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Tag: Network18

  • News18 India unveils special programming of Ram Navami amid Covid19 lockdown

    News18 India unveils special programming of Ram Navami amid Covid19 lockdown

    MUMBAI: With a total lockdown across India amid COVID-19 outbreak, News18 India has lined up special programming ‘Shri Ram Yatra’ as the nation gears up for Ram Navami. The programming will take the viewers on an enthralling journey of Lord Rama's life, recalling the legends and tales associated with the epic Ramayana.

    Anchored by News18 India managing editor Kishore Ajwani the channel will bring stories from Ayodhya, the birthplace of lord Ram, historical sites like Chitrakoot, the first stop during his exile; from Panchavat in Nashik, where Sita was abducted, and Ashok Vatika in Sri Lanka, where Sita was kept captive.

    News18 India is a part of Network18 operates 17 general news channels in India as well as in other countries. The network’s flagship English general news channel is CNN-News18 and Hindi general news channel is News18 India. 

  • I&B min seeks donation of one day’s salary to PM-CARES fund

    I&B min seeks donation of one day’s salary to PM-CARES fund

    MUMBAI: The ministry of information and broadcasting has appealed to all its officers, staff, including media units, autonomous bodies, and PSUs to contribute their one day's salary to the Prime Minister's Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situation (PM-CARES) Fund to aid the government's effort to fight the coronavirus pandemic.

    A ministry release signed by deputy secretary and HoD Rajendra Singh said that any officer or staff having objection to it may intimate their concerned DDOs, invariably mentioning his/her employee code by 3 April 2020 positively. In respect of Main Secretariat, MIB, the concerned officers/employees may intimate DDO, MIB over telephone number 23384892 and Whatsapp number 8826701292. 

    Even as citizens have pooled in their resources to help the distraught, aides from the media have also done the same. A few days ago, Network18 announced that all its employees will be donating one day's salary to the PM fund.

  • Network18 kicks off #IndiaGives campaign to contribute to PM’s national relief fund

    Network18 kicks off #IndiaGives campaign to contribute to PM’s national relief fund

    MUMBAI: Joining the group of news channels who have come up with various unique campaigns, Network18 has launched #IndiaGives, a campaign to financially support the country’s most vulnerable citizens during the coronavirus lockdown.

    According to an official statement of the network, “As a first step, over 6,000 employees of the group have contributed a day’s salary to the Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund, to be used to provide succour to daily-wage workers, whose livelihoods have been affected due to the shutdown.”

    Hundreds of millions of Indians have little or no financial security. As per Periodic Labour Force Survey report that was released in May 2019, over 77 per cent of Indian households, or nearly 200 million households, are either self-employed or are engaged in casual labour. And, a shock on the scale caused by the three-week national lockdown due to the novel virus could be devastating.

    “Considering these daily wagers, the group’s journalists and media brands such as News18 India, CNBC-TV18, CNN News18, News18 regional-language channels, CNBC Awaaz, CNBC Bazaar, Moneycontrol, Firstpost, News18.com and Forbes India will pay particular attention to the stories of those, whose livelihoods will be most badly impacted by the shutdown,” reads the statement.

    Due to the lockdown, daily-wage workers are going to bear the most brunt, it is equally true that when Indians come together to fight for the common good, we uplift ourselves, emerge victorious.

    The statement also reads, “The generosity of Indians is unmatched, and so are our empathy and resolve. Through the #IndiaGives campaign, the media brands of Network18 will channelise the generosity and empathy of Indians to the noble cause of protecting the Indian worker.”

    Prime Minister Narendra Modi has spoken about the urgent need to protect daily-wage workers and casual labourers. Contributions to the PMNRF for this purpose will be a great national service. The group also urges all large-hearted citizens to join #IndiaGives, and together we shall win.

  • Ayushmann Khurrana to feature in first episode of ‘Kiska Brand Bajega’ Season 2

    Ayushmann Khurrana to feature in first episode of ‘Kiska Brand Bajega’ Season 2

    MUMBAI: After a successful first season, CNBC-TV18, a business news channel of Network18, is back with season two of branding and marketing show 'Kiska Brand Bajega’ conceptualized by Business Of Ideas. Opening the first episode is Ayushmann Khuranna.

    The second season will broadcast 13 episodes, including stalwarts from the entertainment, music and media industry. 

    The show has strongly differentiated itself from the regular chat shows by giving a comprehensive intellectual experience, entertainment as well as a mind opener to delve into the world of brands, says the press statement of the news channel.

