Launched on the auspicious day of Dhanatrayodashi in 2020, the Marathi mega-channel Goan Varta Live is completing a year now and as predicted by the Chief Minister of Goa Dr Pramod Sawant that this channel would be a voice of Goa, the channel has lived up to the tradition that Fomento Media has, so far, done in its various verticals – newspapers, channels, digital media platform etc. Goan Varta Live has established a good connect between our two neighbouring states, Maharashtra and Karnataka, as a whole lot of population speaks Marathi in these two regions.
“We speak Konkani, read Marathi and understand English. After Kerala, Goa is the second State when it comes to literacy in India. We have to create more intellectuals, and our channel worked towards giving a new direction to the people of Goa by introducing a new Goa to them as well as to the world – a Goa of which all will be proud of,” states Kishor Naik Gaonkar, editor, Goan Varta Live while speaking to The Goan.
As we speak of Goan Varta Live and the vision that this channel has nurtured, the first thing that its popular editor recalls is the reason why this Marathi mega-channel was launched in the midst of a pandemic. What was the need that propelled Fomento Media to think of this yet another channel in Goa, that too in Marathi? Replying elaborately, the young editor points out that Goa has given many talented artists to the world, but very few intellectuals, and reasons that this may have happened because, in the past, the State expended its energy in fuelling the controversies over language.
Kishor points out that the State was in shock as the first wave of the pandemic hit and the entire country went into a lockdown. “No one had any idea what coronavirus was or how it would spread. Whether it would spread through our daily newspapers, was another fear that grappled us,” admits Kishor. As many newspapers cut down their pages, some shut down, and others had to do with reduced manpower, the printed newspapers began to get stocked at the vendor’s stalls. Nobody stepped out of their homes to buy their morning paper or pao. Life was disrupted.
“Print media faced danger. There were cost cuttings. People shut themselves in their homes, but they wanted to connect with the outside world and know what’s happening around. Television, news channels, social media platforms were their only connection, and here, the importance of digital forums was underlined. It began to grow multi-fold and proved to be an instant hit. It was here that we understood that the future of media is digital,” states the young editor.
Fomento Media’s Prudent was already the number one channel in Goa. Prudent also had a digital message system. As Goa is known for its multicultural, colourful life with its diversified population, a medium that would enrich their lives further, connect with them locally and in a language that they use culturally was something that was required to fill the gap.
“The people of Goa speak Konkani, read Marathi and write in English. There were already 7-8 Marathi newspapers in the market. But there was an absence of a full-fledged Marathi channel. Goa is known to the world as a tourist destination. The State has its own identity, social and cultural. What we focussed at is to project this socio-cultural identity of Goa to the other parts of India. And to do this we started this Marathi channel, to connect with the neighbouring States – Maharashtra, Karnataka and Konkan region where Marathi speaking population dwells. So, we launched our channel on November 13, 2020 on the occasion of Diwali at the hands of Chief Minister Dr Pramod Sawant,” shares Kishor.
He adds, “Prior to that, on October 1, we had launched our website – the first Marathi website. And it received a tremendous response, with 4.5 lakh hits. It’s the only Marathi website and within a year, it proved to be the most popular, and most read website. Actually, it was this popularity that compelled us to think about launching a Marathi channel.”
And now, why Marathi? Kishor reasons, “Marathi is a very rich language and highly intellectual conversations happen in it. This language is deep rooted in Goan culture and directly linked to the literature, folk tales, folklore and education too. Hence, the response again was overwhelming.”
After the launch, things got sorted out. The team realised that Fugdi, the folk dances of Goa, was never being highlighted as a state symbol, and it mostly remained subdued in the rural parts of Goa. Goan Varta Live tried to fill up this space. Goa didn’t have any satellite channel prior to Prudent, which filled the gap by telecasting Konkani and English news and features. It already had its full-fledged team and network. Goan Varta Live got the benefit of these resources, to reach out to the people, especially, the rural folks. The channel always maintained a human-interest focus, while producing programmes or delivering feature stories. This got attention, and response. The approach of looking at the channel changed, as it was not restricted only to political news, but the focus was on rural Goa.
