My rant about NDTV

I have been watching NDTV for a few months now, and I have formed some opinions about it. First off, it is, hands down, the most glamorous news channel of India (I haven’t seen Aaj Tak or DD to make comparisons). Having watched it for about three months now, the initial excitement has worn off, and I am beginning to see why. Because it is a total rip off of all the successful foreign shows! Firstly, there is the satire gap filler featuring the muppet Prem Tarneja, Double Take. That is a straight life from a German satire show, only less funny. Then there is the show, Walk the Talk. Hello, Simpson’s World! Unfortunately, the anchor Shekhar Gupta get tongue tied very easily, and starts stammering.
And then there is the talk show, featuring Barkha Dutt, We, the people. That can be any talk show in the US, or more specifically, Oprah. Unfortunately, Barkha is no Oprah.
Where NDTV shines, are the political specials that it does, like the election coverage and now, the budget coverage, which are second ot none on the Indian scene. Messers Pranoy Roy and Rajdeep Sardesai manage to bring a virtual who’s who of political and corporate world into their studios and ask them the right questions. There daily coverage of news is pretty ok, and the foreign news coverage completely sucks. Also, the company of Roy, Sardesai and Dutt present a buddy-buddy relationship with the guests.
Another rant about them is that they are too opinionated themselves to actually ask pointed questions. Notice Barkha on We, the people. Half the opinions/comments/observations presented on the show are usually hers. And she struggles to lead conversations in a particular direction. Covering news may be her forte, but presenting talk shows is not.
And why does Rajdeep have to talk in such a high tone? It always seems like he is shouting, even inside a studio.
The general thrust of the channel is clearly centrist with a slight tilt to left. And they do manage to remain neutral, in spite of all the opinions that they dole out!
Note: Is Vikram Chandra being sidelined in the organization?