range of programmes. "We have added several new brands and programmes to our existing list. These include health shows, a special programme on women on the move, a show on Kerala emerging as the next IT destination, coverage on Cannes Ad Festival," Mr Chawla said.

"Our first phase of taking the channel from the boardroom to the living room is over. Now, we address issues that a CEO looks for beyond his workplace," he said. In the process of integrating the channel with its viewing community, CNBC India has been conducting interactive sessions under the brand name Managing India Brainstorm. The fifth edition of Managing India Brainstorm is being conducted jointly with Sun Microsystems and Wipro Infotech on the issue Barriers to Economic growth.

According to Mr Chawla, the channel's true viewer strength programme to programme is difficult to assess in terms of number of viewers primarily because the audience does not figure in TAM's ratings. People meters to assess viewership strength is normally not placed in offices, where most of CNBC viewing takes place, according to Mr Chawla. Besides, most of CNBC's viewership is an upscale audience, he said.

"Our mechanism to assess this is through our feedback and direct interaction with the CEO. Daily we have about 4-5 CEOs in contact with us," he said.

Currently, CNBC India's revenue ratio is inclined 75 per cent towards advertisement and 25 per cent coming from subscription revenue, he said.

In its annual report for 2001-2002, TV18 said that the Indian operations of CNBC India have become cash positive in a period of 26 months.

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