A Kingdom in Convergence - Network 18

Business often signifies some barometer to seek for. It always calls for –

Flaking the Customer’s Skin
Reading the future
Elegant Opportunist
Walking the rope of risk with planned balance

Whenever we read any biography of business tycoons & maharajas, we shall always observe these characters popping out. The list may feature some add-ons as the time moves on with the kicking competition. One thing which is constant is Risk n it’s Return. Raghav Bahl – the man in frame share the same story of fighting his stalk of odds.

The man was an anchor for Doordarshan in the late 1980s began assembling & producing business shows for television in 90s.

The Great Gamble
When content was king at the time, he saw the future lay in broadcast business. After his broadcasting venture was a flop, he formed a union with Singapore-based Asia Business News (ABN), but because of a poor audience response it also didn’t lasted long. But he then sought for more Indian news content with CNN & CNBC came in 1999 with TV18 partnership.

A Preferred Venturist
Network 18 has been like an octopus, using its tentacles to seize every part of the media pie. When other media companies prefer to guard their own chunks of territory, he aimed to have a crunch diet of the media boom. Bahl grabbed 46% stake in Jagran TV – ailing Hindi news channel & then marked the arrival of IBN7. It added 2 music channels – MTV & VH1 & Nickelodeon – the acclaimed kids’ channel. They are planning to spread its wing by launching – a retail shopping channel Home Shop 18 & IBN Lokmat.

Human Brands
As the economies are shifting to the K-World, the most quintessential asset for any company is its varied blend of skills & talent pool of workforce. Bahl has relied heavily on bringing the star power in his quest for the best. He initiated the entrepreneurship by bringing on Rajdeep Sardesai & Sameer Manchanda by giving them 26% stake in GBN.

Keeping consumer within our basket
Bahl was a man for the future. His acts & his bets signified him as a man who can see the road off the next turn. He set up e-Eighteen Dot Com, & then picked up an ailing personal finance portal, Monneycontrol.com he tied with online brokers with ASK Raymond James to offer transaction capabilities. Today with 7milllion users & an Rs45 crore brand those bets paid off.

They are believed to be the king of convergence who leapfrogged into the news-wire space by acquiring Crisil MarketWire, a real time finance news wire service.

What earlier was Synergy is now Convergence, & the soul idea is to keep the media consumer within the network18 cluster.
Market is very apprehensive about their stunning growth & some say that their leap lacks focus & thought. They are also being accused of acting in unethical ways in its private treaties programme.

In mere 3 years, TV 18 has grown like a baby on steroids, from an Rs.15 crore revenue to a whopping Rs.1000 crore.

The New Media Moguls have announced their trench & the quest is still on.

They say “The ride may be fast & risky, but it’s still hot & enticing”