image source, Getty Images
Pranai Roy
- Pranai Roy and Radhika Roy resigned as directors of RRPR Holding Company.
- Sudipta Bhattacharya, Sanjay Puglia and Senthil Chengalvarayan were appointed as the new Directors of the Development Committee.
- These changes have taken place in the development group RRPR Holding. Pranai Roy is currently the Managing Co-Chairman of NDTV.
- Adani Group is gearing up to acquire NDTV. Adani Group has made an open offer to buy an additional 26% stake in NDTV.
Pranai Roy and Radhika Roy, founders of India’s leading news agency NDTV, have resigned as board directors of the company. This has favored Adani’s bid to acquire the media company.
In this context, the BBC sought to know what the future holds for news television in India.
Radhika Roy describes co-founding NDTV with her husband and broadcaster Pranai Rai as a “happy accident”.
The Roys launched NDTV in November 1988 with a single program called The World This Week on state-run Doordarshan. They don’t have any big plans for it.
Little did they imagine that it would grow from producing an average weekly program to India’s first private 24/7 news channel and independent news broadcaster.
News TV is changing hands for this couple, which has been in business for over thirty years.
image source, AFP
Gautam Adani, the world’s third-richest person, bought a small stake in the digital commerce media company earlier this year.
Gautam Adani, the third richest man in the world, is all set to buy NDTV, which has the world’s most irresistible media market.
Adani, a 60-year-old billionaire, runs a port-to-energy conglomerate. He is seen by many as close to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his government.
In fact, “His rapport with political and social leaders transcended all party lines and made him acceptable to any government,” says RN Bhaskar, author of his recently published biography.
image source, Reuters
A study found that NDTV is the most reliable television
In March, Adani’s new subsidiary AMG Media Networks Ltd acquired a minority stake in digital business news company Quintillion.
“Quintillion’s investment is not enough to attract Adani’s attention. So does he have big plans?” Bhaskar wondered in his book.
Now we know. NDTV, with revenues of about $51 million and net profit of $10 million, may not be a lucrative acquisition for Adani, a broader group with a market capitalization of $260 billion.
But NDTV is the most popular network in India. It is a pioneer in data driven vote analysis, morning shows, television technologies, lifestyle shows. Today, it has a strong online presence. Has about 35 million followers on his sites.
The Adani Group believes that NDTV is the most suitable broadcast and digital platform to deliver its vision.
Adani offers some clues as to what that vision is.
“Why not support a media company to be independent and have a global footprint?
India does not have a single institution to compare with the Financial Times or Al Jazeera,” he told the Financial Times.
Critics of the sale are more skeptical.
NDTV is considered by many to be one of the few independent news networks in India and stands apart from the many other buzz channels. A survey conducted by the University of Oxford and the Reuters Institute for Journalism found that 76% of respondents trust the information provided by NDTV.
Adani’s takeover has sparked concerns that NDTV’s journalistic integrity could be compromised.
Despite diversity in the media, independent journalism in India is far from good.
India slipped to 150th place out of 180 countries ranked this year in the Paris-based Reporters Without Borders’ World Press Freedom Index. It is the most backward position ever. Modi’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party rejects this. The code says “Questionable, not transparent”.
image source, Getty Images
Pranai Roy and his wife Radhika founded NDTV 34 years ago
Experts say the diversity of media masks the concentration of ownership. As evidence, four dailies have three-quarters of their readership in Hindi, according to Reporters Without Borders.
Billionaire Mukesh Ambani, who owns $220 billion worth of retail to refining conglomerates, also owns one of India’s largest media companies, Network18.
Companies owned by Adani and Ambani generate revenue equivalent to 4 percent of India’s GDP.
The takeover of NDTV is emblematic of the problems plaguing the news business in India, says media expert Vanitha Kohli-Khandekar.
There are more than 400 news channels in India. They are mostly privately owned and in regional languages. Channels are now up 8% from $423 million in TV advertising revenue in 2021.
“News is one of the toughest businesses anywhere,” says Kohli-Khandekar.
Also, “In India, television news is one of the most lucrative, politically dangerous and fraudulent businesses. “Only two to three companies make money from time to time,” he says.
As people are mostly unwilling to pay for news, most of the revenue for channels relies on advertising.
Many believe that the reliability of networks has decreased. One expert accuses the ratings of “grossly exploitative” news and biased coverage.
image source, Getty Images
NDTV pioneered numerous television news programs in India, including election analysis
NDTV’s own financial problems began during the economic downturn a decade ago. Ambani had to borrow $44 million from a company controlled by Reliance Industries to refinance existing loans.
“NTTV has been fighting hard for a long time. It seems to be losing that battle. It looks like a failure for the media business,” says Kohli-Khandekar.
Only time will tell if its journalistic ethical content and quality will change under new ownership.
At a time when television news was diverse, NDTV was “very left-of-center. Others took up stories critical of the government that they were reluctant to take on. The question arises whether they will soften their stance now because of media ethics restrictions,” says Shailesh Kapoor of media consultancy Ormax Media.
Adani believes there is nothing to fear. “If the government has done something wrong, it is freedom to say it is wrong,” he told the Financial Times. He added, “But at the same time, you have to say that when the government is doing the right thing. It takes courage,” he said.
The story of Gautam Adani who beat Mukesh Ambani
BBC Tamil on Social Media: