EXCLUSIVE: BTVI’s flagship show ‘The MF Guide’ stepped on-ground for its viewers and plans to travel across the country

By Yohan P Chawla

TVNEWS4U EXCLUSIVE

In the present time where almost everything has gone digital, one of the fastest means of getting any major news is certainly through social media. Almost all major news broadcasters have adopted digital to ensure that cord cutters and those who like to consume news on the go have the option of remaining with their content feeds. A more niche space in the current news segment is the English business news space, where the viewership pie has been dominated primarily by two broadcasters. However, younger channels are striving to nibble at the viewership pie, and one doing so aggressively and smartly is Business Television India, popularly known as BTVI. Of course, an overall basis, it still has a long way to go, but the baby steps, with the right leadership guidance, are certainly in the right direction.

An important part of this effort is establishing, maintaining and growing a connect with its viewers that is based upon great relevance and usefulness, and for the audience of a business news channel, the biggest objective for most viewers is getting help to make money though wise investments. Investor education.

And The MF Guide has been an interesting, sticky offering that has grown upon its viewers.

I caught up with Muralidhar Swaminathan, Channel Director, BTVI, on the show.

The MF Guide: This is an interesting BTVI offering which talks about the power of mutual funds and compounding, and the basis of investment. Expert fund managers empower the audiences with smart investment strategies for successful long-term wealth planning. It also helps viewers to seek expert advice on any of their personal stock related queries. The success of the show depends on the credibility of the market experts who understand a particular query and answer to the best of their ability.

The MF Guide has completed over 100 episodes and upped its game by going daily at 12:30 PM Monday to Friday, on BTVI.

The guide to successful MF investing: Successful investing in mutual funds is not just about selecting the right funds. A lot depends on how one manages the expectations and risks. In a rising market, put a lid on your expectations; in a falling market, be bold, take risks. The act of balancing the two would lead one to a successful formula over a considerable period of time. Such insightful and knowledgeable understanding of the mutual fund industry is what a viewer can expect From the show.

Speaking on the need for The MF Guide, Muralidhar Swaminathan, Channel Director, BTVI, said, “We started The MF Guide keeping the viewer’s requirement in mind. The mutual fund industry, in the last 5 years has grown phenomenally. When this kind of growth happens one will sees a lot of small medium retail investors coming into the industry. It includes various kinds of people who are retiring or have retired. So we realized the big gap and felt the need to address the same.”

The Beginning: Harking back on the start of The MF Guide, Swaminathan said, “We started off with just one show (episode) a week with a panel of advisors who would come and advise. Suddenly we found that the number of queries coming in for every show was increasing — the first episode had about 60-70 queries; the next week they grew to about 100-150 and reached a stage where we had 300 pending queries! That was when we recognized the need and decided to go daily. After that, we have now successfully completed more than 100 episodes.”

Giving the best expert advice: Explaining how every query is dealt with, Swaminathan said, “We go deeper into every caller and viewers’ understanding and try to understand their psyche of investment. We have chosen a panel of advisors From the industry and have about 30-35 financial advisors who come and advice. The lines are open to all sorts of investors ranging From youngsters who probably have just started working to people who are almost at the end of their careers and want advice on how should they secure their retirement.”

Getting firmly on-ground: Commenting on what has been planned for The MF Guide in the next year, Swaminathan said, “The MF Guide is now going From town to town across the country to conduct on-ground events to promote investor education and share the financial wisdom. We also want to visit colleges and to inculcate the habit of investing and improve the financial literacy.”

“Investor education is at the core and our objective is very clearly to educate the investor with the support of a number of mutual funds who are also willing to participate. As a channel our motive is to reach out to more investors and expand our base. The MF Guide will go on to become a 30-minute episode From its current 15-minute version. In addition to the regular shows, we will have special shows for the weekends”, Swaminathan concluded.