We have always taken our role as the leader very seriously: Shereen Bhan

As Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman readies to present the Union Budget for 2025-26 on February 1, 2025, business news channels have kicked into high gear with varied programming to cater to all sectors and stakeholders.

In conversation with Adgully, Shereen Bhan, Managing Editor, CNBC-TV18, speaks at length about the channels’ programming strategy for budget coverage this year, how CNBC-TV18’s 25-year expertise in covering the Union Budget gives the channel the edge over competitors, leveraging multiple platforms for new avenues for revenue and audience growth, and much more.

How do you look at the current state of business news as well as the business environment in India?

As far as the current state of business news is concerned, we stick to doing what we know how to do best – which is to dominate the business news space, which we’ve done now for the last 25 years.

We are wedded to the idea of staying relevant to our viewers, readers, and subscribers. That’s what continues to drive us. Our DNA is centered around providing actionable information that helps our viewers make better choices in different aspects of their lives. That’s what we’ve done for the last 25 years.

We continue to be the leaders by a long shot in the business news space, not just on TV but also in digital. We are the largest business news brand on YouTube, the largest on WhatsApp, and have a growing presence across Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat. We are very focused on ensuring that CNBC-TV18 is a 360-degree brand, accessible across different platforms and not just television.

As far as the business mood is concerned, as is very evident at this point in time, different sectors are facing different issues. On the whole, the Indian economy is one of the fastest-growing economies at 6.5%. However, there has been a slowdown, which is being attributed to the elections that put brakes on government spending – spending that has essentially been driving growth through capex. The hope is that in the second half, things will pick up. But let’s see if there will be any measures to accelerate growth or provide some relief to the middle class.

There are great expectations in terms of tax relief in this budget. What is your approach to covering and analyzing the budget this year? Also, could you take us through the special programming centered around Budget 2025?

As far as the Budget is concerned, it’s something we have been covering in real time for the last 25 years. It’s a well-oiled machine that kicks into operation – not just on Budget day, but well ahead of it.

Many of our regular segments focus on decoding the numbers and analyzing the current economic landscape leading into the Budget. Over the past month, we have been intensifying our programming, featuring conversations with industry leaders, economists, and market experts to understand their expectations.

One of our strong IPs is the CNBC-TV18 Town Hall, an interactive format that we have expanded to focus on the Budget. In January, we hosted several budget-related town halls, including an Economist Town Hall to assess the fiscal situation, an Industry Town Hall on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos featuring business leaders, and a Market Expert Town Hall discussing market expectations.

We will also be doing an interactive YouTube special, Budget Pe Baat Cheet, where CNBC-TV18 editors will react to feedback from our viewers regarding the Budget. On Budget day itself, we have a strong line-up of budget editors, including Atanu Chakraborty (Chairman, HDFC Bank), economist Ratin Roy, Nilesh Shah (Kotak Mahindra Bank), and Dinesh Kanabar (Dhruva Advisors). They will analyze the Budget with us in real time as the Finance Minister delivers the speech.

We start our Budget coverage at 7:30 AM and continue till 10 PM, featuring global and domestic guests. We are also bringing back the Budget Bell—we will ring the opening bell at the National Stock Exchange on Budget day. Our team will be at the NSE covering the market reactions and gathering expert insights.

The budget theme this year for CNBC-TV18 is Seize the Moment—we believe that given the global uncertainty and shifts in economic policies, this is India’s opportunity to push for growth, focus on deregulation, and react strategically to global developments like US tariff threats.

How are you aligning your budget strategy around the Seize the Moment theme?

As I said earlier, we have been focusing on different sectors and speaking to industry leaders about what they expect from the budget. For instance, as far as the middle class and tax relief are concerned, there is an overarching demand for changes in the tax slabs—such as moving the 30% tax bracket from ₹15 lakh to ₹18 lakh or ₹20 lakh—to provide relief and boost consumption.

Private capex is yet to pick up at the expected pace, so the industry is keen on the government continuing its push on capex spending. We are collating these expectations and perspectives under the Seize the Moment theme to highlight how policy decisions can accelerate growth and improve discretionary income for citizens.

