Chennai: Chanakyaa, started by eminent Tamil journalist Rangaraj Pandey is the first multi-social media channel. Available in YouTube, FB, Twitter, website, 2 Apps, Sharechat, Hello and Instagram, the media also claims to be the first-ever news channel in Tiktok which takes the portal and its presence in total 10 platforms. The media house that completes its first year in business has also attempted simultaneous ‘Live’ sessions in 6 platforms from different places.
The portal which commanded 2,41,00,000 views in 7 months in YouTube alone with more than 34L views per month on an average. Chanakyaa also claims that 21% of the viewers are Female and 59% of the viewers are in the age group of 18 to 45.
From Short news formats, to photo stories to an exclusive channel for Cinema- Muthirai, and a portal dedicated exclusively for spiritual content- Guru, the channel caters to the youth, Upper class, Upper middle class, Urban class audience. In an exclusive chat with MediaNews4U, Rangaraj Pandey,
Founder, CEO, Chanakyaa speaks on the one year journey.
1) You had completed the first year. How is the acceptance of your brand amongst the viewers?
We are amazed by the response from the TN audience. We have been showcasing Organic growth with an average of more than 32 lakhs views per month, the channel has totaled to 2,69,00,000 views within 8 months in the YouTube platform alone. Over the period, 57 videos exceeded 1 lakh views, averaging at least 7 videos, crossing a lakh view, a month. We have never insisted to like, follow, subscribe or to press the bell button, that is why we claim to have the purest form of organic growth.
The main crux of the productive age group (18-45 yrs) form the strong base of Chanakyaa’s viewers, and the only news platform to have 21% viewers support of the Female category, very evidently showing a rise in the quality and standards of the channel.
2) What are the key trends you notice in terms of viewing patterns for mobile-only platforms like you?
Entertainment plays a major role in the viewership interests of the TN audience in as much. The common man’s interests lay in the headlines alone and not in deep details and nuances of the news. So most of the news platforms have preferred twisting titles than actually offering deep dive news. It is cumbersome for channels like Chanakyaa to interest the viewers with truths.
3) Have you partnered with any OTT players or other forms of news consumption models?
No, we are planning to become an OTT ourselves.
4) What were the challenges you had faced in terms of revenue-generation (through ads) for the channels?
The major revenue contributors are Google Ads from YouTube. The market has only now started to turn heads towards social media and the tariff is based on views, where there’s a requirement to make a systematic change to increase the revenue. As far as Chanakyaa is concerned, we have had good support from the market, to name a few, Indus TMT, City Union Bank, Deepam Oil, Tender cuts and many more.
5) How was your anniversary event and how many participants and what were the avenues for brand promotions in Chanakyaa as a media property?
The event was welcomed extraordinarily well compared to any other news platforms. Tamil actor Rajinikanth was the surprise guest in the event. For the first time in the history of any media industry, we honoured politicians for their service in the society. Not less than Thousand members of the audience filled the auditorium without printout invitations. Chanakyaa partnered with Dinamalar (daily news paper), News7 (satellite channel)* to create the history of mainstream media partnering with social media.
6) Moving forward, what are the plans for the coming financial year?
We are planning to extend our Chanakyaa into English language media. No surprise of Chanakyaa becomes a satellite channel too.
