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TV bigwigs go
channel switching
It’s
not surprising that a media shakeout is happening. With so
many new TV channels and dotcoms coming up, people in the
electronic media are being wooed constantly. Most of the movements
in the electronic media are happening either at the middle
management or junior level
- Jaya Ramanathan, Senior Vice-President, Star News
The
electronic media witnessed a major shakeout recently. Topping
the list of the TV personalities who will jump ship mid-channel
are Qamar Wahid Naqvi and Sanjay Pugalia of Aaj Tak, Vipul
Mudgal of BBC, Sanjeev Paliwal of Subah Savere on Doordarshan,
Darain Sha-hidi and Vartika Nanda of Star TV, Shazi Za-man
of Zee, not to mention some big names in Sahara TV. The channels
to be hit by the shakeout include BBC, Star, Zee, Sahara and
TV Today (which produces Aaj Tak).
Naqvi, the creator of the famous script - "yeh yhi khabrein
aaj tak, intezar kijiye kal tak -- is leaving Aaj Tak soon,
industry sources say. Naqvi, who is the head of production
in Aaj Tak and been with it since its inception in 1995, had
even coined the title Aaj Tak for TV Today’s news programme
beamed on Doordarshan. Naqvi is likely to join the new Urdu
channel, Al-Hind, which is partly promoted by Rajya Sabha
MP and former Union minister CM Ibrahim.
Aaj Tak is in the midst of a bigger exodus though. Sanjay
Pugalia, one of the better anchors of the programme, has already
left for a high-profile managerial position with Kerry Packer’s
Channel Nine. Besides this, there are five other editorial
employees leaving Aaj Tak -- most of them are said to be joining
Al-Hind.
Ibrahim’s channel, which will be launched early next
year, is on a hiring spree for the mega television venture
it is planning. As a result, the two big players of the Indian
television industry -- Star and Zee -- have also been hit.
Star is losing its anchorperson Darain Shahidi and reporter
Vartika Nanda among others, again to Ibrahim’s channel.
This is on top of the channel’s recent loss when three
of its anchors had quit to form their own company. Zee, too,
is set to witness the exit of some important people including
the head of Zee News, Shazi Zaman, and a production person,
Yusuf, to Al-Hind.
More movements are being triggered by the Living Media Group,
which is launching the Aaj Tak channel by the end of this
year. According to an insider, around 80 people are being
hired for the new Aaj Tak channel.
Key appointees in Aaj Tak are: Sanjeev Paliwal, the anchorperson
for the programme Subha Savere which comes on DD, Neeraj Kumar,
a producer with Sahara TV, and a sports correspondent who
was with Rajat Sharma’s 7 to 9 programme on DD.
There’s more movement elsewhere. Vipul Mudgal, who was
a senior correspondent with BBC in Delhi, has gone to Jaipur
as the resident editor of The Hindustan Times, which is about
to launch a local edition there. More movements are expected
soon in the industry as CNN is planning a Hindi TV channel
in India, and is looking for people trained in the electronic
media.
According to Jaya Ramanathan, Senior Vice-President, Star
News, "It’s not surprising that a media shakeout
is happening. With so many new TV channels and dotcoms coming
up, people in the electronic media are being wooed constantly.
Most of the movements in the electronic media are happening
either at the middle management or junior level."
In the meantime, the churning that is taking place in the
electronic media now is reminiscent of the recent shakeout
in the print media after dotcoms entered the scene. The sprouting
of new TV channels such as Aaj Tak, Al-Hind, CNN Hindi and
Channel Nine has offered lucrative platforms to mediapersons
in the electronic media.
Nivedita
Mookerji
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