    The statement also mentions that while the first segment is a tête-à-tête about the making of the celebrity brand, the other segment of the show features the MDs and CXOs of the most renowned and leading brands in the industry.

    Last season it had the likes of Boman Irani, Sumeet Vyas, Atul Khatri, Madhavan Menon (managing director & chairman of Thomas Cook), Aparna Acharekar (programming head of ZEE5) and this time too, we have some prestigious names like Shailesh Haribhakti (Chartered Accountant | Board & Audit Committee Chair | Independent Director | Evangelist – Economy, ESG, IR &ExTech), Praveen Tyagi (MD, PACE) and some more gracing the show.

    Business of Ideas head Aditya Bhat said, “The thought behind Kiska Brand Bajega was to take marketing to a larger audience. So far, shows have been catering to a niche, mainly the CXO strata of society. Marketing is a concept that surrounds us all and hence making it more accessible was a natural step.”

    “The media landscape is also changing rapidly with an increasing number of Apps and Platforms competing with traditional media and this show captures these shifts as well. With us getting an overwhelming response on Season 1, it has pushed us to uncover more such brand stories and bring marketing closer to the end consumer,” Bhat also adds.

  • News channels unveil programming, content strategy for Trump’s visit to India

    News channels unveil programming, content strategy for Trump’s visit to India

    MUMBAI: When the US president comes visiting, news channels need to stay on their toes. Indian news channels are now gearing up for a special and round-the-clock coverage of the maiden visit of the United States of America’s president Donald Trump to India on 24-25 February.

    Times Now, Mirror Now and ET Now will bring a 360-degree news reportage to its viewers on US president, Donald Trump’s first-ever visit to India. Times Now with ‘Modi Trump Summit’, will run a curated programming line-up all through the day on 24 and 25 February offering viewers a comprehensive update on Trump’s visit.

    Mirror Now will begin rolling coverage from 11 am anchored by news editor, Tanvi Shukla and will also host a special Urban Debate edition at 9 pm. On day-2 of Trump’s visit, it will focus on the joint statement between two nations on trade, terrorism and defence and host a two-hour primetime special show on the key takeaways and the outcome of the meeting.

    Unlike Times News Network’s news channels, Network18’s CNN-News18 has lined-up exclusive programming on the first official visit of the international dignitaries. Titled ‘Namaste Trump’, the special reportage will cover every facet of President Trump’s Indian tour.

    “The programming will comprise engaging news reports on Trump's India visit in view of the upcoming US presidential elections. Starting 22 February, the channel has lined-up non-stop programming capturing major highlights of the US President Trump’s India visit,” says News18 Network’s chief executive officer – English and business news cluster Basant Dhawan.

    Tracking the bilateral discussions on key trade and political issues, the channel will also analyse the socio-political implications of the entire tour.

    As Trump’s visit to India going to be one of the biggest televised events this year, Dhawan says, “It has led to a great deal of advertiser interest. We have been actively engaging with the advertising community and our teams have been working closely to create innovative solutions for our clients.”

    Times Now and Mirror Now have deputed over 15 reporters each covering the visit from Ahmedabad, Agra and Delhi. Whereas, Network18’s CNN-News18 on-ground reporting coverage from Ahmedabad will be led by Maha Siddiqui —senior editor of the network, and the channel's programming will be led by the channels executive editor Bhupendra Chaubey along with other senior editors of the group network.

    In this regard, the CEO – English and business news cluster says, “Our reporters will be reporting live from ground zero – whether it is bilateral meetings or First Lady’s visit to schools in New Delhi.”

    The US president, who already is enroute to India along with wife Melania, will inaugurate Sardar Patel Gujarat Stadium in Ahmedabad, Gujarat and address at least one lakh attendees. “The programming of the network will aim to draw a parallel between ‘Howdy, Modi’ in Houston last year and ‘Namaste Trump’ in India this year,” explains Dhawan.

    Times Now reportage will highlight a national and global political outlook, ET NOW will cover the economic and business aspects of Trump’s visit. Whereas, Mirror Now will present the key takeaways for India from this visit, with an emphasis on trade and visa issues. All three channels of TNN will use LiveU, OB Vans and phone cameras to air the live feed.

    To decode what it essentially means for India-US ties, TNN’s Mirror Now will bring expert voices that include Barkha Dutt – Senior Journalist, Maroof Raaza – strategic and defence expert and Anil Trigunyat – former diplomat and senior journalists from the Washington Post amongst others.

