By Abid Hasan
(With inputs from Ravi Bansal and Ritushree Patra)
Headlines Today, the English news channel of the India Today Group, reborn as India Today Television; company looks to draw on ethos of legacy mother brand to enhance credibility, offer seamless delivery of news across different media, devices and platforms
For the India Today Group (ITG), the mother brand India Today - present in Print, web and app – comes full circle with the relaunch of Headlines Today as ‘India Today Television’, an offering that will be the missing link in its aim of seamless delivery of news across different media, devices and platforms.
With prime anchors like Karan Thapar and Rahul Kanwal, and now Rajdeep Sardesai, Headlines Today has always been in the reckoning, though in terms of ratings it has hovered around No. 2 and No. 3 spots, be it earlier in TAM ratings or now BARC ratings.
The ITG felt the need for change, and though everyone tends to call it revamping and re-branding of Headlines Today, Kalli Purie, Group Synergy and Creative Officer of the India Today Group, insists it is not re-branding. “We are launching a new channel,” she says.
There will be no Headlines Today now onwards, but a new channel will air on screen as ‘India Today Television’ with an all-new look and feel with different programming and content.
‘Nau baje ki Nautanki must go’
Headlines Today somehow did not manage to get to the top of the ratings chart - they were very close to No. 1 but the position was not consistent. Therefore ITG decided to bring in fresh energy by changing the entire channel following brand strategist Anand Halve’s research. The research showed there was trust deficit in the television news space, and the audience was getting tired of what it saw as theatre in entertainment, they were not taking the news channel space very seriously and calling it ‘Nau baje ki nautanki’.
Appointing a Prime Team
Headlines Today was getting recognized with the help of its Hindi counterpart Aaj Tak. Now it is aligned with the India Today mother brand, which has a legacy of four decades. Aaj Tak has done well since inception and become the signature channel in the entire bouquet, while Headlines Today had only one known face - Rahul Kanwal - until Rajdeep Sardesai and Karan Thapar came in. With such a team, the channel became more robust in terms of covering the news, giving perspective as well as facts. The team brought a good amount of experience and freshness to the channel and that helped Headlines Today to remain the talking point with innovative shows and debates at prime time.
Both Sardesai and Thapar played a vital role in increasing the graph of Headlines Today in the last one year.
News that make sense
The group is promoting India Today Television under the umbrella of ‘news that makes sense’. The group has rolled out a digital campaign where people can go and vote if they believe they need #pressforchange. With TVCs, out of home hoardings and digital activation and promotion, the group has long term plans not only for the launch, but to sustain it over a period of time. It has got ad guru Piyush Pandey for the rebranding exercise and actress Priyanka Chopra will lend her voice.
Marketing big for India Today Television
The ITG had made a major decision on marketing, while launching the new channel. When Star News re-launched as ABP News, they had spent around Rs 200 crore for marketing and promotion, according to industry sources, and ITG too would spend significantly too, given the importance of the channel. As the CEO Ashish Bagga says, “We will attract new viewers and to attract new viewers we have to go beyond the genre and therefore we are getting into other channels like GECs. We believe GECs are high potential TGs out there which will lend themselves very effectively in news. For a lot of people driven away from news, given the sensationalism, this is going to be a strong sober news channel.”
Significantly, Headlines Today’s competitor Times Now too saw a rebranding – from Times Television Network to Times Network, and the announcement was made at Goafest.
All set for revised Ad Rates
There is a term called ‘packaging’ that acts like a silent salesman. This term fits perfectly with the new launch and it will lead to robust advertising, expects ITG. But will they get new brands on board? When asked whether the new India Today Television will get more advertising, Bagga replied, “Most certainly, because of two reasons. One is we are already a close No.1. And from my interaction with agencies and advertisers, everybody has taken notice of it. It is only a matter of time that this translates into advertising revenue. Point two is, we have new advertising options for the new brand and these new options will generate incremental revenue without actually getting intrusive into the viewing experience.”
Riding on the back of Print
The group is riding on the back of equity of Print to promote India Today Television. As Kalli Purie points out, “We will be doing a sort of tease 'give more and get more' kind of strategy across all three divisions. So you tease something first of all on social media." Watch this exclusive at 6pm and then the exclusive ad comes on TV. And then you say at the end of a debate-“for more on this exclusive debate, catch the next issue of India Today.”
