Mumbai: CNN-News18 has garnered 26.3 per cent market share in the English general news genre becoming the leading English news channel, as per Broadcast Audience Research Council (Barc) data.
The channel garnered 40.2 per cent viewership share in the prime-time segment (2+ | Monday to Friday | 1800—2300 hrs) compared to competitors that trailed behind at 25 per cent and 20.2 per cent viewership share.
“The channel’s viewership has gained viewership steadily because of the added focus on programming, along with broad-basing content to all geographies across the country,” said the statement.
“I want to thank our viewers who have reposed immense faith in CNN News18’s programming and in our journalism,” said CNN-News18 managing editor Zakka Jacob. “We have always believed in keeping it classy, that you don’t have to shout from the rooftops. That is reflected in our choice of stories and programming formats. CNN-News18 has to be the youngest newsroom in the country. We are reflective of a new, young India which is not shy of asserting itself. We are a young and dynamic team, and we are just getting started.”
“The channel has managed to clinch the top position with its philosophy of bringing news which is rational and thought-provoking without any jingoism,” said Network18 Group CEO – business news Smriti Mehra. “A slew of new shows launched such as ‘Bits To Billion – The Unicorn Story’ focusing on the inspirational stories of the Unicorns, ‘Plain Speak’ which brings out the hard facts of the most talked-about news story and ‘A Billion New Ideas’ highlighting the power of the Ideas, Innovations and Intentions have put the channel firmly at the top.”
(Source: Barc India – All India | Urban+Rural | AB 15+ segment | Week 14-17’22).
Mumbai: Patriotic fervour is at an all-time high as the country is looking forward to celebrating its 75th Independence Day on Sunday. Joining the celebration, TV channels across genres have come up with special programming.
Here is what’s all in store this 15 August:
News18 India’s ‘75 Saal Bemisaal’
In addition to the live coverage of prime minister Narendra Modi’s speech from the historic Red Fort on 15 August, News 18 India has put together a bouquet of special shows (airing 14 and 15 August) to mark the event.
Under the umbrella programming ‘75 Saal Bemisaal’, anchor Prateek Trivedi will host a special episode from Srinagar saluting the spirit of bravery and nationalism of India’s valiant BSF soldiers. The channel will also present a unique journey to the decks of INS Vikrant – the country’s first indigenous aircraft carrier.
Next in line will be a thought-provoking discussion where critically acclaimed actor Ashutosh Rana, lyricist Manoj Muntashir and author-historian Vikram Sampat will share their views about today’s youth and their issues, nationalism in the current context, and unsung heroes of India’s freedom struggle News18 anchor and editor Amish Devgan will host the show. Renowned poets like Pratap Fauzdar, Sudeep Bhola, Gaurav Chauhan and Hemant Pandey will add a flavour of humour to the celebrations in another programme.
ABP News homage to martyrs: ‘Jhanda Uncha Rahe Humara’
ABP News will pay tribute to the martyrs on its Independence Day-special event ‘Jhanda Uncha Rahe Humara’. Renowned actors Ajay Devgn and Sharad Kelkar along with writer and lyricist Majon Muntashir will be present as chief guests on the show
‘Jhanda Uncha Rahe Hamara’ is an initiative by ABP News that captures the true spirit of patriotism. It was launched to reinforce the patriotic fervour of the nation and to uphold the values of bravery, courage, and independence. The event has been running successfully on ABP News since the past seven years, having delivered many memorable editions that have reinforced the pride of being Indian.
This edition of ‘Jhanda Uncha Rahe Hamara’ focused on celebrating the contributions made by the armed forces and paramilitary personnel in the past one year. Soldiers from Indian Army, NDRF, Indian Air Force, CRPF, and DRDO were felicitated at the event. Top brands including Asian Paints, Keo Karpin, Nine, Paras Ghee, and Wonder Cement supported the initiative.
The event will be aired on ABP News at 8 p.m on 14 August. There will be a repeat telecast at 4 p.m on 15 August.
CNN-News18 ‘GLORIUS 74’ commemorates milestone 75th year of freedom
CNN-News18 has lined up special programming ‘GLORIOUS74’ to commemorate the country’s milestone 75th year of freedom. Through it, the channel will celebrate and honour the seven decades of Indian independence and the glorious history of its people, culture and their achievements, every day 8 p.m onwards from 9-15 August.
