Adgully Exclusive | We have seen consistent revenue growth during recession: CNN's Sonali Chatterjee

Today, CNN globally, is a name to reckon with and has been the standard of journalism for number of years. But India it hasn't been able to attain, may be because of the lack of reach or may be the language barrier.

However, with the globalization settling in India, where the young Indians seek more of international news and coupled with the strong emergence of Indian companies on the global stage, CNN has become a channel of choice for advertisers in this market.

Backed by strong experience with the BBC, where she worked as head of sponsorship and client solutions for almost a decade, Chatterjee's key responsibilities were to manage and offer strategic advice to the increasing number of companies, which were targeting the global consumer, through CNN's various platforms.

Working with different forms of media, Chatterjee first started her career with print in 1990, with the Anand Bazaar Patrika group. She then moved to Nimbus Communications Ltd. to oversee the airtime sales of live sports and entertainment channels such as cricket and international film award ceremonies.

Being in the industry for so long can at times be boring. But not for Chatterjee. For her, it's been all about a learning curve, one that she relishes.

"It has been a wonderful journey. Having worked in the international news space for many years, one can't but help feel proud of the tremendous effort that goes into bringing news to television sets and the trials and challenges that news reporters go through," she says in an exclusive interaction with Adgully.

"Also, since International news channels span national borders, they have to be conscious of cultural and local sensitivities. CNN International has been doing this for 25 years, won many accolades for it's in depth reportage and importantly has been a step ahead of all its competitors when it comes to adapting to new technologies," she adds.

CNN has been one of the world's leading global 24-hour news networks and one of the worlds's most respected and trusted sources for news and information.

The latest set of PAX (Pan Asia-Pacific Cross Media Survey) reveals that CNN has been the No.1 international news/business channel across all PAX demographics. (The top 22 per cent in socio-economic terms and of adults aged 25-64 in ten major markets in Asia Pacific).

CNN delivers 52 per cent more PAX respondents, 37 per cent more Business Decision Makers and 54 per cent more Top Management each week than the next placed news/business channel.

Over the course of a month, a substantial 36 per cent of CNN viewers watch no other news/business channels.

And Chatterjee wants to continue the trend.

"We will continue to reach out to affluent adults who are interested in international news and information. The Indian affluent group continues to grow, travel regionally and globally, do more business around the region while Indian companies are increasingly expanding globally. With these developments, we are seeing a growing interest in international news and business," she says.

Not surprisingly, coupled with the strong emergence of Indian companies on the global stage, more and more Indian companies are seeking international advertising platforms and CNN International has been a channel of choice for advertisers

"Clients and agencies have shown an increasing interest in news channels, and for CNN, the response continues to be positive. With an increase in news viewing habits in India, we have seen new product categories entering the news space.

"Corporates and tourism boards have been traditional advertisers, but we increasingly find many Indian companies from Consulting, Information Technology, Infrastructure, Banking, Industrial goods, Power, Retail to Automobiles sector reaching out to CNN International to tap international audiences," Chatterjee explains.

"Two good examples of the 360 degree approach we take for our clients include, CNN International's Eye on India series which was held over the last four years in association with various sponsors like Oberoi Hotels & Resorts, ITC Welcomgroup, Aditya Birla Group, TCS to name a few.

"With the Ministry of Tourism, CNN International strives to go beyond the traditional media partner route by developing thematic advertorials on tourism products and testimonials for the Incredible India Brand and also hosts Tourism conferences called "Horizons" debating and discussing pressing topics of importance to the travel and tourism industry," she adds.

Not many know that CNN is perhaps one of the very few media companies, which wasn't really affected by the 2009 recession. "Frankly, it didn't (recession) affect CNN International. In fact, we have seen consistent revenue growth from unique sectors like country investment and mid size companies in 2009," reveals Chatterjee.

However, despite the success globally, CNN is still striving for constant improvement and growth. "We expect to see continued momentum of business growth from mid size companies who have an international charter and audience. Besides, we expect growth in business from niche segments such as luxury & lifestyle brands in India as they are showing more interest towards television advertising," Chatterjee says.

"And for this we continue to innovate to bring news to our viewers wherever they may be ' from television to online to the mobile phone. It is our endeavour to make our news accessible over all platforms, linear and non-linear," she adds.