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Both channels are now a part of Dish Network’s South Asian Mega pack along with other channels from India. In addition, NDTV 24×7 also becomes the first Indian channel to also be available in their international base pack as well.

Commenting on the launch, Vikram Chandra, Executive Director and Group CEO, NDTV Limited said: “NDTV is delighted to be partnering with Dish Network to bring its content to an even wider audience in the US. We recognize that Dish dominates the South Asian market in the US, but we are also delighted that NDTV 24×7 will also be available to a wider audience through their International base pack. We hope our association helps both companies reach new heights.”

The launch of NDTV 24×7 in Dish Network’s international base pack comes close on the heels of the launch on Virgin in the UK, where it also became the only Indian channel to be launched in their basic pack.

NDTV’s channels are now available in the leading platforms across the US, UK, Canada, Sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East, Australia-New Zealand and the Indian sub-continent, among others, and reach more households than General Entertainment Channels (GECs) in the international market.

In addition, NDTV Good Times, India’s very own lifestyle channel, has also become a runaway hit in the international market, allowing the Indian Diaspora to enjoy the range of offerings that it brings, and giving them a taste of the New India. Within 4 years of its launch NDTV Good Times is available in key international markets, including the US and Canada, with a launch in the UK already in the pipeline.

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Adgully caught with Smeeta Chakrabarti, CEO, NDTV Lifestyle, Kanishk Khanna, Senior Manager-Marketing Services, Ira Dubey and the extremely talented Aly Khan; the anchors of the show, and the two chefs; Poppy Agha from Pakistan and Manish Mehrotra from India to know more insights and highlights of the show.

Commenting on the launch of the show, Smeeta Chakrabarti said, “We are absolutely thrilled to announce Foodistan, the biggest food show on Indian television.
With this show, we will take the ‘FOOD GENRE’ to ‘next level.’”

Explaining how the show is different in the space which already has international players creating a benchmark such as Master Chef Australia etc, she said, “From viewers point of view it is a good channel or a bad channel or may be a good show or a bad show but from our point of view it’s about standing out different. No doubt the international formats like Master Chef have been doing really well in the space but we have always developed our own programming. This format in itself is unique.”

Further elaborating her point, Chakrabarti added, “Since India and Pakistan are two nations who share a common passion for good food and this love for food is something that binds the two nations, inspite of the numerous differences, which is why Foodistan will appeal to our viewers.”

“In a way Master Chef has educated the audiences over and about the nuances of cookery shows and now one has to be really careful with the shows in this genre. Also Master Chef has taught the audience to appreciate this genre. People have begun to understand the refinement in the food genre. So that’s why we had to come up with something different and interesting like this,” Chakrabarti added.

NDTV Good Times has been very aggressively promoting the show. Speaking about the marketing and on-ground activities, Kanishk Khanna said, “We have been doing a lot in terms of promotions. The idea was to map every consumer’s touch point and to make sure that ‘Foodistan’ as a concept is marketed. We at NDTV believe that it’s not only about show marketing that takes the forefront but we are actually looking at treating it as a brand. So we would basically go ahead and promote or market the concept rather than the show. So we have a 360 degree campaign including print, radio, outdoor, Television.”

As told by Khanna, they have tied up with Moti Mahal restaurant, Gellato, café coffee day etc; basically anybody who is of 15 years of age. He says, “The thought was to go and scan the environment and see the potential partnerships and synergies that we can explore on-ground, on-air and throughout our mass media vehicle whether its print, radio or television.”

When asked about the marketing spends, Khanna very neatly said, “In terms of spends we are trying to optimize our media reach. We are not looking at something like ‘x’ amount would help us reach ‘x’ amount of consumers but the idea is to make sure that we are present in the environment of the consumer’s mind set.”

He expects that the show will be a game changer and also believes that the show will surly spur our target audience that is families. The whole format is unique; it is nothing that we are importing from ‘West’.

The hosts and the anchors of the show, Ira Dubey and Aly Khan both felt amazing hosting and being associated with the show. Dubey says, “The show is not only different from other reality shows in terms of content and format but also promises to keep you glued to your TV screens with such talented people from both India & Pakistan.”

Aly Khan says, “I am confident that the show will work really well because it has all the necessary ingredients to entertain the viewers with a perfect blend of a great concept.”

