Today there are nearly 300 television channels in India.  Interestingly, many of them cater to local news.  News as a commodity was considered not to be sellable for many years and now there are so many organisations investing into it.   With so many channels coming in there is a need for talent as well.  The talent pool in such a scenario is always limited.  No wonder even mediocre people get good opportunities.

In a recent forum held in India Habitat Centre, Delhi participants agreed on this.  Editor in chief of IBN 7 ( A popular Hindi News Channel) quoting a particular case said one trainee moved from a Rs. 5000 job to a Rs. 75000 job within a span of two years. A unheard jump of 1500%.   And there are such stories everywhere.

Television News in India today is demanding and ideally only the very best should be able to make it.  In the words of Sudhir Choudhary of Live India… today’s Reporter needs to be good looking, good communication skills, good personality and being ready to work long hours.  Such people are difficult to find and hence they have to make do with people with lesser skills.

Training was another area which was stressed by the participants at the Human Capital Forum.  Lack of professional training did mean that substandard people join the organisation.  Worse Human Resources is a new area in media in India Today.  Till a few years back this area was hardly considered to be important.