The array of programming on CNN-News18 will comprise exclusive newsmaker interviews and engaging small formats to keep the patriotism quotient high. Executive editor Anand Narasimhan will host discussions with renowned personalities such as Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev and Kailash Kher who will highlight their idea of India along with the progress and developments the country has seen over the last seven decades. The channel will also share interesting snippets from India’s journey to independence throughout the day providing an informative, interactive and innovative television experience.
On 15 August, CNN-News18 will live telecast the prime minister’s speech from the Red Fort.
AajTak special program ‘Jai Ho’ celebrates India’s Olympic heroes
AajTak is celebrating Independence Day with a day-long special program ‘Jai-Ho’ honouring the 2020 Tokyo Olympics medal winners.
Airing 14 August, ‘Jai Ho’ promises insightful and candid conversations with Neeraj Chopra Bajrang Punia, Ravi Dahiya, PV Sindhu, Mirabai Chanu, Lovlina Borgohain and the Indian men’s hockey team, in their own spaces and sporting arenas.
NAT GEO premieres ‘Buried Seeds’ – the inspiring Indian Chef Vikas Khanna
National Geographic will be celebrating this Independence Day with the premiere of “Buried Seeds” – the life story of Michelin chef Vikas Khanna. Directed and produced by contemporary filmmaker Andrei Severny, the film traces the star chef’s journey from his beginnings as a child with misaligned feet to the man who took Indian cuisine to the world. It is a timeless and true story of human passion and willpower.
Khanna narrates the incredible story of how he learned to walk and won people’s hearts with the magic of his cooking. Along the way, he becomes one of the most influential chefs in the world and a cultural ambassador of India. The film also captures the true essence of Indian culture, heritage, and customs through kaleidoscopic visuals of India, with all the beauty, bonding, and sacrifices made by an Indian family to fulfill the dream of their child.
The film premieres on 15 August at 9 p.m on National Geographic in India.
discovery+ launch of Mission Frontline with Sara Ali Khan
After the success of the first chapter of “Mission Frontline” with Rana Daggubati, discovery+ will be launching the “Mission Frontline” with Sara Ali Khan on the occasion of Independence Day. The special show gives the audiences a glimpse into the lives of the Veerangana force – an all-women commando unit of India set up by the Assam Police in 2012 to tackle grave issues against women – whilst shining light upon their inspiring stories of bravery. Sara Ali Khan will be seen in a unique avatar donning the commando uniform and stepping into the shoes of a Veerangana to perform rigorous drills.
Bolo LIVE launches campaign #Rashtragaan
Joining the ‘Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav’ initiative announced by PM Narendra Modi on 25 July, streaming app and short video content platform Bolo LIVE (formerly Bolo Indya) has launched a campaign #Rashtragaan in partnership with MyGov India. The campaign encourages Bolo LIVE’s seven million users across 14 languages to record their videos while singing the National Anthem and upload it on the app.
New Delhi: In the midst of COVID-19 pandemic, doctors and the entire medical fraternity have worked selflessly and relentlessly to not only treat patients but also help raise awareness to keep people safe. To salute their undying spirit and pay tribute to the brave doctors, CNN-News18 has launched the #ExtraordinaryAmongUs campaign starting from 1 July.
Commemorating National Doctor’s Day, the news channel has announced a week-long programming line-up exemplifying the relentless drive of our doctors. The line-up will comprise special shows such as Warrior’s Talk that will capture the stories of doctors, their experiences of treating the patients, and ensuring their mental and emotional well-being.
The campaign will also bring an exclusive segment called Survivor’s Note which will showcase the heartening stories of the survivors of COVID-19. Viewers will witness hitherto unheard stories of tender care given by the doctors helping people fight and survive through COVID-1
Speaking on the campaign, Network18’s CEO -business news cluster, Smriti Mehra said, “As a responsible news channel, we, at CNN-News18, have always believed in driving impact through engaging conversations. With this campaign, we recognize the unwavering spirit and commitment of our doctors and the entire medical fraternity in these unprecedented times. #ExtraordinaryAmongUs aims to highlight the stories of bravery, and selfless service provided by the doctors.”