Who better than the contestants would tell us about the crux of the show? When asked about their association with the show, Manish Mehrotra said, “It’s been amazing being with the show which is different and unique. The fact that differentiates the show is that for the first time professionals are competing with each other. We really enjoyed that competition.”

Poppy Agha said, “I was a little scared in the start because of the fact that professional are competing with other and we all have to be really careful. After entering the show, it was all fun and exciting.”

Speaking about the challenges faced, Agha said, “There were many of them. The biggest challenge was when I had cook paneer based dishes as the only paneer dish in Pakistan is ‘Palak Paneer.’ That was the biggest challenge. As a chef it is very important to cook against your fears.”

While, cooking Paneer based dishes was a challenge for Poppy; doing basic things like chopping, cutting etc was a challenge for Manish.

Manish says, “Now we have reached to a level where we usually not perform basic activities like cutting and chopping; it’s like a convoy of people working for you and around you doing all such basic things but here doing everything from a scratch was a bit difficult but interesting and nice too.”

Though Agha has an inclination towards South Indian food but both the chefs love Thai food. Sharing some of the memorable moments, Marhotra said, “Team work was a big task; four chefs were together and it’s well said, too many Chefs spoil the broth, so we were scared of that. That was one of the challenges as well.”

The battle of culinary supremacy will hit the screens from 23rd January. With such amazing concept and innovative touch the show is expected to do really well in the space. But obviously it’s like a wait and watch game!!! | By Aanchal Kohli [aanchal(at)adgully.com]

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Led by Barkha Dutt as the President – Editorial Board and Sonia Singh as the President – The Ethics committee, both the groups will ensure regular and continuous oversight on all editorial and ethical matters.

The Editorial Board with Radhika Roy as the Chairperson will be responsible for all standards and matters editorial across NDTV. The aim of the Editorial Board is to take regular steps and pre-emptive action on the more complex issues that arise in the editorial direction for NDTV as well as be a focal point for answering any queries or complaints on editorial matters raised from within and outside NDTV.

The Ethics Committee headed by Sonia Singh will develop consistent standards and oversee all ethical issues across the organization. The Ethics Committee will report into the Compliance Committee Chaired by Radhika Roy.

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The most prestigious civilian honour of the country, the Indian of the Year Awards, will salute icons of change for this year in New Delhi on October 18, 2011, at the Taj Palace Hotel. The awards, in its sixth successful year, will be graced with the presence of some of India’s most influential personalities.

Announcing the awards, Dr. Prannoy Roy, Chairman, NDTV, said, “NDTV Indian of the Year Awards recognizes eminent visionaries, and personalities who have made the country proud and helped build Brand India. The colossal success of the initiative over the past five years and the presence of some of the most eminent Indian personalities have given tremendous credibility to the awards. We hope to make this year’s NDTV Indian of the Year bigger and involve the entire nation in the celebration.”

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The Pearson Foundation will serve as ‘Learning Partner’ for this national initiative, providing support for teachers and helping to outfit classrooms and libraries in 100 schools across the nation. In addition, Pearson’s India businesses will add additional local support by providing localized teacher training materials.

At a ceremony in Mumbai Mr Khozem Merchant, President – Pearson India handed over a cheque to Indian cricketer Sachin Tendulkar, the brand ambassador for the Support My School campaign.

“Helping teachers and students is key to improving the fortunes for everyone in these rural communities,” said Pearson Foundation President and CEO Mark Nieker. “Better classrooms, well-stocked libraries, and improved teacher training are great ways to build upon the exiting achievements of this innovative campaign.”

Launched earlier this year, the ‘Support My School’ campaign was created by NDTV and Coca-Cola in association with NGO partners, UN-Habitat, CAF and Sulabh International. The campaign initially aimed to develop healthy, active and happy schools in rural India through improvement of basic amenities. With the Pearson Foundation’s participation, each of the schools supported now have the capacity to improve teaching and learning as well.

Welcoming Pearson Foundation on board, Vikas Chawla, Vice-President Coca-Cola India and South West Asia, said “We believe that the role of business in the 21st century is not just about creating shareholder value but also promote the sustainability of the environment and local communities. Support My School is a grass root initiative to engage with communities and make a difference on ground. We are extremely pleased to have Pearson Foundation on board as Strategic Partners for this campaign. We believe their association through creating libraries and training teachers will strengthen the campaign and offer rich educational experience to the children. The contribution of the Pearson Foundation will surely make deeper and longer lasting impacts in the communities.

