The Hindu : NDTV bracing for D-date

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Apr 11, 2003

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NDTV bracing for D-date

By Our Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI APRIL 10. It could easily have been an election campaign. At a live press conference across 10 cities, the man who has come to represent news television in India — Prannoy Roy — finally announced the D-date. The NDTV is going to split into two new jazzed-up avatars — NDTV India (Hindi) and 24X7 (English) — and will go on air on April 14.

For once, Prannoy Roy answering questions instead of asking them. "These are two separate entities. They will have different editorial teams and programming. The look and feel of these channels will be completely distinct too. We will concentrate on more local news. We don't believe in dumping down of news and we don't think that news is meant to be entertainment,'' claimed Mr. Roy.

And while Mr. Roy insisted that it was not about gimmicks, he did not shy away from highlighting the more glamorous elements of the channels more than once. "The Hindi news music has been composed by A.R Rahman. The internationally acclaimed composer David Lowe, who created the signature tune for BBC, has composed the theme for the English news. We are negotiating with Virgin Records to release the record for these themes.''

From world-renowned composers to world-class graphics, the channel claims to have the best of technology. "We have an exclusive arrangement with Deccan Aviation for helicopters and have access to nine of their choppers and two planes in different cities. They will also maintain the helicopter we own. For breaking news, emergencies or in case of huge traffic jams we want to be able to bring the latest information as quickly as possible,'' he said.

With the new "opt-out technology'' it is possible to broadcast local programmes to major metros. "For example, in Bengal viewers will get to watch news concerning them."

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