NDTV: How To Lose Friends & Alienate People

Along with their sense of fairness in news reporting, folks at NDTV also seem to have lost the civility that they often preach to others. They also seem to care less about the privacy they often scream about. Here’s a small note from Christine Fair, a South-Asia specialist according to her Twitter profile @CChristineFair, responding to Ritu Jain, producer at NDTV. This is a tweet from Ms.Fair. I have reproduced the exact text of Fair’s tweet leaving out only the email ID and mobile number of Ritu Jain

I quote:

My exchange shaming this rude Ms. Jain

Dear Ritu

I have asked you clowns repeatedly to NOT call me before 9 am and not after 10 pm. (By repeatedly I mean "dozens of times." ) Yet today, you called me at 6:48 am on a Saturday after a night of sleeplessness. You are rude, selfish and unprofessional. Save your apologies. NDTV does this all the time obviating any sincerity of its or your apologies. I should point out that even Fox news only calls potential guests at civilized hours. So congrats NDTV. you are even less civilized than Fox News. Shabash! Kya bat hai! I will NEVER do an interview when the producer is so ill-mannered and self-centered as to call me at such an hour. Had you simply sent an email and WAITED for me to wake up, I would have been happy to help out. It is taking every ounce of the professional in me --as well as inadequate caffeine--to not tell you to go straight to hell.

CCF

On Sat, Aug 25, 2012 at 6:53 AM, Ritu Jain

Dear Ms. Fair,

May I please request you to join us at 9pm tonight,Saturday,25/08 for our Prime Time News @ 9 with Maya Mirchandani ,our Senior Anchor on “Gun Control in America” as compared to other countries like Norway,India ? “Mr. Praveen Swami from” The Hindu “is also going to be participating. Could join on Skype if you could send me your Skype id and contact number. Will be grateful if this can be worked out.Waiting to hear from you

Many thanks,

Ritu Jain

Programme Coordinator, NDTV

Unquote

I am not sure how Maya Mirchandani or anyone at NDTV is really qualified to discuss Gun-control in America but that’s hardly relevant. This exchange once again only proves that those who preach civility in public life and respect for privacy of individuals don’t really give a damn about it themselves. That’s a perfect lesson from NDTV on how to lose friends and alienate people.

TV Pop-Up Ads: Fraudulent Invasion of Privacy

Some years back during the severe earthquake in northern Pakistan and POK while reporting on destroyed houses and sorrowing families there was a scroll ad running at the bottom of the TV screen: 'Purvankara homes, the best homes in Bangalore'. Then again you might see reporting on a terror attack and then you might have a commercial break and suddenly up comes the Cadbury ad saying 'Kuch Meetha Ho Jaye'. Insensitive stupidity is one thing, but outright greed and invasion of your time are altogether different things.

And mindless greed has been the main principle of our mainstream media. If newspapers have turned their front pages into ad pages, the TV channels have gone many steps ahead. It is one thing to have commercial breaks during programs which, although annoying to the viewer, is a genuinely fair way of doing business, but altogether another matter when they force you to watch content. A commercial break warns you and you can switch channels or attend to something else. Mind you, lately the media crooks have also employed the tactic of turning up the volume during ad breaks so that no matter where ever you are in the house you can still hear the loud sounds. But that wasn’t enough. For more than a year now TV channels, particularly sports channels, have been airing commercial ads during the program itself. You could be watching a game of cricket, a documentary, a news discussion and suddenly you will be invaded by a PIP (Picture-In-Picture) ad, a pop-up ad or small banner type ads that suddenly flash across your screen.

These pop-up ads are a fraudulent invasion of your privacy. The programs you are watching are not free. You pay for them. With these pop-up ads and flash banner ads the TV channels are FORCING you to watch content that you should not have to watch. In a commercial break you are aware of what is on your screen  but these pop-ups force you to watch the ads because they are flashed in your face in the middle of the program. This is a fraudulent practice and both the ASCI and the Ministry of I&B must ban this practice to protect consumer interests. The least priority on the media’s list is the viewer.

Sometimes these pop-up ads can take up as much as 25-40% of your screen. The biggest violators of this kind of invasion are sports channels. 

Pic1: Pop Up Ad

Pic 1 above is not an actual TV grab but used as a sample to demonstrate how pop-up ads take space on your screen during a program. Viewers have experienced these monstrous ads appearing on their screens frequently, forcing them to watch the ads when they shouldn't have to. This is not what you are paying for.

Pic 2 : Ten Sports                                             Pic 3: Ten Sports

Pics 2 & 3 above are from Ten Sports' live telecast of the India-South Africa test currently under way. In the pic on the left the Haywards logos appear suddenly on either side of the wicket/batsman as the bowler delivers the ball. Is this legitimate advertising or invasion of your time and privacy? In the pic on the right the Tissot brand is flashed as the bowler is on the way back. Mind you, Haywards happens to be an alcohol brand parading as a soft beverage. These are matches being watched by all age groups, including children. Such perverted advertising has to stop immediately.

TV channels must be free to make money during their commercial breaks. No one would grudge that. However, they should not be allowed to make money on your time. That’s the time you are paying for. Viewers should start sending complaints to the Ministry of I&B to ban this fraudulent and invasive practice. I have doubts if Ambika Soni is ignorant of these malpractices. In the US the increasing of sound volume during commercial breaks by TV channels is banned. Scrolling commercial ads, pop-up ads or button-banner ads that invade you during programs you paid to watch should also be banned.

Also Read: TV's new space invaders: Popup ads