ITV

Category: Television

  • NDTV India brings in new editorial trio to deepen ground reporting

    NDTV India brings in new editorial trio to deepen ground reporting

    MUMBAI: From Tiktok towns to tractor rallies NDTV India’s newsroom just got sharper, louder and closer to the ground. In a decisive move to recalibrate its editorial voice, NDTV India has announced the addition of three seasoned journalists Subhankar Mishra, Meenakshi Kandwal, and Malika Malhotra to its newsroom. The trio brings a dynamic mix of digital savvy, primetime polish, and fearless field reporting to a channel that’s realigning its compass to reflect Bharat’s heartbeat.

    Subhankar Mishra, with over 30 million followers across platforms, isn’t just a social media juggernaut, he’s one of Hindi journalism’s most recognisable digital-first reporters. Known for his consistent presence in Tier 2 and Tier 3 towns, Subhankar reports from regions often ignored by mainstream media, turning hyperlocal issues into national conversations.

    Meenakshi Kandwal brings more than a decade of anchoring and field reporting experience. From live disaster coverage to investigative field reports, her work is defined by a rare blend of composure and clarity. With a firm grip on the facts and a steady on-air presence, Kandwal is poised to add both credibility and calm to the NDTV India desk.

    Malika Malhotra is the long-hauler of the lot. Whether it was the months-long farmers’ protests at Singhu or the environmental crisis in Joshimath, she’s proven that journalism isn’t just about breaking the news but staying with it long after the headlines fade. Her brand of journalism is patient, persistent and painfully relevant.

    NDTV CEO and editor-in-chief Rahul Kanwal summed it up best saying, “Each of them brings something critical to the newsroom Subhankar’s digital-first strength, Meenakshi’s editorial steadiness, and Malika’s commitment to field reporting. They are not chasing headlines; they are building trust.”

    The appointments signal more than a staffing shuffle, it’s a deliberate editorial shift. NDTV India is increasingly aiming to serve what it calls the “changing India” with journalism rooted in credibility, consistency, and context, a rare breed in a time of manufactured noise.

    This move is part of a broader evolution at the network, as it sheds the soundbite syndrome and retools itself around deep reporting, trust-building and ground realities. From Twitter trends to tractor trails, NDTV India’s new trio looks ready to walk the talk.

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  • Kabaddi goes global with Rs 48 crore WSKL set for 2026 Dubai debut

    Kabaddi goes global with Rs 48 crore WSKL set for 2026 Dubai debut

    MUMBAI: From mud courts to the world stage Kabaddi is getting a passport stamp. SJ Uplift Kabaddi Pvt Ltd, the force behind the successful Uttar Pradesh Kabaddi League (UPKL), has announced the launch of the World Super Kabaddi League (WSKL), an international franchise-based kabaddi extravaganza set to kick off in February–March 2026 in Dubai.

    Touted as Kabaddi’s boldest global leap yet, WSKL has already received confirmations from 20 national federations, with 30 countries actively engaged in shaping the league. Backed by the International Kabaddi Federation and the South Asian Kabaddi Federation, WSKL aims to not only attract eyeballs across continents but also make a serious pitch for Olympic inclusion.

    The league’s format will feature eight franchise teams, with rosters mixing international stars and top Indian players. To match this global ambition, WSKL has committed a Rs 48 crore player purse in its debut season signalling both serious investment and serious intent.

    “With WSKL, the world becomes the playing field,” said SJ Uplift Kabaddi Pvt Ltd founder Sambhav Jain. “Our vision is Olympic-sized, we’re here not just to entertain, but to evolve the sport into a global property that thrives year-round, not just seasonally.”

    Unlike UPKL’s domestic focus under the rallying cry of Apna Bharat, Apna Khel, WSKL is all about building a borderless Kabaddi ecosystem. Participating countries already include South Korea, Iran, Japan, Thailand, Canada, Malaysia, Pakistan, and the United States, with more nations expected to come on board as the countdown begins.

