Mumbai: Avinash Pandey has been re-elected the president of the News Broadcasters & Digital Association (NBDA). Mathrubhumi Printing & Publishing Co. Ltd., managing director M.V. Shreyams Kumar has been re-elected as vice president. News24 Broadcast India Ltd. chairperson-cum-managing director Anuradha Prasad Shukla will continue to be the honorary treasurer of the NBDA for the year 2023-2024.
The other members on the NBDA Board are : –
Rajat Sharma, Chairman – Independent News Services Pvt. Ltd.
M.K. Anand, Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer – Times Network – Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd
Rahul Joshi, Managing Director – TV18 Broadcast Ltd.
I. Venkat, Director – Eenadu Television Pvt. Ltd.
Kalli Purie Bhandal, Vice-Chairperson & Managing Director – TV Today Network Ltd.
Sonia Singh, Editorial Director, NDTV – New Delhi Television Ltd.
Anil Kumar Malhotra, Advisor, Zee Media Corporation Ltd.
Mumbai: ABP Network CEO Avinash Pandey has been honoured with the ‘Media Person of the Year Award’ by the IAA Leadership Awards in Mumbai for his outstanding leadership and commitment to excellence in marketing, advertising and media.
Pandey is a strong advocate for responsible journalism and has been instrumental in setting high standards for the news industry in India.
Commenting on this recognition, Pandey said, “Running a media business is no less complex and challenging than any other large business. We are lucky to see tectonic shifts in technology and media consumption habits. With the change in the way media is consumed, we are on our toes all the time, not to race for the ratings but to serve our audiences in a way that makes this country much better than what we inherited. It is a great honour for me to be recognised as the Media Person of the Year by the IAA. This award is a recognition for the ABP Network team that I am proud of.”
He is presently serving as the vice president of the News Broadcasters & Digital Association (NBDA). He has also been a member of several committees, including the media & entertainment committee of FICCI, and handles the chairmanship of the national council on entertainment and media-Assocham.
Having served the ABP Group since 2005 in various roles, Pandey donned the mantle of CEO of ABP Network in January 2019. He steered the transformation of the channel from Star News to ABP News in 2012, along with the rebranding and repositioning in 2020. Additionally, he has led the charge in advancing the Indian regional languages, particularly on digital platforms.
With over 26 years of experience in the media industry, he is a true specialist who has made immense contributions in people’s perception of news as his body of work was synonymous to ethical journalism. His path breaking innovations in the media broadcasting domain has provided top notch content that received overwhelming response from the audiences and industry experts alike.
Mumbai: ABP Network has entered into a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Indore to focus on analysing and recommending policy-level interventions combating fake news ecosystems.
The agreement aims for both parties to collectively investigate the social-psychological underpinnings of fake news and design preventative mechanisms to address this issue.
Both parties will work towards the development of an informed and open society through a mutual academic-practice collaboration framework.
ABP Network and IIM Indore will cooperate and collaborate to carry out joint research for developing tools & processes needed for creating an informed society & open society. They will further develop awareness models on digital literacy for the citizens of India. There will also be a provision for short-term training/research opportunities for personnel of ABP Network and IIM Indore. Further, both the parties will also hold joint seminars of mutual interest.
“With this collaboration, we look forward to a constructive professional relationship with IIM Indore in the years to come,” said ABP Network CEO Avinash Pandey. “ABP Network has always stayed true to its commitment to increasing the scope of an informed and open society. By entering into this agreement, we aim to develop preventive strategies to address the challenges of fake news, its genesis & impact, and develop awareness modules for the general public. We are confident that this partnership will play a pivotal role in the research and development of the dynamic media space and will allow an exchange of a plethora of ideas and strategies.”
“We are delighted that IIM Indore and ABP Network are signing a MOU. Social consciousness is at the fore in the mission statement of IIM Indore,” said IIM Indore director professor Himanshu Rai. “Through this agreement, we can lay the foundation for building a conscious nation by combining the ground reach of the ABP Network and the intellectual excellence of IIM Indore. This will be done primarily by trying to solve the problem of fake news. According to us, the effect of fake news is not only on individual sensitivity but can also affect social unity and national security. Our journey starts here.”
