TV Today, the owner of Hindi and English news channels such as Aaj Tak, Dilli Aaj Tak, Tez and Headlines Today had identified four to five regional languages in which it had planned to launch news channels. At least two news channels were supposed to have been launched by April–May this year. That’s history now. The company is staying away from any new projects. Likewise, the Network 18 group (of CNBC, Awaaz, CNN-IBN and IBN7 fame) had promised a host of regional news channels – the plans are now on the backburner. NDTV, too, launched its city-specific news and current affairs channel Metro Nation in Delhi one year ago in the hope of following it up with similar channels in Chennai, Mumbai, Hyderabad and Bangalore. Today, it is scouting around for a partner\investor to save its only metro channel from the brink of closure.
Broadcaster after broadcaster is shelving its expansion plans into the regional markets which seemed attractive for their higher TV viewership and advertising growth rate than national media. Television industry sources say that several news broadcasting companies have cancelled their “purchase orders” for equipment required to set up new channels.
But the dark clouds hovering over the recession-hit news television industry have a silver lining. Bringing cheer to the sector is the prospective launch of at least two major news channels aimed at the regional markets. After missing several deadlines, Sakshi TV is finally on its way to hit the airwaves in Andhra Pradesh on February 21.  To be launched by the Andhra CM’s son Y S Jagan Reddy who also started a newspaper last year under the same brand name, the channel will take on existing Telugu news channels like TV9 and Eenadu, among others.
An end-to-end High-definition TV channel, at 26, Sakshi will have the highest number of “OB” vans among all news channels – regional or national.  The Kotharis of Rajasthan Patrika In Jaipur are also giving finishing touches to the building being erected for their television venture. And if a television broadcasting consultant is to be believed, despite the economic slowdown and overcrowding of the news TV space, the interest in the sector hasn’t waned. He is still getting “serious” queries from industrialists in MP, Rajasthan and West Bengal keen to set up TV stations.
The reason is simple. The power and the influence that a news business is supposed to wield can now be bought – the small-scale, regional business model, that is — for as low as Rs 15 crore with a monthly operating cost of between Rs 55 lakh and Rs 75 lakh a month. To know if these projects took off or not, watch this space.