The campaign will conclude with Doctors’ Corner, a virtual conclave that will host some of the notable personalities from the Indian medical fraternity as they share their experiences from the COVID-19 wards. The channel’s formidable team of editorial experts led by veteran anchors and journalists will also pay their tribute to the incredible service offered by the doctors to humanity.
NEW DELHI: Building on its commitment to innovating and bringing engaging offerings for its viewers, English news channel CNN-News18 has announced the new season of Now Showing. The award-winning show is all set to further elevate excitement quotient by bringing not just news but the newsmakers of the entertainment industry themselves.
Part of the channel’s weekend line-up, Now Showing will aim to be the one stop destination for all the engaging and impactful stories from the world of showbiz. In its new avatar, the show will be hosted by CNN-News18 entertainment anchor Atika Ahmad Farooqui. Atika has been one of the leading entertainment journalists with over 15 years of experience in the industry.
Redefining family entertainment, Now Showing will witness candid and eye opening conversations with celebrities who will discuss their journey, their upcoming projects and much more along with top news from the entertainment world.
Tune into CNN-News18 for Now Showing on Saturday 10:30 pm and Sunday 8:30 pm.
MUMBAI: As the assembly elections in the states of West Bengal, Assam, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and the Union territory of Puducherry draw near, CNN-News18 has lined-up an array of in-depth yet engaging programming. Titled ‘Battle for the States’, the channel that will delve into all aspects of the assembly elections while covering the grueling campaigns and fierce competition amongst the major political parties.
With an aim to keep the viewers apprised of every single political development in the states leading up to the elections, the channel has lined up non-stop programming capturing the ground realities of every state. With diverse formats and data driven approach, CNN-News18 will present an exclusive and comprehensive poll of polls, audience-based debate shows and interviews of the biggest newsmakers, catching the pulse of the electorates, and anticipating the changes the upcoming government will bring in the national politics. Further, the power-packed programming will also cover polling day, exit poll, and counting day extensively, bringing fastest and most accurate updates to the viewers.
Bringing a seamless blend of technology and creativity, CNN-News18 will deep dive into data and provide an unparalleled experience to the viewers. The channel has deployed election analytic tool Magic Wall and ELEX-A, to capture all the relevant data pertaining to voting by the electorate, analysing it and applying algorithms to render a virtual display of a map with factual results.
The special line-up of programming will be driven by the channel’s formidable team of editorial experts led by veteran anchors and journalists such as Zakka Jacob, Managing Editor, Anand Narasimhan, Executive Editor, Marya Shakil, Political Editor, Shreya Dhoundial, Senior Editor, Pallavi Ghosh, Senior Editor, Politics, and Arunima, Deputy Editor who will offer viewers superior coverage of the assembly elections. Supported by a team of on-ground reporters and eminent experts, CNN-News18 will offer viewers unmatched reportage of these crucial state elections from ground zero.
NEW DELHI: CNN-News18, one of the leading national English news channel has kept the engagement and entertainment quotient high throughout 2020 with the best of shows in the most interesting and unique format. As India prepares to bid adieu to the year that 2020 was, CNN-News18 plans to usher in the New Year with a series of specials that will wrap up the year gone by.
Keeping viewers at the core of its content strategy, CNN-News18 is back with another edition of ‘The Bollywood Roundtables’ – an award-winning year-end series that features India’s finest actors, actresses, and directors. Hosted by Shilpa Rathnam, this year’s entertainment series will witness candid and eye-opening conversations with guests who delivered the best performances in 2020. The Actors’ Roundtable will feature Divyenndu (Mirzapur 2), Ritwik Bhowmik (Bandish Bandits), Jaideep Ahlawat (Paatal Lok), Ishaan Khatter (A Suitable Boy), and Pratik Gandhi (Scam 1992: The Harshad Mehta Story) who will discuss how their life changed post each of their successful OTT debuts and how 2020 was a game-changer for the entertainment industry. CNN-News18 will also showcase ‘The Year That Wasn’t’, a year-end episode of the weekly show that will effectively encapsulate the year 2020 by bringing its viewers the best from all facets of the society.
