Rajat Sharma to launch second news channel, India TV Wiz

Independent News Service has got government approval to launch its second news channel

Rajat Sharma led Independent News Service (INS) has got approval from the Information and Broadcasting Ministry to launch another next 24-hour news channel. After India TV, which was launched in August 2004, the company will now launch India TV Wiz.

India TV Wiz is being positioned as a premium news channel and will have shows in both English and Hindi.

The channel is expected to go on-air in six months. The marketing departments of both the channels will have a certain level of synergy, whereas the infrastructure will be the same for both the offerings. As far as editorial content is concerned, the channels will work in close collaboration with each other.

Talking about India TV Wiz, Rajat Sharma says, "Wiz will be up in six months, perhaps earlier in beta form. You will see a unique bouquet of content that will make it a nation-wide phenomenon." The target audience of the channel will be similar to India TV.

He adds that it will give premium advertisers a bouquet of screens that support marketing innovation, reaching their message to top-of-the-line-audiences across TAM cities and the next wave of conditional access markets. The channel will partner with an international media house for coverage of news outside India.

The 24-hour channel will be available on analogue cable and all digital platforms. Wiz will be supported by digital media and mobile platforms from the beginning; though India TV Interactive, the digital media business of the group, was launched in November 2008. India TV Interactive (ITVI) is a separate company launched by India TV to extend its presence through the Internet, mobile and interactive television platforms.