Summer Internship at Times TV Network – Himani Kothari from IIM Indore
Himani Kothari, an MBA student at IIM Indore, interned at Times TV Network (TTN) this summer, and shares how enthralling it was to be a part of this awesome group. Read on to explore more about her exciting internship.
A life changing experience is exactly what my internship at Times Television Network (TTN) is for me. An internship has various dimensions to it. The general perception that people have of a summer internship that an MBA student does, is that the work given is either just working on an excel sheet, or it could be only collecting primary data or analyzing reports and so on. Fortunately, my work was a combination of all of these things and much more.
Since I have had no prior experience in the media industry, landing an internship at TTN, which is one of the leaders in the Indian TV industry, was a pleasant surprise for me. My sole expectation from two months of my internship was to learn things which can never be taught in a classroom, and here I was at a place where I had the greatest opportunity to learn things, I never knew. The place was right. The channels that come under TTN are zoOm , ET Now, Times Now and Romedy Now.
The period of my internship coincided with the Lok Sabha elections 2014. What better time to work in a media house than the election period, especially when it was the historic elections of 2014. So, the time was right too.
I worked for the social content management and TV strategy team of TTN. For a person like me , who’s always inquisitive and willing to learn, it helps to have people around you who are ready to answer your queries and happy to teach. My mentor and all the colleagues at TTN were so helpful that never did I feel like a new recruit. Every day was a learning experience with a plethora of things to learn every minute. So, the people there were right.
The above mentioned aspects made my internship a perfect experience. At TTN not only was I involved in making reports, number crunching, analyzing data but also creating creative online ad campaigns, working on SEO, analyzing consumption patterns of viewers on TV and on online platforms. Such jobs require you to not only think analytically but also out of the box. This made my work really interesting.
One of the highlights during my internship period was the counting day (and of course the days prior to it) after the votes for the Lok Sabha elections were cast. There were so many things going on in the office. Everyone just wanted to do their best to win this race which had started among all the news channels. Every second, every minute was so important. A 360 degree promotion strategy was implemented to increase reach. Apart from live results with Mr Arnab Goswami being telecasted on TimesNow, there was livestreaming on YouTube, regular updates on twitter and facebook . The whole feeling of being even a small part of it was enthralling. Team work did pay off and Times Now emerged as the English news channel with the highest TRP on the counting day. Such experiences helped me get insights into various dimensions of marketing and strategy.
Within a short tenure of two months I worked on bollywood content, daily soaps, business news, and digital platforms. I remember looking forward to go to work every day and completing every task at work with great zeal and interest. I never took any task as a job that has to be somehow completed. I made sure that I always bring something new to the table and get the best results. My mentors always appreciated this quality and encouraged to do better every time.
If Himani’s experience motivates you, you can view the latest internships.
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