Apart from this, ‘The Bollywood Roundtable – The Actresses’ witnessed Konkona Sensharma (Dolly Kitty Aur Woh Chamakte Sitare), Sumukhi Suresh (Pushpavalli), Shweta Tripathi (Mirzapur 2), Tillotama Shome (Sir), Maanvi Gagroo (Four More Shots Please! Season 2), Aparna Balamurali (Soorarai Pottru), Shreya Dhanwanthary (Scam 1992: The Harshad Mehta Story), and Rasika Dugal (Mirzapur 2). The artists opened up about their year in the Bollywood and their work, what changed in the film industry post the #Metoo movement, the lack of women directors in the film industry, and pay parity. The channel also showcased a Christmas special of their popular show ‘The Week That Wasn’t’. Anchored by Cyrus Broacha, the programming featured a special Christmas song and a satirical showcase on how people are celebrating a pandemic-era festive season.
NEW DELHI: India has the largest youth population in the world with 65 per cent of it below the age of 35. With a vision to channelise the youth and their creative energies for nation-building, CNN-News18 in association with India's International Movement to Unite Nations (IIMUN) has launched News18 Yuva Bharat.
Keeping youth at the core of its content strategy, CNN-News18 aims to sensitise and give voice to the next-gen to express themselves on issues of critical importance to them. Airing on weekends, News18 Yuva Bharat will serve as a platform which brings young achievers, aspirational entrepreneurs and newsmakers who are poised to become tomorrow’s leaders to the forefront, thereby enabling the nation to achieve its goal of becoming a superpower. From education, jobs and politics to social issues, deeper discussions into some of the most vital matters are focused to enable and craft a larger vision for Bharat in the future.
Hosted by CNN-News18 executive editor Anand Narasimhan, News18 Yuva Bharat will feature freewheeling conversations with young aspirants to address the unresolved questions in their minds. The show will telecast every weekend for a half-hour.
NEW DELHI: While 2020 was marked by many highs and lows for the Indian news industry, some newspersons’ star only rose.Here’s the second part of the year-end series on people’s movements in the Indian news industry,focusing on top-rank promotions within the organisations and those who took on additional charges.
India Today
Dinesh Bhatia was elevated to CEO of India Today Group. He was earlier the group CFO.
Mail Today deputy editor Darpan Singh was named the executive editor for Indiatoday.in. The announcement came after India Today announced the closureofMail Today’s print edition.
Rahul Shaw was promoted to the post of CEO – TV and radio, Salil Kumar to CEO – digital, KR Arora to COO – distribution and international, and Yatendra Tyagi was made TVTN CFO. Manoj Sharma took on the new responsibilityof CEO – magazines, LMI.
India TV
In its decision “to rethink, rework, and retool” its business strategies, India TV announced promotions for four of its key persons looking after business revenue, corporate affairs, television operations, and growth and monetisation aspects.
Sudipto Chowdhury was elevated to chief revenue officer, Puneet Tandon as chief officer – corporate affairs, Rohit Lal as chief officer – television operations, and Gulab Makhija, in addition to his role of CFO, was given the portfolio of CEO for growth and monetisation.
Mathrubhumi Group
After the demise of late chairman and managing director MP Veerendra Kumar, Mathrubhumi Board elected PV Chandran as chairman and MV Shreyams Kumar as managing director. PV Chandran also continues to function as the whole-time director and managing editor.
PV Chandran
PV Gangadharan, erstwhile director, was appointed as the whole-time director and Mayura MS was tapped as a whole-time additional director of the company.
Mathrubhumi also announced the elevation of Naveen Sreenivasan as head media solutions TRD (television, radio, anddigital).
Network18
Firstpost business head – English news cluster Azim Lalani was elevated as COO – brand solutions and convergence for Network18 digital. He was also given the additional charge of branded content for CNN-News18. Kishore Ajwani was given the post of managing editor from deputy managing editor.
Smriti Mehra was promoted from the post of COO – business news to CEO – business news cluster. She is now responsible for the P&L of this cluster and CNBC digital. Additionally, News18 Languages product function Sudipto Nandy was tapped as News18.com product head – general news.