Mumbai: The ABP Group has launched a campaign celebrating its 100-year journey in the Indian media space on Thursday. The network unveiled its centenary logo designed by renowned creative director and writer Agnello Dias and as well as a film. “Both the logo and the film are a reiteration of the foundational ideas of ABP, its core beliefs that have stood the test of time for a century now,” said the statement.
“ABP Group’s centenary logo represented by the question mark emanates from the fact that curiosity makes everything in life interesting,” said ABP network pvt ltd’s ceo Dhruba Mukherjee.
“While many forces illuminate ABP’s influence, an unflinching sense of curiosity permeates all the rest. As a result, more than being the sixth sense, this is probably the first for us – an inquisitive gene that drives the primal human need to know more. We believe this iconic logo will best represent our brand identity across media, across different decades, and geographies. With that trust, we chose our centenary year for this excellent occasion to express and capture it once and for all,” he added.
ABP Network’s ceo Avinash Pandey said, “100 years of curiosity is what built the ABP Group and through the course of that century we have always aspired to help shape thinking through insightful and credible content.”
“Since inception the name ABP has stood for content that is relevant and unbiased. As we step into the 2nd century of our existence, we look forward to keeping our legacy alive and are committed to work tirelessly to strengthen an informed and open society. Through the Centennial Celebration Campaign, the ABP Group intends to resonate these core objectives with our readers, viewers, stakeholders, and every Indian of today and tomorrow,” he added.
Agnello Dias said, “Visualizing the journey of the brand ABP Group, we made a film that is a cinematic parable told through the eyes of a little one whose drive sets off the search for a certain geographical destination.”
“We intended for it to have that surreal yet uncooked emotion that is both innocent and ethereal. The whole campaign around the brand logo captures the most succinct depiction of what the brand stands for as the human face of all questions,” Dias added.
Mumbai: ABP Network has announced its collaboration with Professional Golf Tour of India (PGTI) as the digital media partner for its golf tournaments to be held in 2021. With this move, ABP claims to have become the first Hindi news network to cover a golf tour in the country and broadcast it live on its digital platform – ABP Live and other social media platforms.
The partnership was launched in October with the coverage of the first leg of the 5 City, Tata Steel PGTI, MP Cup 2021 held in Delhi. Inaugurating the event, MOS for external affairs and culture Meenakshi Lekhi said, “Golf is perceived to be a sport of the elite, but it is played by people from all sections of society. It also provides economic support for many. It is great that ABP is streaming the tournament live and popularising the sport with the masses.” She presented the award and a cash prize of Rs 11, 31,550 to Viraj Madappa – winner of the Delhi leg.
Live broadcast of the next leg of the tour that was held in Jaipur garnered more than two million views on ABP Live during the four-day coverage. The remaining three legs of the tournament to be held in Chandigarh (13 and 14 November), Kolkata (27 and 28 November) and Jamshedpur (18 and 19 December) will witness over 300 professional golf players, including Olympians and past winners for a chance to lift the Rs 1.5 crore title.
Commenting on the partnership with PGTI, ABP Network CEO Avinash Pandey remarked, “While Golf is rising as a sport in India, we at ABP believe that it should be made accessible to the masses of the country. ABP, with its widespread reach and popularity, strives to make this possible.”
“Over the last few years, we have been aggressively looking towards ramping up our offerings in the sports segment like Kabbadi and Olympics, while not remaining restricted to cricket. This initiative of broadcasting golf is in line with the larger goal. It’s a prestigious moment for the network to associate with PGTI and facilitate a pan-Indian viewership for the tournament,” he added.
PGTI is the internationally recognised controlling body for professional golf in India which is included in the Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) system.
Mumbai: The News Broadcasters and Digital Association (NBDA) has elected Rajat Sharma as president at a meeting held on Monday. The board also elected ABP Network chief executive officer Avinash Pandey as vice president and Times Network managing director and chief executive officer MK Anand as honorary treasurer for the year 2021-22.
The other members on the NBDA board include News24 Broadcast India chairperson-cum-managing director Anuradha Prasad Shukla; Mathrubhumi Printing and Publishing managing director MV Shreyams Kumar; TV18 broadcast managing director Rahul Joshi; Eenadu Television director I Venkat; TV Today Network vice-chairperson and managing director Kalli Purie; New Delhi Television editorial director Sonia Singh, and Zee Media chief executive officer – cluster 1 Sudhir Chaudhary.
