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AMERICA UNDER ATTACK: THE BBC EXPERIENCE

Published

24 years ago

September 12, 2001

BBC News 24 and BBC World began rolling live coverage of the terrorist attacks just before 2 pm yesterday, shortly after the first plane crashed into the World Trade Centre in New York.

By 2.10 pm BBC1 had switched from its usual afternoon schedule to simulcast News 24’s output.

Said Richard Sambrook, Director of BBC News On the US disaster: “I doubt many of us have ever been confronted with a story of such magnitude. Despite the shock and horror we all felt, I was proud of the superb response from our teams who worked round the clock to provide audiences with measured and authoritative coverage.”

“This is the largest extended live news coverage we’ve had on BBC1 since Princess Diana’s death,” BBC head of TV news, Roger Mosey, said. “I can’t think of anything on this scale in the past 10 or 15 years. One of the Ten O’Clock News editors said that our lives won’t be the same every again after this. At a banal level it’s a massive, massive news story.”

BBC World has been broadcasting live continuously since news first broke yesterday afternoon (just before 1400 BST)..

BBC reporter Stephen Evans, was at the centre of the deadly attack. Evans, the BBC’s business and economics correspondent in north America, was sitting in the foyer of the World Trade Centre as the two aeroplanes crashed into the twin towers in the worst terrorist attack ever.

“I was on the ground floor of the building sitting in a chair waiting for somebody to turn up as you do. There was huge bang. There was a huge bang.”

“It felt to me like somebody dropped a skip full of rubbish, a great container full of rubbish from a great height in the yard which separates the two huge towers which are the World Trade Centre.

“The building physically shook. It’s one of those where you think, well something’s happened on a building site. That’s the way it is. But seconds later, there were two or three similar huge explosions and the building literally shook. You literally shook at the base of this building. At which point, people came – I nearly said screaming, but they weren’t screaming – it was a mild panic. People simply saying, ‘get out of here, get out of here.’ People streaming to the other side of the building. At which point smoke appeared everywhere as if a mist had suddenly settled on the building. We all streamed out, some people running, some people crying, nobody really screaming. We crossed the road and you look up and you can see the top of one of the towers, smoke billowing out from it, the odd flame coming out of the top of these towers – pretty well the highest buildings in the world.

Everybody then got calm, simply looked up and the authorities moved them further and further away. About, I would guess – time is very difficult to judge in these circumstances – but I would guess five minutes later there was another explosion half way down the second tower and that then looked rent, almost as though a child had knocked into a toy, something like that.

And again, smoke started billowing out of that second building. I don’t know what the cause was. Everybody I think initially assumed it was a bomb, but then people kept coming past me saying “No. No. it was a jet, it was a jet”.

Whether it was one or two I simply don’t know. I’m now in a hotel about 100 yards from the building. Buildings in this area are being evacuated. People are streaming away. No one is saying very much, actually, because they are shocked as you would expect them to be. People simply don’t quite comprehend what’s happening. You can hear the shaking in people’s voices as they say, “what’s going on? What’s gone on? I don’t know.” And people are nodding at me now as I say that.

The cause, I can’t illuminate. All I can tell you, is it was a very frightening experience, but people by and large reacted very well to it.”

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Sun TV posts steady revenue, profit dips amid rising costs

Published

4 weeks ago

February 7, 2026

indiantelevision.com Team

CHENNAI: It appears there is still plenty of Sun to go around in the Indian broadcasting landscape, even if a few clouds have drifted across the financial horizon. Sun TV Network Limited, the Chennai-based behemoth that dominates airwaves across seven languages, has tuned into a steady frequency for the quarter ending 31 December 2025. While the numbers show a resilient revenue stream, the company’s latest broadcast reveals a few static-filled spots in its profit margins.

For the quarter in question, Sun TV’s total income climbed by approximately 3.31 per cent, reaching Rs 958.39 crores compared to Rs 927.66 crores in the same period last year. Revenue from operations also saw a healthy bump, rising 4.32 per cent to Rs 827.87 crores.

The real star of the show, however, was domestic subscription revenue, which surged by 8.86 per cent to Rs 472.99 crores. This growth highlights the enduring appetite for Sun’s diverse content, which spans everything from daily soaps in Tamil and Telugu to its burgeoning OTT platform, Sun NXT.

Despite the revenue growth, the picture quality of the profits was slightly blurred by rising costs. Eitda for the quarter stood at Rs 409.79 crores, a dip from the Rs 432.14 crores recorded in the corresponding 2024 quarter.

