Media buzz has it that TV18, once a hot production house, has been forced to lay off some 60 of its staff.The company's chief Raghav Behl denies the numbers while he confirms retrenching 25 people. "If 25-30 people are asked to leave a 350-strong company, it can't be seen as a sign of any major trouble," he says. According to Behl, the move is part of a larger "restructuring" precipitated by the worldwide merger of NBC and Dow Jones - a 50 per cent promoter of ABN. TV 18 had a joint venture with ABN for the ABNi channel, which will cease to exist from February 2. Its place will be taken by a new channel, CNBC-Asia Business News. This has meant a cutdown in programming for TV18. Now it will do only two shows for the new channel - India Talks and India Business Day. .preferred-source-banner{ margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom:10px;}"The people who have been asked to go would have become redundant," says Behl. "But our health couldn't be better." The silver lining is that TV18 will be the sole franchisee for the new channel in India.Published By: AtMigration Published On: Feb 9, 1998--- ENDS ---