The reporters of Goan Varta Live visited the nooks and corners of Goa, brought out stories and issues that had local flavour. These stories got attention too, and even the government administration took note of these issues, they visited the places and tried to change the situations of the locals. The process of making a change kick-started. The stories which touched the hearts of the people were many and the impact was multi-fold and all over.
The channel effectively helped to change the picture postcard perception of Goa. Goa is not limited to churches, temples or beaches, but the real Goa lies well beyond these three. Goan Varta Live became popular through its Facebook page, and YouTube channel too. “People now have shifted from television to mobiles for receiving news. There are 33,000 subscribers on YouTube and this shows our popularity,” smiles Kishor.
Fomento Media already has print editions in three languages – The Goan Everyday (English daily), Govan Varta (Marathi daily) and Bhaangarbhui (Konkani daily). It has its presence in digital and electronic space too. Prudent is already a popular channel offering educational, entertainment and political content. Goan Varta Live had the support from all these verticals. Prudent, with a dynamic and young editor like Pramod Acharya, had an expert team which was already trained in television and digital fields. Goan Varta Live roped in Arjun Dhaske, Siddhesh Sawant, Suraj Chavan, Priyanka Naik, Dwarkesh Velingkar who all were pre-experienced. The assistant news-editor Sachin Khutwalkar and sub-editor Dhanashree Manerikar came from print media, but they learnt the nuances of the digital and television sector within no time. Sachin proved to be a good anchor and desk in-charge too and Dhanashree has made ‘goanvartalive website’ a big success.
“Yes, the human resources are limited and we have to work 24x7, sending alerts. Vishwanath Nene, the senior reporter from Prudent shifted to Goan Varta Live, and took the challenges head on – plunged into reporting and today, our channel has viewers from Sindhudurg and Karwar too. Our young video journalists Kanif Tari, Rupesh Raut, Aniket Narvekar, PCR head Shailesh Zantye and our local reporters’ team is working tirelessly. Keshav Talwadkar, our revenue head is putting all efforts to reach to the advertisers and making the channel sustainable in the market. We are planning to improve our content further, and add stories from other regions too. Our efforts are on in this direction and we are sure to capture the distant viewership in a big way,” promises Kishor, hinting that the channel is planning to expand.
Content wise, cultural, religious, educative and literary stories and features will be added to the current programmes and space wise, justice will be done to the stories from these regions, assures the editor. Hinting at the closures of media houses during the pandemic, Kishor points out at the silver lining in the dark clouds that loomed over the future of media persons, saying in these times of crises around 50 % of the media people lost their jobs, but Goan Varta Live, though new, offered jobs to many.
Kishore adds, “It was like a new lease of life for these journalists, who had, otherwise lost their livelihoods. With three newspapers, channels like Prudent and Sindhudurg Live, and digital news platforms, news alerts, we have internal support that helps us go. Goan Varta Live sends digital messages, which are shared now. Fomento Media is number one, as far as digital content and news alerts are concerned. A new segment like Goan Varta Live has added a feather in the success story of Fomento Media with its Marathi content in the electronic media section. We filled the gap and the impact is visible.” There was no electronic medium in Goa that was devoted to exclusive Marathi coverage. Indeed, Goan Varta Live has filled the gap in a very impressive manner.
Revenue generation was yet another difficult task before the team. It was really tough to balance between the cost of human resources and technological overheads. However, the digital platform offered some solace. It became a source of revenue. The YouTube and Facebook pages also offered some revenue. Commercials came from the Marathi speaking parts in Maharashtra.
“As Goa is a tourist destination, we plan to offer detailed information of the places to visit and see if we could tap some revenue. Our efforts are on, and we hope to succeed in finding the fine balance between the expenses and revenue. We have to work with limited resources and face the challenge of unlimited cost. But thankfully, we have a very supportive and understanding management. Director Joe Luis has been a real key factor to start this initiative and he stood like a wall with the team in this endeavour,” asserts the editor.
Concluding on a positive note, Kishor announces, “Today, with all our required resources, we are able to put our mark in the media sector and create our own brand in Goa. And we are proud and happy about that. This is Devbhoomi, land of the Gods. We have a rich cultural heritage, which we need to focus on while reaching out to a bigger audience. We want to make our channel the voice of each and every Goan.”