Amita Puri, CEO Charities Aid Foundation, India said “We, at CAF, are delighted to have Pearson join us and add a new dimension to the Support My School campaign. The current partners have steadfastly worked towards providing the basic amenities so essential to students. This strategic partnership with Pearson Foundation will now augment learning for students and help them reap the benefits to enhance their potential.”

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Through the ‘Support my School’ initiative NDTV aims to reach out to over 50-100 schools in India, across 8 states, and work towards betterment in the areas of Sanitation & Health, Sports & Recreation Facilities and Improvement in overall infrastructure and environment.

Announcing the Telethon, Smeeta Chakrabarti, CEO, NDTV Lifestyle said, “NDTV is proud to be associated with this campaign. We aim to raise funds for at least a 100 schools and more. We would like every one of our viewers to get involved and participate”

Campaign Ambassador Sachin Tendulkar added “This campaign is very close to my heart because we all know how important it is to support education and provide a proper platform. It is disappointing, though a reality, to see that girls don’t get to school in rural areas because of lack of facilities…”

Support comes in from all corners of the country as our Bollywood celebrities, young and old, join in to create awareness and raise funds for this noble cause. While Sanjay Dutt plays host to the Telethon, Govinda and Shabbir Ahluwalia would engage the audiences with their entertaining performances. Young Darsheel Safary would also join the veterans appealing to citizens to contribute wholeheartedly in making the event a success.

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Under the terms of the partnership, InMobi will have exclusive rights to monetize NDTV’s mobile applications for Apple iOS and Google Android devices in India and international markets. Advertisers that want to advertise on NDTV’s mobile application on these platforms will now engage with InMobi.

InMobi delivers the unprecedented ability to reach 314 million consumers, in over 165 countries,through more than 36.2 billion mobile ad impressions monthly. It provides end-to-end solution for mobile advertising including rich media ad creation, distribution, tracking and optimization.NDTV has been at the forefront of the converged content play. Its market-leading applications help users consume premium content using the application ecosystem. The NDTV application for the iPad recently won the gold award at the Asian Digital Media Awards for best tablet news product, while the NDTV iPhone app was number one at launch in India and the US.

“Mobile is a critical part of NDTV’s growth strategy. We were the first movers in the media app space in India and continue to build on the leadership position with continuous innovation in this space,” said Vikram Chandra, Group CEO, NDTV. “InMobi’s rich media technology and mobile ad platform will help us monetize NDTV’s premium content on mobile devices. InMobi was an easy choice for us as it delivers scale and reach to publishers that remain unrivalled in the Indian market.”

Atul Satija, VP and MD, APAC said, “This exclusive agreement with NDTV reinforces InMobi’s leadership position in the Indian market. NDTV’s mobile applications on the iPhone and Android platform have been immensely popular in India and abroad. Advertisers will now be able to reach their target audience wherever they are, through this partnership.”

“Rich media ads are the future of mobile advertising”, said Vinod Thadani, Regional Mobile Director – India & South Asia at GroupM Interaction. “Brands want to engage consumers on the mobile platform using rich media and a partnership that makes this happen is a great development for the mobile ad industry.” “Brands are beginning to adopt mobile advertising in a big way,” said Vivek Iyer, VP at Interactive Avenues. “InMobi’s partnership with NDTV Convergence is going to further accelerate this adoption”.

InMobi recently announced the acquisition of US-based Sprout, the leading platform for creating HTML5 rich media mobile advertising. The agreement with NDTV builds on the Sprout acquisition to further leverage the process of creating and distributing rich media mobile ads for brands and agencies in India.

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Adgully (AG): Can you share with us your journey from St. Stephens College to the Board Room of NDTV?

Vikram Chandra (VC): The times spent at St.Stephens College were some of the fun years of my life. From there I went on to Oxford University and gradually I moved onto Stanford uiversity to study Mass Media. So when I decided that I wanted to be a journalist I came back to India and joined Newstrack and later NDTV happened. The journey has been filled with a lot of hard work and learnings.

AG: You have an elaborate association with NDTV; can you share your experience with us?

VC: I have been a part of NDTV right from its reasonably early days, though I will not call myself a part of the startup team. I think the time when the privatization of the TV industry went under way was a monumental event for us. It fastened the process of the industry’s growth. Moreover I vividly remember being the only TV correspondent to film the army camps at the Saltoro Heights in Siachen; and to enter Chrar-e-Sharief just before it was burnt down by the militants.

