~Unmatched Coverage on Three Leading Channels~- Big Debate on TIMES NOW: Votes or Vision
- Biggest Ever Budget on ET NOW: Tryst With Destiny
- In-Depth Analysis on Personal Finance: Magicbricks NOW
Mumbai, January 31, 2017: TIMES NETWORK, the television broadcast division of India’s largest media conglomerate The Times Group, has always been at the forefront of economic events that have a big impact on the nation. We believe that Budget 2017 will be a turning point for the country, as it comes against the backdrop of the current BJP led government’s historic cash clean-up drive.
There is a lot at stake for everyone, be it industry or individuals. The expectations are high from the government, which is expected to open the floodgates for reforms and cash in on India’s pole position at a global level. Keeping this in mind, TIMES NETWORK has a special programming lined up for the biggest announcement of the year – Budget 2017, across its three leading news channels, ET NOW, TIMES NOW and MAGICBRICKS NOW.
ET NOW
Leading the power-packed campaign will be ET NOW, India’s leading English business news channel, with an exclusive campaign ‘Budget 2017: Tryst with Destiny’. In a way ET NOW will be a chronicler of history, considering the big shift in the functioning of the economy in the wake of demonetization.
The channel will be the torch-bearer of budget debates, anchored by Sandeep Gurumurthi, Supriya Shrinate, Nikunj Dalmia, Mythili Bhusnurmath, Faye D’Souza, Ayesha Faridi, Tanvir Gill and Swaminathan Aiyar. The channel will ensure that viewers get all the relevant information comprehensively on ET NOW, well ahead of competition.
The one-hour special ‘Budget Debate’, anchored by Supriya Shrinate, will present views from India Inc’s top CEOs and renowned economists, policy makers like Chanda Kochhar, MD & CEO, ICICI Bank; Deepak Parekh, Chairman, HDFC; Pawan Goenka, MD, M&M; Nitin Gadkari, Union Highways Minister; Piyush Goyal, Union Power Minister; Amitabh Kant, CEO, Niti Aayog; Prakash Javadekar, Union HRD Minister; Nirmala Sitaraman, Industry & Commerce Minister; Jayant Sinha, Minister of State for Aviation; Ramdeo Agrawal, Motilal Oswal; Rashesh Shah, Edelweiss Group; Nilesh Shah, Kotak AMC; and Jahangir Aziz, JPMorgan; Shaktikanta Das, DEA Secretary; Arvind Subramanian, Chief Economic Advisor; Arvind Panagariya, Vice-Chairman, Niti Aayog; Nalil Kohli, BJP Spokesperson; Abhishek Manu Singhvi, Congress Spokesperson and Shashi Tharoor, Congress Leader.
As finance minister Arun Jaitley sets the agenda for Budget 2017, ET NOW will bring the insights from world renowned economists while ET NOW’s Consulting Editor, Swaminathan Aiyar, will break up the key takeaways for the common man.
Supporting the on-air line-up, ET NOW has designed a 360-degree campaign across different platforms, including print, OOH, radio, digital and trade. The channel has also lined up a contest for its viewers to enhance consumer engagement.
The marketing plan for Union Budget 2017 included Print ads across eight major metros on February 1, 2017; Out Of Home (OOH) Advertising in Mumbai, Delhi & Bangalore at major bus shelters, metro panels and branding at airports; EPG Branding at Hathway, DEN & Asianet; Radio announcements Mumbai, Delhi & Bangalore; Digital campaigns for Budget special with hash-tag promotion; Trade promotions with Newsletter branding & Page Pushers and Viewer contest which includes Watch & Win IPhone 7.
TIMES NOW
The undisputed leader among English news channels, TIMES NOW will present non-stop programming from 7 am on Feb 1, 2017, titled ‘Budget 2017: Votes or Vision’. The penultimate budget before the current Governments term ends; expectations are intense from this budget. The government is walking a tight rope; it’s a double edged sword as an extreme reform oriented budget might be unpopular among the masses, especially with elections to 5 key states just around the corner. On the other hand a populist budget with sops will hit the nation long term economic growth. How will they strike the balance? Will it be votes for the party or vision for the nation?
Catch a power-packed panel including Rajiv Kumar, Senior Fellow at Centre for Policy Research, Rajiv Desai, Comma Consulting, Lord Meghnad Desai, Economist and Omkar Goswami, Chairperson of CERG Advisory decode the historic budget into news that the viewers can use.
The budget coverage will begin with discussions on dissecting the economy in the run-up to the FM’s speech. With the help of advanced technologies like augmented reality (AR) graphics and holograms, TIMES NOW will reach out to the common man.
MAGICBRICKS NOW
Tracking the Budget announcements closely, Magicbricks NOW will break up key policy decisions and analyze their impact on the Urban Citizen. Investor’s Guide, the exclusive show on personal finance, will decode the Budget from multiple angles and not just the lens of real estate. It will give an in - depth analysis on the tax policy and how it affects your wallet. The channel will bring live audience from across five cities, with personal finance experts answering all their queries on tax implications, investment possibilities and home buying.
The channel will feature top experts like Dhirendra Kumar, CEO, Value Research, Shailesh Haribhakti, Chairman, Dh Consultants, Anuj Puri, CEO, JLL and Pankaj Razdan, CEO & MD, Aditya Birla Life Insurance. This show will be anchored by Faye D’Souza, Senior Editor, Personal Finance and Real Estate of ET NOW and Editor of Magicbricks NOW, will be telecast live across all three news channels – TIMES NOW, ET NOW and MAGICBRICKS NOW -- at 7:00 pm.
It’s a Budget that can change the course of the Indian economy, a budget that can kick off the next phase of growth. This year, the network talks about Revolution on ET NOW, Votes or Vision and Eco-Political scenario on TIMES NOW and impact of Budget on common man on Magicbricks NOW, as world-renowned economists, corporate honchos and market experts debate the hits and misses. Watch TIMES NETWORK on February 1 as our path-breaking coverage on Budget 2017 unfolds on our three flagship channels!