    But WSKL isn’t just about the tournament weeks. It’s being positioned as a 12-month Kabaddi ecosystem, offering off-season fan engagement, long-term player development, and a pipeline of international talent. That’s a far cry from the one-off seasonal formats currently dominating the sport.

    Dubai, with its neutral ground and strategic accessibility, has been selected as the inaugural host city, a move aimed at attracting a global audience and spotlighting Kabaddi on an international scale.

    With the whistle blown for what promises to be a high-stakes power play for the sport’s future, WSKL is more than just a league, it’s a leap. And if all goes to plan, Kabaddi might just tackle its way into the Olympic fold.

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  • Gaurav Banerjee takes the hot seat at BARC India

    Gaurav Banerjee takes the hot seat at BARC India

    MUMBAI: Sony Pictures Networks India (SPNI) managing director & CEO, Gaurav Banerjee has been named chairman of the Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) India. He replaces Shashi Sinha, whose two-year reign saw BARC go on a digital diet-adding smarter meters and deeper dives into premium households.

    Banerjee, who cut his teeth as a journalist before climbing the content ladder at Star India and Disney+ Hotstar, is no stranger to the BARC ecosystem. In 2022, he sat on its technical committee during his stint with Disney Star-where he helped bulk up Hotstar’s Hindi and regional original slate, making viewers binge and advertisers grin.

    At SPNI, Banerjee now drives the company’s strategy and operations, while juggling board roles at MSM-Worldwide Factual Media and Bangla Entertainment. Known for his editorial flair and boardroom savvy, his elevation to the BARC chair signals a continued bet on execs who straddle both streaming and broadcast worlds.

    He takes charge just as the lines between TV and digital blur, and advertisers cry out for unified currency metrics. Expect Banerjee to double down on transparency, turbocharge tech upgrades and push into under-measured markets. With over 20 years in media, a master’s in filmmaking from Jamia, and a nose for what India wants to watch, he seems well-placed to script BARC’s next act.

    Industry watchers will be looking to see if Banerjee sticks to Sinha’s reformist script—or flips the channel entirely. Either way, the remote is now firmly in his hands.

  • Reise Moto shifts Supercross fandom into high gear with ISRL fan parks in Season 2

    Reise Moto shifts Supercross fandom into high gear with ISRL fan parks in Season 2

    MUMBAI: Racing in India is no longer just a blur of wheels and dust on television. It’s now a family affair, a weekend escape, and a full-throttle festival. As the Indian Supercross Racing League (ISRL) gears up for Season 2 between October and December 2025, it’s revving up not just the tracks, but the fanfare.

    ISRL has announced the launch of its high-octane ISRL Fan Parks, presented by Reise Moto, turning race weekends into full-fledged motorsport carnivals across host cities. These fan-first zones are slated to open two days before each Sunday race, and will feature everything from pit-lane access to AR gaming zones, merging adrenaline with accessibility.

    Reise Moto, already an associate sponsor of ISRL, takes pole position as presenting partner for the fan parks. “At Reise Moto, being a community-first performance brand, fostering motorsports ecosystem with globally acclaimed products for budding and pro racers. Our association with ISRL is rooted in shared values – performance, passion, and innovation”, said Reise Moto MD Yogesh Mahansaria.

    The fan parks promise racing tutorials, tech workshops, pit crew demos, and even electric bike zones for children. Over 5,000 families are expected to attend each weekend, making it India’s first true motorsport family experience. Adding more punch are live music gigs, cultural acts, food trucks, and VIP lounges. Think Grand Prix meets Glastonbury.

    ISRL co-founder Eeshan Lokhande emphasised that this is more than just fanfare. “ISRL isn’t just about racing it’s about building a new era of motorsport culture in India. Through the Fan Park, we’re inviting fans to go behind the scenes, meet the athletes, watch pit crews in action, and experience the sheer energy of Supercross up close”, he said.

