COUNTRY's FIRST DUEL CHANNEL FROM NDTV

The oldest private sector news broadcaster NDTV Group today launched the country's first 2-in-1 channel, NDTV Profit & NDTV Prime, which is a mix of business news and business-related features. The group had discontinued its news coverage on its business news channel NDTV Profit in the middle of last year, and in its new avatar the channel has associated with NSE and mobile handset marketer Micromax. While the channel, NDTV Profit, will be available from 9 am to 5 pm on weekdays in association with NSE, offering in-depth and credible business news and analysis during market hours, from 5 pm onwards and on weekends the channel will sport a new brand logo and identity, NDTV Prime, in tie-up with the mobile handset marketer Micromax. The new channel is targeted at the 25+ urban male and will offer a blend of speciality bands, which will showcase genres like technology, auto, property, education & careers, entertainment & comedy plus a reality show. Launching the new channel, NDTV Group promoter and co-chairman Prannoy Roy termed the channel as one of the most creatively exciting new ventures in the country. "The reactions so far, from advertisers and sponsors have been very, very positive. This new concept, with two prime times, changes many of the traditional views on what prime time viewership is all about," Roy said. NDTV Group chief executive Vikram Chandra said, "In the digitised word appointment viewing has become very important. NDTV Prime gives everyone full clarity on when they can see their preferred genre of programming." On NSE's partnership with NDTV, the bourse's managing director and chief executive Chitra Ramakrishna, said, "This is a very good initiative and comes together with what NSE has been trying to do over the last few years in terms of investors outreach."
Micromax co-founder Rahul Sharma said his company has always looked at unique partnerships that bring alive newer experiences for audiences through its brand associations and product offerings. "NDTV Prime provides an ideal opportunity for Micromax to reach out to evolved viewers through new programming on lifestyle, reality, auto, sports, music, property, gadgets & gizmos and comedy, all of which are showing increasing acceptance among viewers," he said. In a first, sponsors are already on-board partnering with the genres that fit in with their brands, Roy said. For instance, Videocon D2H is onboard for 'Ticket to Bollywood', while Croma is the overall technology band sponsor. MRF is on board for the auto band and Supertech with the property band, Roy added. Founded in 1988, NDTV Group runs two news channels NDTV 24x7 in English and NDTV Hindi and a niche channel NDTV Good Times in association with the UB Group.