AG: How do you think Television journalism has evolved over the years?

VC: I started off my career from a monthly news magazine so we had a lot of time to research elaborately on our story. But now Television journalism has become very fast owing to the cutting-edge competition within the industry. Moreover now a lot of shows are highly anchor driven. But I hope that as we move forward long form, in depth and investigative research does not die out completely. In some way the industry has evolved for the good since there is more vigour. But I often miss the energy and the time we invested on generating in-depth content earlier.

AG: What is your take on this phenomenon called “breaking news”?

VC: I feel the ambiguity has been attached to the term ‘breaking news’ because the industry is so fragmented. The news channels today solely thrive on advertising rather than subscription revenues. Moreover the number game of TAM ratings and the race to get more ratings over competition certifies journalism today.

AG: You were a vital player in creating what is now, one of India’s leading business channel-NDTV Profit. Tell us a bit about it?

VC: I set up NDTV Profit and gradually it scaled up to become the No.1 business channel. We are very happy at NDTV looking at the way the channel has progressed and over the three years it has truly made a mark for itself. Currently we are looking at focusing more on NDTV Profit and drive our attention towards its future growth.

AG: What are your new goals and aims, as the CEO of the NDTV Group?

VC: The goals and aims are all directed at adding more value to the brand name –NDTV. Also another focus will be to ensure steady growth and profitability for the Group.

AG: What is your plan of action on the marketing front for the coming year?

VC: A lot of our audiences already recognize NDTV with the value- credibility. I would like to go to people and talk to them about recognizing us with the wide variety of offerings we have. We are going to majorly focus on strengthening our business and fortifying the growth of our major properties.

AG: Over the years, you, along with some of your colleagues have become the face of NDTV. Where and how do you plan to take it ahead?

VC: In NDTV our audiences will continue to see good quality journalism. We constantly strive to bring top quality channel and content to our audiences and I guess that is the way ahead for us too.

AG: Where do you see yourself, 5 years down the line?

VC: I hope to see media business in a much better shape in five years from now. Hopefully digitization comes and measurement systems become better. In short I hope that the entire media industry sees a growth in its profit sharing margin.

AG: Any message that you would like to share with our young readers…

VC: Journalism is an interesting field to get into but make sure that you are getting into it for the right reasons. Don’t come to this field thinking it is glamourous. | By Prabha Hegde [prabha(at)adgully.com]

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As CEO, Vikram will have overall authority and responsibility for all aspects of the company: corporate, operational and channel performance. He will become a member of the NDTV Board.

Executive Co-Chairpersons, Radhika and Dr Prannoy Roy said “Along with Narayan Rao, we have been talking about a succession plan for NDTV for a couple of years now. We believe that change is good. It brings in new blood, new ideas, different perspectives and paves way for growth. We believe that the time for change has come. We are delighted at Vikram’s appointment and believe he is the right person to take NDTV to the next level”

Vikram Chandra commented: “I consider it a privilege and an honour to be chosen to lead one of India’s finest news companies. NDTV is not just a great brand, but also houses some of the most talented media professionals in the country. I look forward to working with them to take the company to new heights.”

The appointment was approved by the board of directors at a meeting held in New Delhi today.

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Highly placed sources in the industry have confirmed the news to Adgully and also shared that the development is supplementary to a nod by the Board of Directors. The company officials will be meeting the Board of Directors today i.e the 29th of July and proposing the management change for approval from the Board.

According to the information, current Group CEO KVL Narayan Rao will be elevated to the post of Executive Vice Chairman at the NDTV Ltd. While Vikram Chandra will be replacing him as Group CEO. Chandra is currently Chief Executive Officer for NDTV Convergence & NDTV Networks.

Chandra has been associated with NDTV since 1994 and is one of the many faces that audiences identify NDTV with. India’s. He presents ‘The Big Fight’, which has long been one of India’s top rated news and current affairs programmes and ‘Gadget Guru’. He has also been the face for the Network’s green initiative as he was the anchor for Greenathon.

Previously, Chandra has held the post of Managing Editor of NDTV Profit. As a special correspondent, he has extensively covered the Siachen & Kargil wars, and the conflict in Kashmir. He has been named “Global Leader for Tomorrow” by the World Economic Forum in Davos and won the Indian Television Academy Award 2008 for “Best Anchor for a Talk Show” amongst other coveted recognitions.