    The parks will roll into each of ISRL’s race cities from October, with highlights including VR racing games, DIY bike zones, kids’ mini tracks, and rider meet-and-greets. It’s motorsport reimagined for the masses, aimed at bringing both seasoned petrolheads and newcomers under one turbo-charged tent.

    The league, run by Team Supercross India (SXI), founded by former racers Veer Patel and Lokhande, is fast gaining traction. Reise Moto too has revved up its presence in Indian biking circuits—offering Dakar-spec tyres, a European gear lineup, and 3,000+ dealers nationwide.

    From its Gujarat factory to the pit lanes of India’s biggest race weekends, Reise Moto seems intent on steering Indian motorsport fandom into a new lane—faster, louder, and a whole lot more inclusive.

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  • APOS 2025: How JioStar turns sports into co-creation, not just consumption

    APOS 2025: How JioStar turns sports into co-creation, not just consumption

    BALI:  JioStar is no longer content with just broadcasting sport—it’s rewriting the production storybook altogether. Speaking at APOS 2025 in Bali, JioStar head of sports production services & technology Prashant Khanna laid out a bold vision: India as the epicentre of global sports innovation.

    “We don’t just see ourselves as broadcasters or production partners,” Khanna said during a high-energy fireside chat. “We’re in the business of helping India create iconic sporting memories.”

    Khanna spotlighted JioStar’s end-to-end reimagining of the sports viewing experience—infused with tech, empathy, and staggering interactivity. Think sign-language feeds, descriptive audio for the visually impaired, vertical videos, motion-capture-powered kids’ streams, and multi-cam toggles.

    “The modern fan doesn’t want to just watch—they want to co-create,” Khanna stressed. “Millions are producing their own version of the game in real time. That’s the expectation.”

    A major catalyst behind this transformation? Starlab, JioStar’s in-house innovation unit that’s quietly building a cloud-native production stack in collaboration with AWS, creators, and start-ups. The result: hyper-personalised, scalable, and immersive experiences beamed across devices in formats fans choose.

    Khanna also highlighted JioStar’s deep investment in talent pipelines through its partnership with the Indian Institute of Creative Technologies—a government-led effort to skill the next generation in sports and live production.

    “It’s not just about what audiences see today. It’s about who shapes that experience tomorrow,” he said.
    Citing the recently concluded 18th season of the IPL as a “turning point,” Khanna revealed the company’s key takeaway: audiences don’t want passive content anymore.

    ““It’s been an eye-opener every single time, but this year, our biggest learning was how deeply involved the consumer is. They no longer want to passively consume what you’re serving them—they want to be part of shaping how the game unfolds over those 4–5 hours.”

    “We saw this play out every day for 2.5 months, through a variety of formats and platforms. Whether it was widescreen or vertical video, Sunday cohort feeds, or kids’ IPs brought to life through motion capture, the engagement was constant. It reinforced that delivering the game in a way fans understand and love is no longer optional-it’s essential,” he said.

    With India firmly on the front foot, JioStar’s playbook proves one thing: the future of sport is no longer just played. It’s produced, personalised, and powered by fans.

  • Juventus ditches straight stripes in a fashion-forward kit by adidas

    Juventus ditches straight stripes in a fashion-forward kit by adidas

    MUMBAI: Juventus is blurring the lines between sport and style this season—literally. The Italian giants have unveiled their new 2025/26 home kit in collaboration with adidas, and it’s anything but traditional.

    The famed black-and-white stripes have undergone a fashion makeover. Instead of clean, uniform lines, the new design features offset and varying stripe widths—an edgy nod to Italian high fashion and a bold throwback to the club’s original colours from 1897, splashed across the adidas logo, club crest, and the signature three stripes.