The profit after tax followed a similar downward trend, settling at Rs 316.44 crores against the previous year’s Rs 347.17 crores. Advertisers also seemed to have switched channels slightly, with advertisement revenues sliding to Rs 291.94 crores from Rs 332.17 crores.

Sun TV isn’t just playing on home turf; its sporting ambitions are becoming increasingly global. The network now owns three major cricket franchises: SunRisers Hyderabad in the IPL, SunRisers Eastern Cape in SA20, and SunRisers Leeds Limited in The Hundred (UK).

The foray into British cricket saw the company acquire a 100 per cent stake in Northern Superchargers Limited (now SunRisers Leeds) for approximately £100 million. While these franchises brought in Rs 14.61 crores this quarter, they also incurred corresponding costs of Rs 19.89 crores. Over the nine-month period, however, the cricket business is a major player, contributing Rs 487.64 crores in income.

The company’s bottom line took a minor hit from exceptional items, including a Rs 4.23 crore charge related to India’s new Labour Codes, which consolidated 29 existing labour laws. Additionally, the consolidated results reflect the amalgamation of Kal Radio Limited with Udaya FM, a move that became effective in May 2025 and required a restatement of previous figures.

To keep investors from reaching for the remote, the Board has declared an interim dividend of 50 per cent, that’s Rs 2.50 per equity share. This comes on top of earlier dividends of 100 per cent (Rs 5.00) and 75 per cent (Rs 3.75) declared in August and November 2025, respectively.

With a massive cash reserve and a dominant position in the South Indian market, Sun TV continues to shine, even if the current quarter required a bit of fine-tuning. For now, shareholders can sit back, relax, and enjoy the show.

GECs

SPNI hires Pradeep M with responsibility for standards and practices in the south

Published

4 weeks ago

February 3, 2026

indiantelevision.com Team

MUMBAI: Sony Pictures Networks India has hired Pradeep M to handle standards and practices for its southern market, bolstering its compliance bench as content rules tighten across platforms.

Pradeep, who has nearly 13 years in the entertainment media industry, takes on responsibility for content standards in a region that is both linguistically diverse and regulatorily sensitive. His brief spans television, OTT, sports and digital platforms.

He specialises in content review and compliance across shows, commercials, on-air promotions and international feeds, ensuring alignment with broadcast, OTT and advertising codes. He has also handled brand approvals and sponsorship integrations for heavily regulated categories—including online gaming, cryptocurrency, NFTs and lottery brands—offering guidance shaped by fast-evolving rules.

Before Sony, Pradeep worked at Jiostar as assistant manager for content regulation from November 2024 to January 2026. Earlier, he spent nearly seven years at Viacom18 Media, rising from senior executive to assistant manager in content regulation between 2018 and 2024. There he served as a key compliance touchpoint for the network.

His career began on the creative side. Between 2013 and 2018, he worked as executive producer on feature films and television shows, gaining hands-on exposure to production. He also had a stint as a non-fiction show director at Star TV Network in 2017. That mix of creative and regulatory experience gives him a dual lens—how content is made and how it must be managed.

As regulators, platforms and advertisers all tighten the screws, broadcasters are investing more in gatekeepers who can keep creativity within the lines. Sony’s latest hire shows where the industry is heading: in the streaming age, compliance is content’s quiet co-star.

GECs

Colors Gujarati rolls out two new shows from 2nd February

Published

1 month ago

February 2, 2026

indiantelevision.com Team

MUMBAI: Colors Gujarati has unveiled two new prime-time shows as part of its push to strengthen culturally rooted storytelling for regional audiences. The channel will premiere the devotional saga Gangasati–Paanbai at 7.30 pm, followed by the romantic family drama Manmelo at 9.30 pm from February 2.

Inspired by Gujarat’s spiritual and literary heritage, Gangasati–Paanbai: Shyam Dhun No Navo Adhyay draws from the timeless bhajans and poetry of saint-poetesses Gangasati and Paanbai, weaving devotion and human values into a contemporary narrative aimed at younger viewers.

In contrast, Manmelo explores love and responsibility across social divides, tracing the lives of three middle-class sisters whose relationships with three affluent brothers reshape their futures. The show delves into ambition, emotional conflict and the realities of married life, offering a layered family drama.

A Colors Gujarati spokesperson said the new launches reflect the channel’s commitment to authentic Gujarati entertainment that blends cultural values with modern storytelling.