The media industry is undergoing a major transformation as artificial intelligence, connected TV and changing audience behaviour reshape how news is produced, distributed and consumed. Speaking at a panel discussion on “The CEO's Perspective: Reinventing Media for the Age of Infinite Content”, Rahul Kanwal, CEO and Editor-in-Chief, NDTV, said AI is helping media organisations accelerate workflows by significantly reducing the time between an idea and its execution.
“The amount of time it would take from coming up with an idea to building it and executing it is condensed,” Kanwal said, adding that technology has been a key driver of the changes seen at NDTV over the past year.
However, he stressed that AI will not replace the human element in news production. “Nothing gets published just through AI,” he said, warning of the risks associated with AI-generated content, deepfakes and misinformation.
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Kanwal said NDTV wants to retain a human being at the end of the process to ensure authenticity and maintain a connection with audiences. AI, meanwhile, can help reduce production time, adapt content to different contexts and multiply it across formats.
“Human remains the heart of it,” he said, with AI helping humans make decisions and execute processes more efficiently.
Connected TV is also opening up opportunities for more niche programming, Kanwal said. Traditional linear television requires broadcasters to consider whether a programme will attract enough viewers to justify its place in the schedule. Connected TV allows audiences to actively choose content based on their interests.
This has enabled NDTV to develop niche offerings such as “Lifeline”, focused on healthcare, wellness and anti-ageing, and “Launchpad”, which focuses on upskilling. Such programmes may not traditionally have received significant space on a news channel due to concerns over audience size.
“We're able to double down much more on it because of connected TV, because you open the content only if you're interested,” Kanwal said.
NDTV is also experimenting with new formats through NDTV Micro, its effort to adapt the micro-drama format to news. The initiative aims to take news to audiences on the platforms they already use, while presenting it in a format and language that resonates with younger, particularly Gen Z, consumers.
Kanwal said media organisations need to move from a “situationship” with consumers to a direct relationship by investing in technology, communities and engagement. The goal is to encourage audiences to return directly to media platforms rather than relying primarily on search and discovery.
He also highlighted the need for more enterprising journalism as the era of “lazy journalism” comes to an end.
On television ratings, Kanwal said BARC remains the universal currency accepted by broadcasters and advertisers, despite several issues with the ratings ecosystem. He said the absence of ratings makes it difficult to measure content consumption and risks accelerating the shift of advertising money from linear television to digital.
The discussion also brought together senior executives from across the media and entertainment industry. Kevin Vaz, CEO of JioStar, identified consumer intent as a key future driver of growth, while noting that advertising alone cannot support the industry's future. Punit Goenka, Chief Executive of Zee, stressed that content remains at the heart of the media business and highlighted the need to develop new revenue streams.
Gaurav Gandhi, Vice President and Head of Prime Video, pointed to the importance of new formats and said content and technology will increasingly need to work together.
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