    The jersey isn’t just eye candy—it’s engineered for performance. The player edition features adidas’ cutting-edge Heat.rdy tech to keep stars cool under pressure, while fans get their hands on the sweat-wicking Aerorady version for everyday wear. Completing the retro-modern look is the Teamgeist collar, last seen on international kits during the 2006 World Cup.

    adidas senior design director, Juergen Rank said, “We’re proud to introduce something a little different this season while still staying true to the club’s iconic DNA. When you think of Italy, two things come to mind – football and fashion. We wanted to take a typically characteristic Italian design theme and reimagine it in a modern and innovative way to merge the best of fashion with the best of football performance. We also wanted to give fans of the club a hit of nostalgia, which we’ve achieved through the pink detailing seen on the club crest and adidas logo.”

    Equal parts nostalgia and next-gen flair, Juventus’ new home kit ensures the Old Lady remains one of the sharpest-dressed sides in Europe.
     

  • Travelxp turns up the HD heat in Hungary with Magyar Telekom

    Travelxp turns up the HD heat in Hungary with Magyar Telekom

    MUMBAI: Travelxp is cranking up the wanderlust dial in Hungary, now streaming in high-definition glory on Magyar Telekom. The premium travel and lifestyle network has launched Travelxp HD on the platform, complementing its existing 4K channel and giving Magyar Telekom’s 1.4 million TV subscribers another slick reason to stay glued to their screens.

    Located at channel position 85 on select packages, Travelxp HD brings a fresh burst of armchair escapism to Hungarian homes — from sun-kissed beaches and food trails to adrenaline-pumping adventures and offbeat destinations. All of it comes with the added ease of being fully dubbed in Hungarian, making it even more bingeable for local audiences.

    “Strengthening our partnership with Magyar Telekom, one of Hungary’s most respected  broadcast platforms, is a major milestone for Travelxp in Eastern Europe,” said Travelxp managing director, Europe & Africa, Sumant Bahl. “Hungarian audiences have  shown great enthusiasm for high-quality travel programming, and we’re excited to meet  that demand with immersive, fully localised content.”

    With over 1,000 hours of Hungarian-dubbed programming, Travelxp now reaches over 118 countries in more than 25 languages. The HD and 4K channels operate on distinct feeds, ensuring viewers get a curated buffet of globe-trotting stories in both formats.

    For Magyar Telekom, it’s another feather in the cap — the telco now beams over 160 channels (50+ in HD) and covers more than 33 per cent of Hungarian households, making it a natural partner for Travelxp’s growing European ambitions.

    From Budapest to Borneo, the world just got a little closer — and a whole lot crisper.

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  • Boria Majumdar joins NDTV as Consulting Editor for sports coverage

    Boria Majumdar joins NDTV as Consulting Editor for sports coverage

    MUMBAI:  Not just cricket scores or Olympic medals but what they say about a nation. That’s the lens Boria Majumdar is bringing to NDTV as he joins as consulting editor in a move that promises to reshape Indian sports journalism as we know it. A Rhodes Scholar, bestselling author, founder of Revsportz, and one of the country’s most respected sports voices, Boria isn’t just reporting the play he’s reading between the lines. From ghostwriting Playing It My Way with Sachin Tendulkar to tracking the Olympic journey of India’s rising stars, his résumé reads like a masterclass in access, authority, and storytelling.

    “This is a new NDTV,” says Boria. “And I’ve been building a new kind of Indian sports media narrative, one that goes beyond hero worship and highlights Olympic, Paralympic, and grassroots stories with equal rigour. It’s bold, and it’s overdue.”

    With India staring at a packed global sporting calendar from the 2026 T20 World Cup and FIFA World Cup to the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics and a possible bid for the 2036 Games NDTV’s new editorial strategy aims to deliver conversations that are not just entertaining, but essential.

    “Sport isn’t entertainment. It’s identity. It’s diplomacy. It’s where a nation stands when the anthem plays,” Boria explains. “We’re here to ask better questions. Infrastructure. Funding. Gender equity. Athlete mental health. These are not side notes, they’re the main story.”

    At NDTV, Boria will bring his signature depth, big-name interviews, and sharp commentary to a wider canvas. From Nagpada boxing rings to the chess boards of Chennai, from corporate corridors to kabaddi mat sidelines, expect every angle covered.

