An extremely talented and creative mind, Kartikeya Sharma is the man behind India’s most popular media group that goes by the name of iTV Network. The media group has been around for more than a decade, and ever since it was founded, it has only been going up in terms of success and popularity. Everyone in India is aware today about iTV. So let’s get to know the man who made it all happen: Mr. Kartikeya Sharma. Graduating with a master’s degree from one of the best universities in England, Oxford University, he has accomplished a lot at a very young age. Apart from having multiple media businesses to his name, he has also immersed himself in sports by establishing an international platform for athletes in India.

BACKGROUND OF iTV

Founded in 2007, iTV Media Network is a news company under which many publications and TV channels operate. The network’s first channel was launched in 2007, a 24-hour Hindi news channel that goes by the name of India News. Later on, realizing a gap in the market for English news channels in India, Sharma launched NewsX in 2012, another 24-hour channel. Though this step was met with scepticism in the industry, NewX has emerged as the only English news channel in India to have won a plethora of international awards.

Sharma did not just stop at new channels. He made sure that the name of iTV Network spread across the country through multiple platforms, including newspapers. In 2007, when the Hindi news channel was established, a Hindi newspaper, Aaj Samaaj, was also introduced. Later, in 2010, an English-language weekly, The Sunday Guardian, was brought out.

To sum up the business enterprises under the umbrella of iTV Network, it owns two online portals, two newspapers, five regional news channels and three national news channels. Apart from serving India with the most authentic and relevant news, iTV Network is also responsible for giving jobs to more than 2,000 people in its offices spread across the country.

All this happened in a very short period of time, and it was only possible because of the diligence and determination that Kartikeya Sharma possessed. He did not let anything come in his way.

ESTABLISHMENT OF PRO WRESTLING LEAGUE

Kartikeya Sharma has always been a man who has solutions for any problem that confronts him. In 2015, he realized that athletes and sportspersons in India did not have a platform that got them international recognition. That was when he came up with ProSportify so that Indian athletes could continue to pursue their dreams and become globally known.

Kartikeya Sharma’s ProSportify, in collaboration with the Wrestling Federation of India, introduced the Pro Wrestling League (PWL). The tournament is comprised of six teams in total, each with four women and five men. When comparing structures, the Pro Wrestling League is similar to that of the Indian Premier League, the renowned cricketing event. Even though wrestling does not receive the same attention as cricket does in India, the Pro Wrestling League managed to host two very successful seasons, helping gain recognition for the sport in India.

INNOVATIVE TECHNOLOGIES

iTV Network is not only responsible for providing news to the people of India. They have also come up with multiple innovations under the leadership of Kartikeya Sharma. The most recent innovation is the Studio Voice Assistant (SVA), the first AI-integrated voice assistant for a news studio. It is called NewsX AI. iTV Network aims to use this sophisticated technology for the coverage of special events such as the 2019 Budget and the General Elections of 2019. The purpose of this technology is to present live data and facts during an ongoing broadcast. At the launch of NewsX AI, Sharma expressed how committed they are to serving their customers, partners and viewers in order to give them a futuristic experience of watching the news. They believe that the AI Voice Assistant is definitely a huge leap ahead, and is possibly the future of newscasting.

This is just another of the many examples of how Sharma’s undying efforts to raise the quality standards of journalism have been successful. His efforts have led to iTV Network emerging as one of the best companies in India.

But Kartikeya Sharma’s efforts and ambitions don’t end here. He has long-term plans to diversify the news network, especially in terms of integrating news with social media. His focus is on the youth of India, and he employs a team of young journalists and editors set to take iTV Network even further ahead.