The Hindu Business Line : Channel 7 looks to boost market share

CHANNEL 7 is looking at increasing its market share to 15 per cent in the coming months and be among the first four channels in the news genre through its news-plus programming.

Speaking to Business Line, Mr Siddartha Gupta, Director, Channel 7, said the Hindi news channel is open to any kind of programming that is non-fiction and would help bust the clutter in the news segment. "We already have a variety of differential programming such as a cookery show called Khas Khansama in which a five-star chef goes from house to house and comes up with exotic dishes with the existing ingredients in that particular house."

Among the new bouquet of programmes that the channel is concentrating on is a reality show on cricket, Scorpio Speedstar2005, which would go on air from December 3. The programme, which is being produced in association with IMG and Mahindra & Mahindra, would be a seven-episode series that would hunt for the fastest pace bowler in the country.

Also on the cards is the launch of a CEO talk show, Power Games, which would be anchored by former Indian cricket captain Ajay Jadeja. This show would reportedly feature head honchos of companies talking about their passion for a particular sport, their family, business and so on.

However, Mr Gupta also looks at the channel's focus on non-news programming as navigation points to drive loyalty. "The actual challenge is to place ourselves as a serious news channel," he said.

As for hard news, Mr Gupta said the channel would concentrate more on human interest stories and talk more about the common man. "We will start reporting from the bottom of the pyramid."

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