The Hindu Business Line : TV18's Awaaz hopes to break even soon

In terms of viewership, the channel is supposed to be already ahead of CNBC. Mr Ajay Chacko, Head, Marketing, Television Eighteen India, says, "Awaaz's viewership between January and March 2006 was around 0.27 TVR, while CNBC got a viewership of 0.26 TVR, NDTV Profit was at 0.19 and Zee Business was at 0.09."

Mr Chacko says that some of the channel's shows such as Awaaz Samachar, Smart Shopping and Jiyo Zindagi (a lifestyle show) have done extremely well. "There is tremendous spending potential in middle India. With their income levels much higher today, coupled with their higher levels of education and more exposure to travel, their desire to invest and buy is at an all-time high. This has created a complete change in the media scene, as consumers now have a tremendous appetite for information which could be of use to them rather than being fed with political news."

Mr Chacko said that since the channel is meant for more evolving and aspirational people in the middle rung, it has recently been given a more contemporary look. "Since we target the Hindi-speaking elite who want nothing but the best, we have tried to give the channel an upscale, classy and international look. And we did so with the help of an international design firm."

Mr Chacko said that the coming months would see more interactive programmes, which would involve a lot of consumer participation. Awaaz is currently available in around 30 million homes, across 65 million towns, mostly in UP, Rajasthan, Delhi, MP and Gujarat.

"And, the future growth of Awaaz would also come from markets that have not matured completely and have lot of affluent people," said Mr Chacko.