Thakur
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- 30 Aug 2013
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KOLKATA: Barely five months after NE Bangla
rebranded itself to Focus Bangla due to a
change of ownership, the Bengali News
channel’s survival is under speculation. Former
Focus Bangla chief editor Biswa Majumdar has
left the channel for rival ETV Bangla as senior
editor and according to sources at a right time
as well.
The channel that hasn’t yet reached the top
spot, sources say, was under talks to shut
down. The source also informs that Majumdar
had spoken to Naveen Jindal, who apparently
owns the Focus network, and requested him to
keep the channel running for another six
months to prove its worth. At that time, the
company was already preparing to hand out
pink slips and employee compensations.
However, when Focus Network group CEO
Neeraj Sanan was contacted, he firmly asserted
that any talk of the channel being shut down
was baseless. The new editor who will take
charge at Focus is also not yet decided.
Media expert Swaraj Mukherjee says, “The
Jindals are still negotiating with an NRI buyer
to sell Focus Bangla but so far that’s in limbo.”
“Naveen Jindal is losing interest for various
obvious reasons. Moreover this channel will
never earn revenue for him. Media revenues
are very stifled. Only the established ones are
making money,” said another expert.
Matang Sinh, a former minister of state for
parliamentary affairs in the PV Narsimharao
government owned Focus TV and NE Bangla.
But last year Jindal Steel and Power chairman
Naveen Jindal had bought a stake in the
channel through his family and associates.
2013 was not a very good year for the Kolkata
media market as some media companies either
closed down altogether due to chit fund scams
while others laid off people and some resorted
to cost cutting measures. http://www.indiantelevision.com/television/tv-channels/news-broadcasting/will-focus-bangla-continue-for-long-140802
rebranded itself to Focus Bangla due to a
change of ownership, the Bengali News
channel’s survival is under speculation. Former
Focus Bangla chief editor Biswa Majumdar has
left the channel for rival ETV Bangla as senior
editor and according to sources at a right time
as well.
The channel that hasn’t yet reached the top
spot, sources say, was under talks to shut
down. The source also informs that Majumdar
had spoken to Naveen Jindal, who apparently
owns the Focus network, and requested him to
keep the channel running for another six
months to prove its worth. At that time, the
company was already preparing to hand out
pink slips and employee compensations.
However, when Focus Network group CEO
Neeraj Sanan was contacted, he firmly asserted
that any talk of the channel being shut down
was baseless. The new editor who will take
charge at Focus is also not yet decided.
Media expert Swaraj Mukherjee says, “The
Jindals are still negotiating with an NRI buyer
to sell Focus Bangla but so far that’s in limbo.”
“Naveen Jindal is losing interest for various
obvious reasons. Moreover this channel will
never earn revenue for him. Media revenues
are very stifled. Only the established ones are
making money,” said another expert.
Matang Sinh, a former minister of state for
parliamentary affairs in the PV Narsimharao
government owned Focus TV and NE Bangla.
But last year Jindal Steel and Power chairman
Naveen Jindal had bought a stake in the
channel through his family and associates.
2013 was not a very good year for the Kolkata
media market as some media companies either
closed down altogether due to chit fund scams
while others laid off people and some resorted
to cost cutting measures. http://www.indiantelevision.com/television/tv-channels/news-broadcasting/will-focus-bangla-continue-for-long-140802
