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The wait for Aaj Tak channel -- Kab tak?
Nivedita Mookerji
New Delhi : Is TV Today having second thoughts about launching the `Aaj Tak' channel? Or is it refusing to distance itself from Doordarshan, which gave `Aaj Tak' its identity? Either ways, TV Today's plans to launch the `Aaj Tak' channel are under an intriguing cloud. The official launch date was November 20, which has come and gone, without any sign of the channel going on air, as a leading cable operator in the city put it. Interestingly, according to the official version, not only is the channel not going to take off before March 2001, but Aaj Tak is also peddling for more from Doordarshan. Mr G Krishnan, Executive Director, TV Today, claims that the company is waiting for the ground distribution to be in place before launching the channel. By ground distribution, Mr Krishnan means Direct-to-Home (DTH) TV service, conditional access system for pay TV and other basic broadcasting norms.``We do not want to launch anything in a hurry,'' Mr Krishnan says. But the inside story at TV Today is something quite different. The editorial staff has been working non-stop for the dummy runs; the hiring spree is at its peak in the company; a new office is in place to house the channel staff; overseas trainers who were called in to upgrade the skills of the staff have come and gone; and TBWA Anthem has been hired as the ad agency for the new channel. All of which indicates that the `Aaj Tak' channel's launch is imminent. However, Mr Krishnan insists that nothing about the channel is final yet. Not the editorial content, not the language of the channel, not the satellite on which the channel will be beamed, not the focus of the channel, not whether the channel will be analogue or digital, not if it's going to be a free-to-air or a pay channel, and least of all the date of the launch. Nothing, according to Mr Krishnan, can be decided without checking out the ground distribution system. Cable operators, who are in the know of things, said that it's quite clear that TV Today has got a booking on Insat 2E, and that there's no hitch regarding uplinking. But, says Mr Krishnan: ``We're concentrating on extending our arrangement with Doordarshan.'' Apart from asking for a renewal of the contract on DD Metro for the daily Hindi news, the company has written several letters to Prasar Bharati seeking more slots on other Doordarshan channels, according to Mr Krishnan. However, according to a senior DD official, TV Today's contract with DD Metro for `Aaj Tak' news-which is up for renewal on April 1, 2001-is unlikely to get an extension. On allotting more slots to TV Today on DD, the official says: ``It's a sensitive issue and things will get clear in another week.'' Mr RR Shah, Prasar Bharati CEO, says: ``We're talking to TV Today on the issue of renewal of the contract.'' On whether the contract will still be renewed if TV Today starts its `Aaj Tak' channel, which is likely to clash with the news programme `Aaj Tak' on DD Metro, Mr Shah plays safe: ``It's hypothetical right now. We'll cross the bridge when we come to it.'' At the end of it all, it's back to square one. Is Aaj Tak, the channel, on or off? Copyright © 2000 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
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