    NDTV  Editor-in-Chief Rahul Kanwal CEO says, “Boria is the most high-impact sports journalist in the country. His knowledge is unmatched, and his vision aligns perfectly with NDTV’s intent to make sports journalism deeper, more insightful, and genuinely nation-shaping.”

    With this move, NDTV signals a shift from highlight reels to headline reforms. The spotlight is no longer just on the athlete, but on the system that shapes them. Because sport was never the side story. It was always the soul of it.

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  • APOS 2025: Banijay Asia and its grow-grow urge

    APOS 2025: Banijay Asia and its grow-grow urge

    BALI: Banijay Asia, the formidable content producer, is strategically expanding its reach into Southeast Asia, with a sharp focus on Indonesia and a ground breaking reality series that will propel contestants into space, according to a report in Variety. Group chief executive Deepak Dhar, speaking at the APOS conference, revealed the company has “already locked a couple of deals in Jakarta” for both scripted and unscripted ventures.

    This expansion includes an enhanced version of Banijay Asia’s previously announced cross-border reality show, which initially sought one Indian participant but will now search for “one Indian and finding one Indonesian who we can send to space in a Blue Origin rocket.”

    The move comes as Banijay Asia continues to scale its substantial operations in India, a market with a “voracious content appetite,” according to Dhar. He noted the company produces “800 days of Big Boss [the local version of Celebrity Big Brother] in our calendar year of 365 days,” highlighting the sheer volume of content generated.

    “The timing is right for us personally, because we’re happy in the position that we are at in India, and now we can focus our bandwidth into the rest of the region,” Dhar explained. “We are really doubling down on Indonesia and then subsequently in Thailand.”

    Banijay Asia has built a strong reputation for successfully localising international formats while also developing successful Indian originals. Its  adaptation of The Night Manager for the erstwhile Disney+ Hotstar garnered massive viewership, with a second season currently in production. The company also recently rebooted the long-running crime procedural CID, which delivered “massive strong results on Sony television” before its subsequent windowing to Netflix.

    Dhar articulated the company’s broader regional ambition: “It’s really time that an Indian story catches the fancy and attention of global audiences as well. So that’s really something that we’re excited and working towards.”

  • Newsroom shake-up as Anil Uniyal exits NDTV after two eventful years

    Newsroom shake-up as Anil Uniyal exits NDTV after two eventful years

    MUMBAI: After steering the ship through a crucial phase, Anil Uniyal has stepped down as chief operating Officer of NDTV, wrapping up a two-year tenure that saw him deeply involved in shaping the channel’s post-acquisition identity and relaunching NDTV Profit. Uniyal’s resignation, as reported by multiple media outlets, closes another chapter in a career that’s been synonymous with leadership in Indian business newsrooms from Network18 to Quint and now NDTV. His departure adds another twist to NDTV’s evolving story under the Adani Media Group umbrella.

    During his stint at NDTV, Uniyal was known to have worked closely with Sanjay Pugalia and played a key role in stabilising the broadcaster’s business operations. He also had a hand in reviving NDTV Profit, the business news channel that absorbed operations from the now-defunct BloombergQuint.

    Speaking to Indian Television Dot Com Uniyal said he is yet to decide his next move on the professional front.

    Before joining NDTV in 2022, Uniyal served as CEO at Bloombergquint, where he helped position the venture as a significant digital destination for financial and business news. That journey began in 2016, after Bloomberg’s tie-up with Quintillion Media, and culminated in the platform’s eventual acquisition and integration into the NDTV family.

    His earlier stint at Network18 between 2011 and 2016 was equally prolific, where he held leadership roles across CNBC-TV18, CNBC Awaaz, CNBC Bajar, and Forbes India. As COO, he was instrumental in driving the group’s business news portfolio forward.

    While Uniyal’s next move remains under wraps, industry watchers are keenly eyeing where he lands next. One thing is certain: wherever he goes, he’s sure to bring newsroom know-how and sharp operational chops with him.