Formerly known as the News Broadcasters Association, the industry body had renamed itself after it decided to bring digital media news broadcasters within the membership of the association. The members at the EGM unanimously passed the modification in the name of the association and amendments to the memorandum and articles of association.
“I am glad to inform the members that the ministry of corporate affairs, government of India have approved the new name and the amendments to the memorandum and articles of association,” said Rajat Sharma in a statement.
The ministry of electronics and information technology notified the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021 (IT rules), thereby bringing digital media, including OTT platforms, digital news broadcasters, and news aggregators, for the first time, within the ambit of government supervision.
The IT rules which have been framed to regulate digital media, not only lay down a code of ethics to be complied by digital news broadcasters but also establishes a three-tier grievance redressal mechanism to ensure observance of the same.
Similarly, the ministry of information and broadcasting also notified the Cable Television Networks (Amendment) Rules, 2021(Cable Amendment Rules) to establish a three-tier complaint redressal structure to ensure observance of the Programme Code and Advertisement Code under the Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Act, 1995 and the Cable Television Networks Rules, 1994.
“NBDA has challenged the constitutionality of both the IT rules and cable amendment rules in the Kerala high court on various grounds including on the grounds that the rules give the government authorities excessive powers to unreasonably and impermissibly restrict the freedom of speech and expression of the media under Article 19 (1)(a) of the Constitution. Interim orders were granted in favour of NBDA in both matters,” observed Sharma.
Despite several months having passed, the Broadcast Audience Research Council (Barc) ratings have not been restored as yet. “The NBDA board and Barc have had several rounds of discussions to ensure that reliable, credible, tamper-free data is made available to the news broadcasters,” said Sharma.
Mumbai: ABP News has signed a deal to become the principal sponsor of UP Yoddha team for the 2021-22 season.
As a part of this deal, ABP News’ logo will feature prominently on the UP Yoddha players’ jerseys, allowing the news channel to build brand recognition amongst younger audiences and sports aficionados across the country. Giving a boost to the partnership is the recent announcement of the acquisition of the star player of the league – Pradeep Narwal, by UP Yoddha.
This association is also crucial as it comes at a time when the state of Uttar Pradesh will be heading into polls, which creates its own buzz around activities associated with the state, said the news channel in a statement.
“We are extremely excited to be supporting UP Yoddha, one of the most promising teams in the Pro Kabaddi League this season,” said ABP Network, chief executive officer, Avinash Pandey. “Kabaddi, as a sport, has grown significantly over the years. The Pro Kabaddi league has popularised the Indian-origin sport even more and has created a strong connection with sports lovers and younger audiences. Alongside UP Yoddha, we hope to make this season of Pro Kabaddi an incredibly engaging, memorable, and entertaining spectacle.”
“We believe that with the help of this partnership we will drive great support for the franchise UP Yoddha, which holds the flag high being the first team out of UP in any league sport in the country,” said GMR League Games, chief executive officer, Col Vinod Bisht. “ABP News is the leader in Hindi news Genre and the partnership gives us the opportunity to undertake joint initiatives and promote the sport in the state at the ground level. We hope this is going to be the start of a long and mutually rewarding partnership between two big organisations.”
Mumbai: ABP Network has forayed into the Andhra Pradesh and Telangana market with the launch of its new digital platform, ABP Desam. It is the eighth regional language digital portal from the house of ABP Network. With this new offering, the media conglomerate aims to strengthen its push for local storytelling and strive to create bigger strides in the sphere of regional news.
ABP Desam has positioned itself as a digital portal that completely mirrors the culture, ethos, and spirit of the Telugu people. Its tagline ‘Mana vartalu, mana oori bhashalo!’ which translates to ‘Our news, in our town’s language!’ conveys its objective to deliver news that is personalised to the individual and collective preferences of the Telugu readers, the media company said in a statement on Friday.
“Regional language is a very crucial growth driver for digital news platforms,” said ABP Network CEO Avinash Pandey. “Recently, we had launched a digital platform for Tamil audiences and now we are further strengthening our digital portfolio with ABP Desam. I’m confident that this Telugu news platform will provide access to high calibre, diverse digital news content to the people of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana and also bring a bevy of growth opportunities to our network.”
