Talking Heads with Rajdeep Sardesai

Sheetal Patel - Televisionpoint.com | Mumbai

Rajdeep Sardesai

Padma Shri Rajdeep Sardesai, is the Editor-in-Chief of IBN 18 Broadcast and anchor for CNN-IBN. He graduated with a degree in law and a master's degree in law from Oxford University, and has 17 years of journalistic experience during which he has covered several political stories in India and has hosted the popular television debate show The Big Fight.

Sardesai had an interesting career, the son of cricketer Dilip Sardesai, he played cricket in his youth before training as a lawyer, moving to print and then sailing towards TV news before the boom happened. Prior to joining IBN at its inception, he worked for NDTV, where he was the managing editor of the news channels NDTV 24X7 and NDTV India, and was responsible for overseeing the news policy for both the channels.

Could you share your experience at NDTV?
I will always be grateful to the Roys (Prannoy and Radhika) and the organisation (NDTV) for the opportunities they gave me. Today, my challenge lies in working with a team of wonderful professionals and building a robust journalist-driven organisation.

How is life at IBN 18 Broadcast?
Cool! I devote about 90% of my time and energy to news related issues and about 10% to some things that are different. I am very lucky to have colleagues like Raghav Bahl, Sameer Manchanda and others who are genuine entrepreneurs.

How would you rate CNN-IBN in comparison to NDTV 24x7 and Times Now?
I don't talk of competition or competitors. I would rather have viewers judge our performance, our credibility and our quality. We follow a rationale of 'i' theories, where we believe that journalism is all about integrity, intelligence, immediacy, inclusiveness, impact, investigation, information and interactivity.

We operate leading general news channels CNN-IBN and IBN 7 and have launched IBN Lokmat, a Marathi news channel in partnership with the Lokmat group. In an very short span of time, CNN-IBN has become the market leader in the English general news space, and IBN7 is a prominent player in the Hindi news market.

What mantra did CNN-IBN played to catch the viewers eyeballs?
CNN-IBN has a robust viewership performance facilitated by diverse, high quality content and strong viewer engagement & interactivity. We believe that a news channel should be primarily driven by news and journalists.

And to use a cricket analogy, our philosophy at CNN-IBN has been to combine the aggression of a Sehwag with the technique of a Dravid to create a Tendulkar. Moreover, I believe in the core USP of the four letter word called NEWS for our success.

To what extend CNN contributed to the co-branded channel CNN-IBN?
We got credibility with CNN partnering us. The worlds' largest news network has decided to tie-up with us, which goes to enhance our credibility and brand equity.

Can you brief us on the performance highlights of CNN-IBN?
CNN-IBN continues to offer well diversified content and deliver benchmark editorial properties. 'Indian of the Year 2007' was a roaring success and a new award 'Real Heroes' was instituted to honor the unsung heroes of the nation. 'Citizen Journalist' awards were introduced to recognize active & constructive citizenry and social consciousness.

We have been witnessing a string of programmes like Indian of the Year etc. Do you think they act as inspirational tools?
When you saw our show, you would see how serious we are about the word credibility. Our winners, our juries, our whole show were not designed to promote the usual suspects. We wanted to honour Indians who are truly inspirational.

Moving on to IBN 7, do you think it has garnered enough viewers attention?
IBN 7 is one of India's fastest growing Hindi news channels, it has sustained its programming initiatives through and has planned many benchmark offerings in the near future. The channel underwent a complete presentation transformation with a new international look and feel, enhanced by virtual sets and graphical innovations.

We have developed innovative content through partnerships with acclaimed entertainment shows such K for Kishore, Champion Chaalbaaz No.1 & Comedy Circus, apart from partnering with Viacom18's MTV Channel for their flagship shows such as Roadies & I Superstar. And on the viewership front, IBN 7 continues to grow from strength to strength in the Hindi news genre.

Your company has recently launched IBN-Lokmat, what are the plans for this channel?
IBN-Lokmat has embarked on the principle of delivering news to the highly aware and conscious progressive Marathi, with the spirit of 'Chala, Jag Jinkuya!'. With reporters in every district of Maharashtra, and access to national and global networks, IBN-Lokmat promises to become a bridge between Maharashtra and the wider world.

You have been a journalist, an employee and sometimes an activist. How is it different being an entrepreneur?
Well, I don't think I have ever been an activist. I have always been a newsperson all my life. I have always been an upfront journalist. And yes, I am also not a full time entrepreneur in the sense that we understand entrepreneurs and their role.