NewsNext 2008 conference in the capital

The NewsNext 2008 conference on the theme of business of news television and broadcasting will be held on 22 August in New Delhi.

The conference is being held by media and news website exchange4media for industry professionals to share their perceptions on the future of news broadcasting.

Considering the number of news channels already in the market, and some yet to be launched, the questions that are being raised are "how many more?", "Are they opportunities or threats?", "How to cope with this changing environment?", Is the competition in news channels for eyeballs or for credibility?", "Advertisers are investing (advertising) more than Rs1200 crore in news as a medium. How do they see this growing domain?".

In order to seek some of the answers to these emerging challenges and opportunities, the exchange4media group has convened NewsNext on the "Business of News Television"

The conference will begin with a welcome address by Anurag Batra, editor-in-chief and managing director exchange4media group, followed by an address by G Krishnan, president, News Broadcasters Association (NBA).

Highlights:  
 
11.00- 12:00 pm: News Next: The future of Indian news broadcasting covering issues such as"

Has the definition of news changed in today's era?
Have we sacrificed being first for credibility?
Do viewers continue to associate credibility with news TV?
Should news players be divided into News and News plus?  

Panelists: Suhel Seth, Counselage, Tarun Tejpal, Tehelka, Barkha Dutt, NDTV, Ambika Srivastav, Zenith, Lynn de Souza, LMG, Shashi Sinha, Lodestar, Abdul Khan, Tata Teleservices 

12.00 – 1.00 pm: Self regulation:

Will self regulation work?
How will news broadcasters implement self regulation?
How will the redressal system work?
The role of the government and the I&B ministry?

Panelists: Shashi Shekhar, Amar Ujala, Rajdeep Sardesai, CNN-IBN, Rohit Bansal, India TV,  Pankaj Pachauri, NDTV, Sanjeev Srivastava, BBC Hindi, Ashutosh, IBN 7, Markand Adhikari, Live India, Shekhar, Gupta, Indian Express Praveen Kumar, I & B,

2.00 – 3.00 pm:

The future of business news channels:
What happens in the world of global news?
Will competition in business news in India lead to new ideas and more honest stories?
Will it keep pace with the dynamic economy and be a catalyst?
What do viewers and advertisers of business news channels want as an editorial product and are their expectations being ment?
How will business news channels differentiate themselves?
How will they strike a fine balance between stock market coverage and business leaders and issues-centric news?

Panelists: Nazneen Karmali, Forbes Asia, Senthil Chengalvarayan, CNBC,  Govindraj Ethiraj, UTVi,  Samir Ahluwalia, Zee Business, Sanjay Pugalia, CNBC Awaaz, Partha Sinha, Publicis 

3.00 – 4.00 pm: Indian language news channels:

Are these channels poor cousins of Hindi and English news channels?
Is the quality of these channels on par with national news channels?

Panelists: Alok Mehta, Editor Nai Duniya & President Editors Guild, Nikhil Wagle, IBN Lokmat, Sanjay Salil, Media Guru, Rajeev Chandrasekhar, Asianet, Rabindra Narayan, PTC News  

4.30 – 5.30 pm: CEO forum:

What are the challenges for news broadcasting CEOs?
How is a carriage fee eating into budgets for content and journalistic initiatives? Is there a solution?
Will the government enforce digital standards?
How do CEOs plan to attract and retain talent in News TV?
How do they balance growth in this war for talent and profitability?

Panelists: Sunil Lulla, Alva Brothers, Chintamani Rao, Times Now, Barun Das, Zee News,  Ashok Venkatramani, Star News, Raj Nayak, NDTV Media, Anurradha Prasad, News 24,   Sudhir Chaudhary, Live India

5:30 – 6:30pm: News as a medium marketers are bullish about why?

Why is advertising investment in news channels increasing?
How do marketers look at RoI from news channels?
Where it will be 3 years from now?
Which channels or networks will get the lion's share and why?

Panelists: Chandrasekar Radhakrisnan, Desashish Sarkar, Max New York Life Insurance,  Ranju Kumar Mohan, Henkel, Ravi Kiran, Starcom, Milin Pant, Yum  Foods.