Mumbai: Covid-19 has been the worst-ever health crisis in almost a century which brought the world to its knees. Soaring positive cases led governments to order strict restrictions on movement, compelling people to stay indoors. Hospitals ran out of beds and struggled to procure life-saving oxygen as the pandemic descended in waves.
Amid all this, there were organisations and groups which stepped up and lent a helping hand to people facing the worst adversities. In this hour of need, leading media conglomerate, ABP Network once again established itself as a responsible news network and came forward to support the country’s battle against the pandemic.
As cases began to peak during the first wave in 2020, the network announced its partnership with a volunteer-based, zero-funds organisation, Robin Hood Army (RHA), and launched a special initiative ‘Senior Patrol’. The aim was to help the most susceptible and senior members of society by providing them with essentials like food and medicines.
“In these exceptionally challenging times, we take it as our duty to help those in dire need. We are proud to be collaborating with RHA to help the most susceptible members of society and we hope the citizens will join hands with us in overcoming these difficult times through their support,” said ABP Network CEO Avinash Pandey, at the time of the launch. “The network has always stood by the nation in its hour of need and created a meaningful impact in society. This is our time to step up and spread energy, enthusiasm, and generosity.”
As part of the initiative, thousands of volunteers began helping senior citizens across the country by providing them food, medicines, and other essentials, which they were unable to procure due to the restrictions. The volunteers remained on the frontlines and took due care to follow all the government, health, and safety guidelines along with social distancing measures to ensure safe & responsible deliveries.
Driven by its core purpose to create an ‘Informed and Happy Society’, ABP Network helped build support for the cause and promoted the initiative through the strength and reach of its national and regional channels inspiring more people from across the country to join the cause.
The Network’s portfolio includes ABP News (National Hindi news channel) as well as regional ones such as ABP Ananda (Bengali news channel), ABP Majha (Marathi news channel), ABP Asmita (Gujarati news channel), ABP Ganga (Hindi news channel for Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand viewers), ABP Sanjha (Punjabi news channel), ABP Bihar (digital news portal for Bihar-specific viewers), ABP Nadu(digital news portal for Tamil viewers )and ABP Live, a digital news platform.
The anchors on its news channels used their social media handles to inform people about the initiative and helped volunteers reach every nook and corner of the country.
Families were required to fill an online form (https://robinhoodarmy.com/seniorpatrol/) which carried all the necessary contact details of the senior citizens and the essentials they need, in terms of food and medicines. Once the information was submitted, the volunteers ensured the items required were made available to the senior citizens at their doorstep by the local Robins.
The network also partnered with Robin Hood Army volunteers in their pledge to fast-track COVID-19 vaccination for millions of senior citizens through the #SeniorPatrol campaign. The campaign was launched on 8 March 2021 across 150+ Indian cities. With a force of 100,000 Robins, the Robin Hood Army remained confident of serving millions of senior citizens pan-India across every neighbourhood through the Senior Patrol’s tech-enabled system.
So, whether it was supporting senior citizens with vaccine registrations on the Co-Win platform or physically bring the elderly to the vaccination centres, the volunteers did it all. Towards this end, the mobility company, Uber was also roped in for logistical support for the initiative.
Talking about the association, RHA founder, Neel Ghose, said, “We consider ABP to be a part of our extended Robin family. Outside of 200 per cent professionalism, the sheer passion and care which they put into each collaboration makes this much more than a CSR activity – but more of a joint nation building effort. We look forward to creating much more impact together in the years to come.”
The network kept the viewers apprised about the pandemic updates 24×7 through its news websites in Hindi, Marathi, Bangla, Gujarati, Punjab and Tamil. The media group also provided its continued support to the government to contain the novel coronavirus and the devastation triggered in its aftermath.
NEW DELHI: After a slew of media houses rebranded themselves to start afresh in the midst of the Covid2019 pandemic, ABP Network is taking the same route. The network has announced a revamping of its television channels, across languages.
ABP News Network CEO Avinash Pandey said, "It is a truly exciting time for us after the Covid2019 crisis fallout. At ABP Network we have decided to take this challenge to embark on a new journey. Our new identity is an expression of our continued commitment to fulfilling your wishes of limitless progress."
The new logo created by Saffron Brand Consultants is a "testimony to our relentless pursuit of truth beyond limits. The logo represents our fearlessness and sets forth our vision for an informed and open society," Pandey noted.
