Tech-knowledge on the idiot box

It's the only homegrown technology channel on the idiot box. And while it has a long way to go before it can be ranked with the likes of Discovery, it has already succeeded in carrying across nuggets of information on technology, IT in particular, to the masses. And it offers a friendly medium for technology to come out of its ivory towers, out onto a visible space that the common man can access.

That's TMG Enter, the 24-hour television channel from the Bangalore-based Technology Media Group. It owes its origins to the popular IT Hour program launched by Mr. Subhanjan Sarkar, first beamed on the Asianet channel and then on CNBC. The company is venture funded by IFCI Ventures, Canbank Venture Capital Fund, Gujarat Venture Capital Fund Ltd and ICICI Ventures.

Mr. Sarkar's mission is to take technology to the masses. "Technology is something that can change the quality of life of a nation," he says, underlining the philosophy. The company has just launched the the 24-hour channel service in the city of Pune {about 180 kms from Mumbai}.

Just over a year old - it was started in September 1999 - and soft launched in April 2000 with a 24 hour beaming in select cities, it has already achieved a reach of seven million homes across 100 cities. With a network of offices across six cities within the country -- Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad and Pune, it plans to add one more, Calcutta, in the near future.

The channel is dedicated to providing information on technology, targeted at the growing IT community and business, and expects to help broaden the domestic market for technology products and services. The medium, its key programs -- Zindagi Online, IT Hour, E-Samvaad, The VC Show, News Breakthrough and City Diaries.

The growth of IT and the Internet revolution have spurred the existence of this channel. For, as Mr. Sarkar says, with Internet revolution fuelling the need for faster access to technology, which in turn change business trends, there is a need to disseminate IT through a medium that can be easily accessed by people -- that is, television. Thus, enter, TMG.

There are plans to go regional. In September this year, it broke the language-technology barrier, by launching E-Samvaad, an hour-long technology program in Hindi, aired three times a day. "Narrated in an easy-to-comprehend language understood by the vast population of India, it works towards bridging the gap between technology and the people," says a company official.

Other plans include tying up with regional channels, with programs produced and packaged suitably. It has already tied up with Udaya TV for a half-hour program in Kannada. The channel itself will carry regional language bands, with a choice of one of three languages, by March 2001.

Already, there are plans to go global. The channel hopes to have ten to twelve global locations within the next 18 months. "It is an IP (intellectual property) driven world, and we have to own IP to go global", says Mr. Sarkar.

"Whatever content has been created (so far) caters only to the Indian diaspora, what we need to do now is to create content to reach people across the globe, for which we need to be at the hotspots of technology," says he. "Therefore you need to create content of your own, and then leverage it.".

"Today when you buy international news you have media or geographical restrictions. The only way to overcome it is to create our own content," reasons Mr. Sarkar.

He believes that India is well placed to provide leadership in technology content, especially for developing countries. "If you consider Africa, Latin America, South East Asia, China, our technology maturity is far ahead. India is just ahead of the technology curve, and thus well placed to play this role."

For now, the channel is heavily loaded with only one kind of technology -- information technology. Mr. Sarkar explains the predominance: "India has attained global recognition for its leadership in information technology. Besides, most technology today is IT driven," he points out. "But other technology will come soon," he promises.