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In a month, Sansad TV gets 6mn subscribers
The channel, formed by merging the Lok Sabha TV and Rajya Sabha TV, airs a wide range of shows from fortnightly programmes about the history of India to panels that analyse House committee reports.
Parliament’s new channel Sansad TV, launched last month, has already reached 6 million subscribers, chief executive officer Ravi Capoor said on Sunday.
“It’s not about TRPs for the channel,” Capoor said. “Its a no shrill, no noise channel. Its about drawing cerebral, intelligent viewers back to TV.”
The channel, formed by merging the Lok Sabha TV and Rajya Sabha TV, airs a wide range of shows from fortnightly programmes about the history of India to panels that analyse House committee reports.
During the upcoming winter session, Sansad TV will have two channels so that the proceedings of both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha could be aired simultaneously.
Meanwhile, Capoor said that the administration was focusing on expanding its content base. “Bibek Debroy does a programme called Itihaas, while Dr Karan Singh is doing a programme on what different faiths preach called Ekam Sat,” Capoor said. “The draw of Sansad TV is that experts are the anchors.”
The channel also has shows dedicated to familiarizing the public with the members of Parliament, while opposition MPs such as Congress’ Shashi Tharoor and Shiv Sena’s Priyanka Chaturvedi also have their own interview segments. The channel also does shows on international policy, such as Diplomatic Dispatch and broadcasts iconic international speeches.
The channel is also expected to rationalise the expenditure and assets of the two channels. At present, it has a work force of over 280 people, as compared to the earlier combined strength of nearly 600.
“The operating cost has already been reduced by 25% in a month since its complete launch,” Capoor said.
Capoor said that the channel was completed after a study of how international Parliamentary channels work. “Our learning was that while the channel should be rooted in Parliament, there should also be other content,” he said. “Our focus remains on how to straighten democracy and we are moulding content around that.”
Sansad TV is also bilingual, and telecasts content in both English and Hindi. “We ideated and found that while we can’t telecast live proceedings of the standing committees, we can always analyze the reports that have been tabled to give the viewers a better sense of what is happening,” Capoor said.
Though the channel has a dedicated news section, Capoor stressed that its purpose was not to “sell news”. “There is a small round of the news of the day in the morning and in the afternoon,” he said.
Whether the new channel will fall under the jurisdiction of the Rajya Sabha or the Lok Sabha still remains to be decided. “We are looking at the structuring that needs to be done,” the TV chief said. “Right now, we’ve reached about six hours of programming, we are aiming to make that eight hours.”
