TIMES… THEY ARE A-CHANGIN

Despite a year of challenges, MK Anand, CEO & MD, Times Network targets 20% growth, betting big on Digital, Branded Content and the English Cluster

- Simran Sabherwal

Challenging could be one word to describe the year gone by for the Times Network. While the entire media industry was recovering from the effects of demonetization and the implementation of the General Sales Tax (GST), Times Network also saw other challenges - competition in the form of the newly launched Republic TV and moving its operations to New Delhi from Mumbai, in a bid to end duplications. The year 2017 had ended with its office premises being locked down due to a fire and the hunt for a new office space. Despite these challenges, MK Anand, CEO and MD, Times Network says that in terms of performance, last year was a landmark year for the network. Though in terms of actual growth, Anand calls the last year a flat year, he is confident that the network will clock over 20% growth going ahead, with big bets on Digital, Branded Content and the English Cluster.

ENGLISH NEWS: THE BATTLE IS ON

Talking of the English News genre, Anand acknowledges that Republic TV has impacted the genre overall, but downplays the impact it has had on Times Now. According to him, the launch of Times Now HD helped mitigate any revenue loss for the channel, and post Arnab Goswami’s exit, the gameplan was not just to look at the 9 pm prime-time slot, but also to strengthen the 8 pm slot with Rahul Shivshankar, Editor-in-Chief, and then lead the way to a known face on the channel, Navika Kumar, Managing Editor, Politics, Times Now at 9 pm.