New York Times [May 16, 2012)
Bangalore Startup Promises Unbiased News, Cheaply
By RAKSHA KUMAR
Raksha Kumar for The New York Times
One of the three fully equipped studios of “Public TV” at the office in
Yashwantpur, Bangalore, Karnataka.
A long, winding staircase ends on the seventh floor of the Bangalore
Metropolitan Transport Corp. building in Yashwantpur, Bangalore. At the
entrance to Public TV, a new Kannada-language network, rows of green
plants greet visitors. Like everything else at the TV station, the
potted plants were purchased from an abandoned enterprise — in this
case, a software firm.
“I got these lights for just 40 rupees each (76 U.S. cents) when Wipro
closed one of its branches in Bangalore,” said H.R. Ranganath, chairman
and managing director of Public TV, pointing at the ceiling.
“These cubicles, which my reporters and editors use, were bought from a
shut-down office of Kingfisher,’’ he added, while doors were purchased
from a Siemens branch that closed. Salvaging equipment from failed
companies was the only way that Mr. Ranganath was able to create an
independent TV network, free from corporate or political influence.
Mr. Ranganath, 45, has been a journalist for 25 years in the southwest
state of Karnataka, where Kannada is the official language. He was the
editor in chief of a Kannada-language daily, Kannada Prabha, and the
editorial head of a regional news channel, Suvarna.
The state of Karnataka has seven Kannada-language news channels; out of
those, six have overt backing from political or business leaders.
In November 2011, Mr. Ranganath came up with the idea of starting a
Kannada-language television channel without any political or corporate
financing. “If software professionals can do Infosys, then why can’t we
journalists start a self-financed company?” he wondered.
Raksha Kumar for The New York Times
One of the second hand cameras “Public TV” bought for 200,000 rupees.
According to Mr. Ranganath, the cost of starting up a regional
television news channel in Karnataka is anywhere from 45 to 50 crores,
or 450 million to 500 million rupees ($8.5 million to $9.4 million). He
figured that if he could cut capital and operational costs at least in
half, then he would be able to build a network without any outside
financial help.
He was able to get Public TV to begin broadcasting in March by
investing less than 10 crores, or 100 million, rupees, financed by
himself and Arun Kumar, the network’s chief executive, who used to run
a construction business. Mr. Ranganath also said his operational costs
are only 30 percent of his rivals’ costs.
For a few months, Mr. Ranganath and his staff went hunting for used
equipment from shuttered television stations across the country. “We
bought the cameras we use for 200,000 rupees each,” said Shashi
Deshpande, facilities manager at Public TV. “Each of them would have
cost us one million or more if purchased new.”
The Public TV office also has three fully equipped studios, which can
expand to six if a few chairs and background sets are moved around. No
more than a few thousand rupees have been spent on each of these sets.
Mr. Ranganath kept operational costs down by hiring fresh college
graduates to fill 80 percent of the 200 or so staff positions. “That
means some pressure on the 20 percent senior, experienced people on
board, but someone’s got to give the new graduates a chance,” he said.
On the day that the channel began operations in March, Mr. Ranganath
declared on the air that the public was free to check his and Mr.
Kumar’s assets to make sure that there was no illegal money involved in
starting the channel. “I don’t want anyone to question my credentials,”
Mr. Ranganath said. “In any case, the viewers should know who is giving
them their daily dose of news.”
The ratings reports for the past two months show that Public TV has
been struggling to gain popularity. But Mr. Ranganath said that he was
not worried and that the network was already planning to expand its
operations.
“We are No. 5 or 6 among the seven channels,” he said. “We will surely
do better as time progresses.”
Viewers said they liked the network’s transparency and commitment to
integrity. “I am impressed by Public TV as it has no overt political
connections,” said Shiva Prasad, 45, a resident of Bangalore. “If they
improve on their news presentation, I would love to watch them
regularly.”
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