Given the push for growth in this Budget, what are the key questions you are asking industry stakeholders, the common man, and the government?

The key questions we are asking the industry are: What is the biggest constraint to growth? What measures would help unshackle that constraint? If they believe that growth is being held back for specific reasons, we ask them to identify those issues and suggest possible government actions.

Similarly, we are asking the government: Here are the industry’s demands—will the government act on them? Disinvestment, for instance, has long been on the industry’s wishlist, but recent actions suggest the government is moving away from large-scale privatization. Instead of selling PSUs, they are now infusing capital into them. We want clarity on this policy shift.

We are also focusing on policy changes that need to be executed—such as the operationalization of the Insurance Amendment Act and the simplification of direct taxes, which was promised in the last budget.

Our reportage is focused on driving these critical conversations and getting answers on key economic measures that could impact growth.

Could you tell us about the big names we can expect in the guest list for this year’s budget programming and how you will be engaging with them across your different programming IPs?

We have all the big guests from CII and FICCI who will be with us throughout the day. Of course, we will be joined by the budget makers themselves.

All the secretaries from North Block will be with us on Budget Day. Then, on the third, we will return with our marquee property, Budget Verdict, now in its 11th year. We will bring back all the budget makers from the Finance Ministry, along with other secretaries from economic ministries, to decode and analyze the fine print of the budget.

We will also have key economic ministers joining us on Budget Day, including the Finance Minister’s interview post-budget. Additionally, global voices, including rating agencies like Moody’s, will provide their analysis. Beyond that, we will feature political reactions from various parties on our political show, ensuring a cross-section of perspectives on the budget’s impact.

Moving to the English business news genre, it’s a very niche segment. How is CNBC-TV18 differentiating itself in this space through its programming and presentation? Not just for the budget, but overall, how are you maintaining your leadership position?

We have always taken our role as the leader very seriously. If you look at the business news space, you will notice that much of what other channels do is essentially a copy-paste of our formats and look and feel. We understand that our work inspires competitors, so we constantly reinvent and disrupt ourselves.

For instance, Young Turks is the longest-running startup show in India and among the longest globally. We recently introduced Young Turks Reloaded, a podcast format of the show. Our digital platform also features YouTube originals in long-form documentary-style storytelling through CNBC-TV18 Digital Originals.

We were the first to introduce various dedicated programs, such as:

• Climate Clock – focused on climate and sustainability.
• Future Female Forward – a sustained campaign on gender parity.
• It’s the Economy – a program covering macroeconomic issues.
• Global Eye – a weekly global current affairs program.
• Court Corner – covering legal and court-related news.
• Medicine Box – dedicated to pharma and healthcare.

We aim to create communities around our content, ensuring we have a presence in all relevant business news spaces. This approach, driven by thought leadership, gives us a strong edge in the industry.

You’ve mentioned how CNBC-TV18 is leveraging multiple platforms—social media, digital, and beyond. How do you see this multi-platform approach reshaping business news consumption?

It has provided us with new avenues for revenue and audience growth. For instance, YouTube has given us global reach. During the US elections, CNBC-TV18 was among the most-watched global channels on YouTube for election coverage, which even took us by surprise.

This expansion allows us to engage with a wider audience and diversify our content offerings. Our digital strategy ensures that each platform has tailored content—Instagram differs from Twitter, which differs from Facebook. We repurpose content to fit the platform’s audience while also creating exclusive digital content. This approach keeps us relevant and innovative in how we engage with viewers.

Looking ahead to 2025, what do you see as the specific growth drivers for CNBC-TV18?

Our focus areas remain expanding our communities, covering more sectors, and enhancing our existing properties. We recently launched the Global Leadership Summit, which will return for its second year, and our India Business Leader Awards just completed 20 years.

We will continue to double down on these properties while expanding our offerings. The overarching India investment story remains a key focus, as we aim to provide actionable insights that empower our viewers to make informed decisions.

Additional inputs by Nehal Shukla. 

Also Read: Creativity is great, but we have to see how commerce also works: Megha Tata