Headlines Today, India's first indigenous English news channel, unveiled its strategy and plans today. Launched by TV Today Network on April 7, 2003, Headlines Today is uplinked from the country and is free-to-air. Headlines Today aims to capture 30-40 per cent of the English news market and has created an interesting rate card, which, according to a prepared note by the company, will ensure high cost efficiency to the advertisers.

Speaking on the prospects of Headlines Today, G Krishnan, CEO, TV Today Network, said, "Our news channel offers quality programming to its viewers, and would certainly be accepted by them. Any other channel that comes into existence will have to create a niche for itself. This is possible only if the channel understands the pulse of the target audience and plan accordingly."

The distribution team at Headlines Today is working aggressively to ensure that the channel is available across the length and breadth of the country. The channel is already available in most English-speaking households in the metros and in southern states.

TV Today Network has put into effect an aggressive marketing strategy for Headlines Today. The channel has been advertised across all major publications, as well as on sibling Aaj Tak. TV Today Network has been carrying 20-minute previews of Headlines Today on Aaj Tak since March 31 and this will continue till the month end. It also ran an SMS contest on the launch, which supposedly generated more than 1.3 million responses in four days.

TV Today Network has made substantial investments on technology that would enable the channel to capture news from across the country, say company sources.