The Prannoy Roy-promoted NDTV is planning to launch its Hindi and English news channels under two separate companies.
The Hindi channel will be launched under NDTV World where ICICI has close to 18 per cent stake while the English news channel will be launched under NDTV where foreign institutional investors like Goldman Sachs, JM Morgan Stanley, Jardine Fleming and others own 16 per cent stake.
The reason behind launching the Hindi and English channels under two different companies is that they will be two completely different set ups.
"We admit that there will be some sharing of resources but the two 24-hour channels will need different set of studios, bureaus, reporters and editors," said a company official.
Besides, the Hindi news channel will be aimed at the regional and national market, while the English channel will be more focused on the national and international audiences.
The company is, however, still undecided on the brand name for the channel. "Though NDTV enjoys terrific brand equity, we're yet to finalise the names for the news channels."
The company is also yet to appoint the advertising agency that will handle its news channel brands. Among the 10 agencies that pitched for the business were McCann-Erickson, TBWA-Anthem, Contract, Lowe and others.
The news channels will be launched in April 2003 when the contract between Star and NDTV expires on March 31.
Earlier this year, talks between NDTV and Star officials to revive the contract broke down when the former refused to part with editorial and management control.
© 2025