    "With the CNN advantage, we have exclusive access to international experts and news stories. Additionally, CNN’s journalists travelling to India as part of President Trump’s contingent will also share their outlook with CNN-News18 exclusively,” opines Dhawan.

  • Hindi news channels viewership increases by 14 per cent in week 6 of BARC

    Hindi news channels viewership increases by 14 per cent in week 6 of BARC

    MUMBAI: Delhi Legislative Assembly election has proved to be most fruitful for the news channels across genres. However, Hindi news broadcasters’ viewership has substantially grown by over 14 per cent in week six as compared to week five, according to the data published by Broadcast Audience Research Council of India (BARC).

    One of the reasons behind the growth of viewership was the recently concluded Delhi elections. The polling was done on 8 February and the results of the same were declared on 11 February. Delhiites gave the mandate to Aam Aami Party, which garnered as many as 62 seats in 70-member Assembly.

    TV Today Network’s Hindi news channel Aaj Tak has continued to be the leader with the first spot in the top five channels list in the genre. The channel’s viewership grew by around 25 per cent to 146178 weekly impressions in week six as compared to 117478 impressions in week 5 of BARC. The channel also continued to maintain its dominance in both rural and urban segment viewership.

    Outperfoming all its peers, ABP News Network’s Hindi news channel ABP News has given a tough fight to all other four channels in the list, including Aaj Tak. The channel, grabbing the second position, has improved its viewership count substantially by 24 per cent to 108032 impressions in week six as against 87015 impressions in week five. The channel was at the fifth position in week five of BARC.

    Retaining its position at number three, News18 India, a Hindi news channel of Network18, grew by around 7 per cent to 101566 impressions in week six as compared to 95139 impressions in week five. Similarly, India TV maintaining its stance at fourth position grew by over 12 per cent to 99324 weekly impressions in week six compared previous week to 88477 impressions in week five.

    Meanwhile, the Zee Entertainment Enterprises’ Hindi news channel Zee News has fallen to the fifth position from second and has seen a marginal increase of viewership growth by 1 per cent to 98564 impressions in week six as compared to 97652 weekly impressions in week five of BARC.

    Despite being the biggest financial event in the country – Budget 2020, the viewership of news channels across genre, except business news channels, had slowed down by 20 per cent in week 5 (1-7 February) as compared to the previous week, BARC data had mentioned on its website.

    The rise in the viewership of channels growth in week six has pointed out that the audience is more inclined towards political developments than financial happenings in the country. The current data has reversed all negatives posted in week five as compared to the current week as per BARC.

  • News viewership grew by 60% during budget speech

    News viewership grew by 60% during budget speech

    MUMBAI: The biggest financial event of the country—Budget 2020 — has helped news channels, especially business news channels across segment to increase their viewership substantially, a data from Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) says.

    Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman gave the longest budget speech from 11 am to 1.43 pm on 1 February. The Hindi, English and Hindi+English business news channels recorded a rise of over 60 per cent to 3 million impressions during these 2 hours and 43 minutes.

    Moreover, at least 22 million eyeballs of unique viewers were glued to the screen of business news channels across genre, which posted growth of over 30 per cent.

    BARC on its official twitter handle mentioned: “During #Budget2020, Indian news viewership saw an impressive growth with regards to impressions and unique viewers!”

    The budget viewership was recorded during week 5 of BARC that was compared to the same time slot of week 4 of the weekly impressions. BARC in its Twitter post said: “The growth in impressions were considered over the previous week 4 during the same time period from 11 am to 1.43 pm.”

    The audience measurement body also said in its micro-blogging post that BBC World News has been excluded as the budget speech wasn’t aired live by the channel.

    Despite Budget 2020, the viewership of general news channels across genre were slowed down in week 5 (1-7 February) as compared to week 4 (25-31january), the BARC mentioned on its website.

    However, the budget being the most important event for the business news channels, both CNBC TV18 of Network18 group and ET Now of Times News Network, in the English category, grew by over 100 per cent to 727 and 266 weekly impressions in week 5 respectively.

    The Reliance group-owned business news channel, CNBC TV18 being the leader in the business news channel in week 4 had garnered 275 weekly impressions. On the contrary, ET Now had received 123 weekly impressions in week 4.

