By Caitlin Pike
A 24-hour news and current affairs TV channel for India called Times Now launched on Tuesday.
The English-language channel has been set up by Reuters and The
Times of India Group, publisher of the largest circulation broadsheet
English-language newspaper in the world.
The new channel is set
to take advantage of the huge growth in India’s cable TV market; now
the world’s third largest with 61 million subscribers.
Times Now
is targeting the expanding group of informationhungry, media-literate
consumers in India. Operating from both Mumbai and Delhi and supported
by 14 bureaux throughout India as well as Reuters’ global news
operations, Times Now has a programming schedule focused on business
and current affairs.
The channel will feature key stories from within India as well as international news coverage tailored to the local audience.
Although
the channel can only be accessed within India, it is expected to be
made available for interested audiences around the world on broadband
as the channel develops.
Times Now’s content includes the Reuters
World Report, coanchored from Reuters newsroom in London by Siddhartha
Dubey and the Times Now studio in Mumbai. The channel will also carry
live financial updates throughout the day from Reuters bureaux around
the world, including Hong Kong, London and New York, as well as
crossing live to hear from Reuters journalists on global breaking news.
Chris
Ahearn, president, Reuters Media, said: “Times Now embodies Reuters’
aspiration to make a high-impact entry into India’s growing
multichannel news market.
“With the increasing importance of
world news to India’s growing urban audience, Reuters will provide the
best of international, business and finance news on Times Now, with a
focus on what’s relevant to urban viewers in India.”
Reuters will take an approximate 26 per cent interest in the channel, subject to regulatory approvals.
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