Once again, TV channels cut live to a Mukesh Ambani presser

Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani addressed the press today to announce that his telecom venture, Jio, had crossed the customer base of 100 million. Ambani also announced a slew of new offers on Jio. Usually, an Ambani presser has had TV channels relaying the entire event live, without the useful intervention of a reporter on ground.

Last time, when he addressed the media on December 1, 2016, TV channels like NDTV, Times Now, India Today, Aaj Tak, India TV, News X and, of course, CNN–News18, showed it live. Indeed Ambani is the only industry captain that enjoys this sort of attention from the television media every time he addresses the press. This time, however, while most channels showed some clippings of the press conference, only Network 18 channels, like CNN-News18 and News18 India, showed the entire speech. Of course, without the disclaimer that the channels are owned by Reliance Industries. Notably, Times Now did not show the press conference at all, while NDTV and India Today showed portions of it before moving on to other news.