We want to be a channel which is known for multiple IPs: MK Anand

MK Anand, MD & CEO, Times Network, has been busy stabilising the operations at Times Now after the exit of Arnab Goswami, who has been the very visible face of the channel for long. The efforts are paying off as the English news channel has continued in its numero uno position without a slip. 

In conversation with Adgully, MK Anand speaks at length about how he has gone about further strengthening Times Now operations, how demonetisation has impacted his organisation, Rahul Shivshankar’s appointment, the road ahead and more. Excerpts: 

As a group, has demonetisation affected you in any manner?
Of course it has affected, because advertising has taken a hit during this phase. November and December have usually been our peak months, because Q3 is where all media companies try and meet their targets, whatever growth happens, happens in this quarter. Unfortunately, demonetisation has hit in the middle of this quarter. So, obviously it has impacted our Q3 substantially. But I think its effect in January, February and March will be lesser. Looking at the currency supply situation, the metros and towns – big and small – where our business is focussed on, these places have got cash correction in the banks as well as increasing digital adoption. I genuinely believe that by the middle of the next quarter, there would be no impact on consumption or the general urban economy of the country and because of that I believe that our business will return to normalcy a lot faster than companies which depend more on the rural GRPs. 

Five marquee developments that have taken place in the last five years at Times Now?
Fundamentally, this company has been effective in continuing to hold leadership in the English audience space. As a print company, we have unchallenged national English print leadership. As a TV company, we are present across English language, Movies, Entertainment and News genres. Not only have we played in that space, we have been No. 1 in that space – be it Movies Now, Times Now, ET Now or Romedy Now; we can easily say that Times Now is a leader of sorts in the segment, while ET Now and CNBC are on the same level. Same is the case with Star Movies and Movies Now and Romedy Now. We have four HD channels in English and all of them are doing well. So I think that is fundamentally a big achievement for us. In the process we have redefined certain things for the industry; for example, English News completely changed in tone, tenor and style after we came in, earlier the style was more BBCish, while now you could say it is ‘Times Nowish’. Similarly, in the English movies space, the way Hollywood as a genre was dished out, interpreted by the product makers and evaluated by the consumers, has fundamentally been altered after Movies Now entered the market. We have successfully done what we were expected to do. 

Now, we need to maintain this leadership at a most tactical level. We need to monetise it better at a medium level and we need to be able to adapt to the new media impact on video consumption, because 15 years down the line, linear broadcasting will give way to non-linear video modes. 

How are you looking at holding up the No. 1 position after Arnab Goswami’s exit?
Arnab was doing a lot of stuff, he was not just an anchor, but also a news manager, editor, president of news, production specialist, and cost specialist. I think the strength of a corporation is in being able to glean out processes and ensure that they can be transcribed to other people in the organisation. There was nothing that was not codified except, of course, the presence that he brought and he is unique to it. We are proud that he was our lead face. But other than that, the personality in front of the camera, the points of view, the entire behind the camera work, production, editorial management and news manager capabilities – we have codified that and transcribed that to various people. 

To be honest, while Arnab was a fantastic anchor, not many people know that he was also a very good back-end manager and was very cost- and people-conscious. So, the most important task for me was to ensure that it was getting filled. 

For me, the most critical thing was to stabilise the operations within two weeks, which was the target that I had set for myself after Arnab left. I had to ensure that everything that was required to run the factory was in place. The numbers have not gone down, and it is because the back-end is strong – we have continued to see the same vigour in the daily, morning, afternoon and evening editorial meetings even without the man being there in the newsroom. That required a strong team. Usually it is seen that when one king is out, a leadership tussle starts, but that did not happen in our case. The whole team worked so well together – senior people like Navika, Vivek and Anupam, etc., came together in a very solid manner. 

With Rahul Shivshankar on board now, what changes can we expect?
I am looking at Rahul Shivshankar as the Editor of the channel, he is holding 310 people together, keeping them motivated to ensure that the input-output and the entire system is as well-oiled and as aggressive and uncompromising in getting the story impact and the results that we pursue. That constitutes Rahul’s day. I think we already have a mature team that is functioning well. Rahul will bring in his own brand of process innovations to improve and take the channel to a different place. 

I am very happy with the way ‘Newshour’ is right now. However, we have not really paid attention to building more IPs, which is an opportunity for us to look at. Going forward, we want to be a channel which is known for multiple IPs and not just one IP. We want to be a channel which is known for multiple stars and not just one superstar. We want to be known more for our network of channels and digital products under the Times Now brand and not just a single channel. Over the next 12 years, the agenda for Rahul and his team will be to broadbase this Times Now brand, because I genuinely believe that Times Now has the same pedigree as well as the same strength and equity of The Times of India. Hence, over the next 10 years our endeavour will be to make the Times Now brand much larger and a significant part of the content brand and business. I am going to ensure that the viewers of ‘Newshour’ are not going to be unhappy with what we are currently putting out, but at the same time we are planning on 6-7 more things that will also take the load off the channel. 

Today if you look at the numbers of the channel, it is 65-70 per cent on certain days of one show and the rest of the channel is 25-30 per cent. I would rather have a channel which is 35-40 per cent in the morning, afternoon, evening and the night – not just 30-30-30-50. 

In terms of ad rates, have you been able to maintain that?
Completely. The advertisers who were there when Arnab was anchoring are there even when he is not. Just go through the Adex data for October and November. 

It was earlier announced that Times Network will be launching two more news channels and one non-news channel in 2016. Of these, one has been launched. When can we expect the other launches?
I think we have to put the launches on hold till the market turns around. Otherwise, everything is ready for the launch. 

Recently, Times Now launched a cancer awareness campaign in association with Tata Memorial. Please tell us more about this campaign.
We stand for ‘Action Begins Here’; we believe that we have the apt attention of so many people on a monthly basis and if we can use that to trigger such much-needed changes in the country, we will be very happy to do it. I think it is really noble work that Tata Memorial is doing; it is really information which saves children from cancer. Moreover, there is so much of unnecessary fear about cancer. Seventy per cent of all cancer is preventable. Doctors come in only after one gets cancer. Media can come in even before one gets cancer. For this endeavour, Tata Memorial is providing us content support, while we are providing them creative support. 

What would be your message for the viewers?
My fundamental message right now is: for better or for worse, let us all get together and stabilise the economy. Let us not spread negativity and doubt after the deal has been done. We will eventually get benefitted by demonetisation or any monetisation only if all of us get together. It is not enough to just stand in queues to put your money in the bank. We now need to get out and shop to spend that money from the bank for the turnaround. Money unspent is money not earned.