News18 India’s share of HSM has increased to 10.5%: Prabal Pratap Singh
It’s been a year since Network18 Group rebranded its Hindi general news channel as News18 India. The channel’s digital presence was also revamped with the launch of a newly designed news18india.com.
Post the rebranding, News18 India has been marching ahead with its tagline, ‘Danke Ki Chot Par, and has been focusing on creating a distinct position for itself in the Hindi General News category. The channel continues to ask even more pointed questions with an aim to challenge the status quo. Editorially, the thrust has been on constructive criticism and ensuring that its passion for fearless journalism results in a positive impact on the society.
In line with its hard-hitting journalism, News18 India has broken several big stories and has come up with unique shows like ‘Operation Namak Haram’, ‘Surgical Strike Ka Sabot’, ‘Operation Doodh’ and many more.
Prabal Pratap Singh, Managing Editor, News18 India, speaks to Adgully about the channel’s growth post rebranding, the key focus areas in the coming year, various digital initiatives and much more. Excerpts:
What has the response been like for News18 India post the rebranding?
The channel is doing fairly well and the numbers are very encouraging. If you see the numbers, it has grown up almost by 100 per cent. Earlier, we were at 5.8 per cent in HSM (Hindi Speaking Market), but now it has increased to 10.5 per cent. Our prime time numbers have also shown a positive shift from 7.2 to 14.2.
In the midst of rapid developments happening around, how differently News18 India has been tackling these issues?
What are the key factors driving News18 India’s strategy to maintain its competitive advantage?
What have been the digital initiatives and efforts in the mobile space?
What will be your key focus areas in the coming year?
Since this is the election time, our primary focus is on the elections. Next year, too, we will have elections in four states and that will set the agenda for the 2019 general elections. We will focus more on hardcore political coverage in the coming years.
What kind of reach has been observed post the inclusion of rural data in the ratings?
If we look at the numbers, we are getting equal responses from the urban and rural sections. The strategy that we have adopted for the channel’s growth is being treated well in both urban and rural markets.
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