ET Now TV Channel, ET Now Launch, etnow.com

ET Now, the upcoming English business news channel from Times Global Broadcasting, is ready to launch soon and has announced its senior editorial team.

ET Now has received all the government clearances and the channel is expected to be live by end of June.

The channel's editorial will be backed by The Economic Times' editorial team headed by Rahul Joshi. The company claims of a young, aggressive and talented team of reporters, researchers, designers and editors.

ET Now has roped in award-winning columnist from Bloomberg Andy Mukherjee as senior editor-economy and finance. He will be heading ET Now's morning band - driving its coverage of the stock, currency and commodities markets.

The channel's evening band will be headed by senior editor-news and trends R Sridharan who was the managing editor of Business Today magazine. The evening band will be dominated by news and analysis.

Abheek Barman will be the consulting editor for the channel.

The other faces on the channel include Siddhartha Dubey from Reuters TV-London; Nikunj Dalmia, senior editor-stocks; Damini Kumari and Paromita Chatterjee, senior editors and anchors of the morning band; George Cherian, banking editor; and Shailendra Bhatnagar, senior editor.

The channel has Muralidhar Swaminathan as chief editor-news and Subha Chatterjee as head of special features.

The back-room operations is headed by Ward Edmonds (director of production and presentation). Edmonds has to his credit stints with business TV in many markets in Asia and Europe, and is responsible for ET Now's look and style.

The team of broadcast professionals includes associate executive producers Ravi Kaushik and Priyanka Sehgal; creative director Santanu De; and head of videography Akhai Shimray.

ET Now will focus on breaking stories, analysis and business trends. The company claims that it will introduce a galaxy of experts, economists and analysts who slice and dice business, economy and market news for investors, taxpayers, consumers and executives.

After the success of Times Now, India's number one English news channel, Times Global Broadcasting is setting out on yet another adventure. The launch of its channel in the English business news space - ET Now.

ET Now will be launched on July 2, 2009, the day from which the budget session of parliament would start. The new channel has announced its senior editorial team, which is backed by Rahul Joshi. The industry is eagerly awaiting the launch of ET Now, which is supposed to build on the huge lead of Times Group's business paper and encash this brand equity into electronic rupees.

A channel is only as good as the team that runs it and ET Now has been selected from the creme de la creme of global business journalism, backed by the firepower of The Economic Times' crack editorial team.

ET Now will deliver breaking stories that matter, cutting-edge analysis and business trends. It will introduce a galaxy of experts, economists and analysts, who slice and dice business, economy and market news for its viewers as an investor, taxpayer, consumer and executive. Bringing all this is a young, aggressive and talented team of reporters, researchers, designers and editors.

Introducing Andy Mukherjee, the global and award-winning columnist from Bloomberg, whose knowledge and experience in covering global markets is respected by both veteran traders and economists. Mukherjee, senior editor, economy and finance, will be heading ET Now's morning band, driving the channel's coverage of the stock, currency and commodities markets.

R Sridharan, senior editor, news and trends, is the editor of the evening band. He was previously the managing editor of Business Today magazine, he brings a stability of mind and thought to evening coverage, dominated by news and analysis.

Abheek Barman, a veteran of The Economic Times as well as The Times of India, is ET Now's consulting editor.

The faces of the channel are just as versatile. There is Siddhartha Dubey, the suave anchor from Reuters TV-London, who brings a global perspective to the channel. Nikunj Dalmia, senior editor, stocks, has a finger closer to the pulse of the Indian markets than any other Indian commentator.

ET Now's senior editors and anchors of the morning band - Damini Kumari and Paromita Chatterjee - bring to stock analysis and coverage accuracy, panache, and more than 10 years of experience each.

Rounding things off is George Cherian, ET Now's banking editor, perhaps the only one of his breed, who's actually worked for two big multinational banks. He will ensure the channels viewers a never far away from the next big banking story. Senior editor Shailendra Bhatnagar, with over 15 years of experience in respected wire agencies Reuters and Bloomberg, will head commodities and personal finance.

ET Now's director of production and presentation, Ward Edmonds, has worked with business TV in many markets in Asia and Europe, and is responsible for the channel's contemporary look and pacy style. His team of crack broadcast professionals include associate executive producers Ravi Kaushik and Priyanka Sehgal, creative director Santanu De and head of videography Akhai Shimray.

Working with a team of producers, chief editor, news Muralidhar Swaminathan sifts through the barrage of information about business and markets that hits the wires each day, and distills it into packages and news that makes sense to our viewers.

And head of special features Subha Chatterjee is responsible for a host of programming that includes documentaries, events and series that look at business in a different light. Complementing them will be team of high-profile anchors, reporters and editors, drawn from the outside world and ET.

ET Now has an arrangement with Thomson Reuters for exclusive collaboration. The channel has access to real-time financial news content powered by Reuters, from New York and London.

Times Global Broadcasting is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Bennett, Coleman & Company Limited. Right now, the English business news genre has three players - CNBC-TV18, NDTV Profit and UTVi. ET Now's foray will make it the fourth channel to be launched after a long gap.