Karthik Subbaraman was appointed the managing editor for the network’s digital news operations. Prior to this, Subbaraman was the editor overseeing three southern channels, a responsibility he passed on to Vivek Narayan.
Karthik Subbaraman
Preeti Sahni was handed the charge of COO – Forbes India; Siddharth Saini shouldered the responsibility of handling English news, business news and Forbes verticals, as well as international business.
The Hindu Group
Malini Parthasarathy was named the chairperson of the board of directors. She took over the reins from N Ram, who stepped down from the position at the age of 75. Prior to this, Parthasarathy had been the co-chairperson.
Additionally, publisher of The Hindu Group’s various newspapers N Ravi was elected as the chairperson of Kasturi & Sons Ltd.
The New Indian Express
The publisher promoted VP – marketing and digital operations Amitabh Bishnoi to VP for digital properties.
The Quint
The Quint announced the elevation of national revenue head Devika Dayalto the position of its chief revenue officer in September this year.
Times Network
Times Network president – strategy and business head – English entertainment cluster Vivek Shrivastava was given the additional charge of the network’s news business. In addition to Movies Now, Romedy Now, MN+, MNX, the news channels Times Now, ET Now and Mirror Now were added to his portfolio.
Vivek Shrivastava
TV9 Network
TV9 Network strengthened its management team by promoting president Vikram K as COO – south. He will be driving the group’s flagship channels TV9 Telugu and TV9 Kannada. It also announced the appointment of Raktim Das as COO – Studio 9.
Republic Media Network
Group president Bhaskar Das was elevated to chief strategy officer. Group CFO S Sundaram was given additional responsibility as group president. Hersh Bhandari and Priya Mukherjee were also tapped as COOs.
NEW DELHI: The year 2020 saw a number of news outlets either going through a revamp, shutting down operations, or embarking on a path of vigorous growth. All this led to a substantial to and fro of personnel in the industry. Here’s the first part of the year-end series on people’s movements in the India’s news industry:
On new roads
The year saw a number of prominent names hopping channels and taking up new roles and responsibilities. While some moved within the industry, some veered off on alternate career paths. And there were some who entered the news world from completely different universes.
Senior journalist Nidhi Razdan decided to move on from NDTV and started afresh as an educator at Harvard University.
Some personal and professional news: after 21 years at NDTV, I am changing direction and moving on. Later this year, I start as an Associate Professor teaching journalism as part of Harvard University’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences 1/n
Senior journalist Bhupendra Chaubey, who was associated with CNN News18 for nearly 15 years, parted ways with the organisation in April this year to join Andhra Prabha Publications as group-editor-in-chief and CEO. He has shouldered the responsibility of leading the group’s foray in the world of broadcasting. He is currently managing 12 editions of the newspaper and the English language news channel India Ahead.
— bhupendra chaubey (@bhupendrachaube) July 29, 2020
A close aide of Chaubey from CNN News18, Sudip Mukhiya preceded his entry at India Ahead. He joined as group president – newsroom and editorial strategies. Senior journalist Jacob Mathew also came onboard as director news.
Amit Goel, who has earlier worked with print publications like The Economic Times and The Pioneer, came in as India Ahead president – national editorial affairs. Producer and filmmaker Arjun Pandey joined the team as president – sales, marketing and strategies. Broadcaster and publisher Sudha Sadanand came onboard as president – editorial affairs. A former senior editor from The Economic Times, Rishi Joshi was also hired by the channel.
Zee Entertainment executive cluster head – innovation studio & custom content Raktim Das joined TV9 Network as COO – Studio 9.
Another senior journalist, Ajay Kumar ended his association with News Nation as managing editor and went to India TV as a consulting editor. The channel also brought in DB Star – Dainik Bhaskar, Bhopal editor Anand Pandey as editor – research and planning. Further, it welcomed Jayprakash Singh back after a gap of two years as chief of bureau – Mumbai.
BBC India’s digital editor Milind Khandekar stepped down from his post after a short stint of one-and-a-half years and joined TV Today Network Ltd as managing editor of Tak Channels.
Milind Khandekar
TV9 Network, in line with its agenda to revamp its digital businesses, found the editor and business head for business content vertical in Rakesh Khar, who bid adieu to his company of six years, Network18. Additionally, the organisation also got on board Amit Tripathi, yet another resource from Network18, as its chief revenue officer. It also welcomed Zee Media Corporation’s former SVP Manish Seth as its EVP.
Earlier this year, Network18 (IBN7) deputy managing editor Sumit Awasthi exited the channel to join ABP Network as VP – news and production.
Zee Hindustan hired Shamsher Singh as its managing editor. He has worked with networks like TV Today, India TV and Republic Bharat in the past.
Sun TV Network got News18 Tamil Nadu’s M Gunasekaran as its new editor-in-chief. He was instrumental in commissioning the launch of News18 Tamil Nadu, right from setting up an office in Chennai to building up a robust team of top journalists and reporters.
Erstwhile India TV political editor Jayanta Ghoshal left the news outlet after a brief stint of one year and was appointed by the West Bengal government to liaise with the central government.
Jayanta Ghoshal
Sahara News Network group editor Manoj Manu stepped down to join India News Network as executive editor. Sunita Rajan left CNN as SVP -advertising sales to enter Bloomberg Media as MD for media sales and marketing in APAC. Rajesh Kalra moved on from the post of chief editor at Times Internet and joined Asianet News Media and Entertainment Pvt Ltd (AMEL) as executive chairman.
Times Now executive editor and head of output Vivek Narayan quit to head Network18’s regional language network in south India as the managing editor. India Today roped in senior journalist Prabhu Chawla as an editorial consultant for TVTN while he also continued his association with The New Indian Express.
PopXO’s former head of engineering, Piyush Yadav joined ScoopWhoop Media as head of technology. Warner Media’s former associate director – sales Pooja Madan went to Republic Media Network to take up the position of sales director – north & east.
Additionally, SonyLIV Sports head of monetisation Maruti Indoria joined Network 18 as business head for CricketNext in March this year. Zee Innovation Studio’s national vertical head Gaurav Mehra ended the association and flitted to TV9 Network as VP of its TV and digital convergence specialist unit TV9.
Disney India’s Pawan Sharma, who was the national head – revenue (branded content and Bindass), joined News18 Network as sales head – focus, Hindi, and language cluster.
Pawan Sharma
CNN News 18’s Utkarsh Anand moved to Hindustan Times as its legal editor.
On the other hand, Pradip Khatri left India TV as a general manager and head of marketing to join DigiVidyapeeth Learning.
Vikatan VP and vertical head – print Sunder Thiyagarajan, and head – business development and brand marketing Prakash Sankaranarayanan also quit this year. While Thiyagarajan co-founded The Idea Factory and is also acting as its COO, Sanjaranarayanan has yet to share his next move.
Mathrubhumi TV and Kappa TV CEO Mohan Nair too ended his over nine-year-long stint with the network this year. He hasn’t disclosed his plans for the future yet.
Mohan Nair
Before the shutting down of Mint, its editor-in-chief Vinay Kamat and managing editor Anil Padmanabhan resigned. They are yet to announce their next. Kamat was replaced by Sruthijith KK.
The Hindu Business Line editor R Srinivasan announced his retirement as well. The senior journalist was with the newspaper for the last nine years. He was earlier associated with media houses like BCCL, Business Standard, Ananda Bazar Patrika Limited, HT Media and Mail Today.
NEW DELHI: CNN-News18, a leading English News channel has a new managing editor – Zakka Jacob –previously the executive editor of the channel.
Network18 has elevated Jacob stating that he will now lead the editorial strategy of CNN News18.
The appointment of Jacob marks a generational shift for CNN News18, one in which one of the oldest channels is being run by the youngest crew in its genre. The average age of the newsroom he leads is well under 40 and is not only geared up to challenge some of the more established names, but also to shake up the genre with new ideas, formats and programs.
A seasoned media professional with over 18 years of experience in the industry, Jacob has been hosting channel’s flagship show Brass Tacks. With his inimitable approach and calm demeanor, he has earned the ‘thinking man’s anchor’ moniker in the television news industry. In his spell with CNN-News18, he has managed to carve a niche in the crowded and noisy primetime, which is dominated by loud talking panelists and shouting matches that pass off as debates.
