MUMBAI: Jain Satellite Television - the former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) member of Parliament Dr JK Jain-prompted news channel - has reopened its bureau in Mumbai effective 1 November. The Mumbai office is led by bureau chief Waheed Ali Khan.
According to Khan, the Mumbai bureau has a strong team of professional reporters and cameramen, who will cover issues on business, crime, politics, social concerns as well as entertainment. Khan explains, "Our 24-hour coverage is expected to usher in the concept of 'always on TV'. This would enable viewers to receive the information they need, in a format they desire. Manjit Singh Abrol is Jain TV's network director of marketing and software distribution.
Khan, who claims Jain TV to be the first news and current affairs satellite channel in India, "even before Zee Network", says their aim is to reach the majority of the 40-odd million cable and satellite homes in the country. "In India, out of the 40 million C&S households, approximately 16 million pay less than Rs 75 per month to receive cable TV. These households do not receive most leading news and business channels. In these households, Jain TV will be the only channel bringing in business information and free-to-air news," Khan explains.
Programming line up for the channel includes interactive daily shows like Mazdoor ki Awaz (from 1 pm to 2 pm) and Health Online (from 4 pm to 5 pm), wherein experts are invited to the Jain studio to answer people's queries on phone.
Only nine months ago, Jain TV had announced its revamp as a business news channel (See: Jain TV to start new innings as business news channel with budget specials). Khan however refuses to comment on the progress of that genre, and maintains, "All I can say right now is that we are just focusing on social and general news."
Since its launch in 1994 as a general channel, Jain TV has been plagued by controversies linked to some bad business decisions, including a severe cash crunch and low visibility because of poor distribution deals.
Besides, there were some political restrains after the senior Jain's clash with the BJP. However, Khan says the younger Jain - and Jain TV's managing editor - Ankur, is optimistic to make the new project work.
And optimistic, the entire Jain TV team is, in spite of competition in the market. Khan says, "We don't think any of the present channels are a competition. Our model is different and we are confident of ourselves. For us, media is more of a mission than business. We don't want to wield powers through our media products, though the group has faced pulls and pressures from various quarters many times."
