NEW DELHI: After the general election coverage, it is the second season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) which is consuming most of the airtime on news channels. They have lined up an array of programming as the Twenty20 format has become popular among Indian audiences.
Says NDTV sports editor Sonali Chander said, “This year NDTV will cover IPL comprehensively. For both NDTV 24×7 and NDTV India, we have lined up four shows a day. We have lined up a number of contests, polls, etc. On the whole we have added more interactivity this year.”
Beginning at 8.30 am, NDTV 24×7 is showing The IPL Safari. The channel has tied-up with South African tourism and will cover the popular tourist spots of South Africa. Later at 2.30 pm, the channel is telecasting Opening Spell, which is a pre-match show. At 7.30 pm NDTV 24×7 is airing Lights, Camera, Sixer that will talk about the first match of the day as well as the upcoming match. And finally, at 12 midnight the channel will air League of the Champions, a post match show featuring Ajay Jadeja.
NDTV Group’s Hindi news channel, NDTV India will show the IPL marathon from 8.30 am with The IPL Safari followed by Kisme Kitna Hain Dum at 3.30pm. At 7.30 pm, its the time for Oye! It’s IPL and finally at 11.30 pm the channel will telecast Bindas Cricket. Furthermore, NDTV has tied up with the Shah Rukh Khan-owned Kolkata Knight Riders and will be introducing a contest for the team.
Meanwhile, Network18’s news channels CNN-IBN and IBN7 have introduced ‘Kaun Jeetega IPL‘ opinion poll on its website, www.cricketnext.com.
The poll will give an opportunity to cricket fans to vote for their favourite team and also predict the champion of the second season.
The result will be revealed on a show which goes by the same name, Kaun Jeetega IPL, which will feature former Indian pacer Javagal Srinath and Cyrus Broacha discussing team formations, strengths and weakness of players and share their key insights.
Furthermore, IBN18 Network has introduced a contest which will give five viewers a chance to meet Shah Rukh Khan and his team Kolkata Knight Riders. The contest will continue till 18 May on the network’s three chanels – CNN-IBN, IBN7 and IBN Lokmat.
In the contest, trivial questions will be asked about the team, players and Shah Rukh Khan, starting with Breakfast with India on CNN-IBN, Breakfast News on IBN7 and Salaam Maharashtra on IBN-Lokmat. And a daily winner will be announced everyday in the last bulletin of the day on all the channels. This will also be mentioned on cricketnext.com.
Times Now is once again introducing the second edition of Summer Slam which will provide the viewers with pre and post match details. The show is being telecast at 3.30 pm, 7.30 pm and at 11.30 pm.
The show will have panellists like actor Arbaaz Khan, cricket historian Boria Majumdar, Charu Sharma and Neha Sharma. In addition, the channel will cover the event ‘live‘ providing the viewers with live coverage.
Additionally, Times Now has tied up with Rajasthan Royals to provide exclusive details related to the team.
Says Times Now editor-in-chief Arnab Goswami, “Last year our showSummer Slam was one of the most viewed programme on IPL. In fact, as per ratings the show had overpowered Max as well as other channels. We are sure that even this year Summer Slam will gather enough eyeballs.”
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