    In the Hindi business news category, both Network18’s CNBC Awaaz, and Zee Entertainment Enterprise’s Zee Business grew by 21 per cent and 41 per cent respectively during Budget week. The former garnered 2492 weekly impressions, whereas the latter settled at 2131 impressions in week 5 as compared to 1965 and 1249 impressions in week 4 respectively.

    Week 5 was considered to be weak compared to week 4, as it had no major important event for news channels to keep viewers engaged except for the Budget 2020 and Delhi poll campaigns that concluded on February 6. Whereas, week 4 had seen many national importance events such as Republic Day, Delhi Assembly poll campaigns, and the Shaheen Bagh firing. 

  • Ambani’s Reliance merges media & distribution biz under Network18

    Ambani’s Reliance merges media & distribution biz under Network18

    MUMBAI: When you are Mukesh Ambani, you think size,  you think scale. Even as speculation is running rife whether a deal with Sony Pictures is on, the chairman & managing director of Reliance Industries yesterday announced that the megacorp is consolidating its media and distribution entities under one company Network18 Media & Investments. Under the scheme of arrangement, TV18 Broadcast , Hathway Cable and  Datacom and Den Networks  will merge into Network18 Media.

     

     The appointed date for the merger shall be 1 February, the company said in a statement. It also added that the broadcasting business will be housed in Network18 and the cable and ISP businesses in two separate wholly owned subsidiaries of Network18.

     

    In one of the the biggest takeovers of the Indian media industry, Ambani had announced in 2014 that it would spend big to take complete control of Network18. The acquisition kickstarted the billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s investment in the media and entertainment industry which ballooned over the years .

     

    After the consolidation, Network18 will be an integrated media and distribution company with a revenue of Rs 8,000 crore and net-debt free at a consolidated level. The company also said that the scheme shall also simplify the corporate structure of the group by reducing the number of listed entities.

     

    According to the share exchange ratio approved by the board, shareholders will get 92 shares of Network18 for every 100 shares of TV18; 78 shares of Network18 for every 100 shares of Hathway and 191 shares of Network18 for every 100 shares of Den. Reliance Industries’ holding in Network18 will reduce from 75 per cent to 64 per cent upon the scheme’s implementation.

     

    “The aggregation of a content powerhouse across news and entertainment (both linear and digital) and the country’s largest cable distribution network under the same umbrella shall boost efficiency and exploit synergies, creating value for all stakeholders,” the company stated.

     

    “The media industry is accelerating towards being a B2C play, led both by market factors and through regulation. An integrated media play shall further increase the breadth as well as depth of the group’s consumer touchpoints, and allow for retaining a larger share of the consumer’s spend on content,” it added.

     

    Back in 2018, Reliance Industries through its network of subsidiaries acquired major stakes in Den Networks and  Hathway Cable and Datacom Limited after few days of announcement of its fiber-to-the-home service.

    The company added that the consolidation of the cable businesses of Den and Hathway in one entity will leverage the combined strength of the 27,000 LCO partners who act as the touchpoints to 15 million households in India; delivering localised, people-friendly and ultra-fast customer services. The combined broadband entity will serve 1 million wired line broadband subscribers across the country.

     

  • CNBC-TV18 beats all English general news channels combined on budget day

    CNBC-TV18 beats all English general news channels combined on budget day

    MUMBAI: Network18’s English business news channel CNBC-TV18 got the most accurate and comprehensive coverage of Union Budget 2020 and beat all English general news channels on Budget day by garnering maximum viewership of 468 (Imp’000)*.

    The combined viewership of the 8 general news channels including Times Now, CNN-News18, Republic, India Today TV and others was a mere 421,000 impressions. Its viewership was almost four and a half times the viewership of Times Now and almost double of Times Now and Republic combined.

    The day where the eyes and ears of the Indian citizen is hooked onto their screens, CNBC-TV18 left no stone unturned in delivering top-quality content via its extensive, exclusive and unmatched coverage. Almost 4 out of every 5 English Business news viewers on Budget day were watching CNBC-TV18.

    Network18’s chief executive officer – English & business news cluster Basant Dhawan said, “Union Budget is the most important event for our channel and our viewers. We strive to deliver unmatched coverage, analysis, and opinions to our viewers and maintained this tradition for two decades now.”

    “What we have achieved this Budget, with regards to viewership figures is remarkable and one to be proud of. Not only are we a leader in just business news space, but our viewership on budget day is higher than the combined viewership of all English general news channels,” Dhawan added.

    It was the first full year Union Budget presented by the country’s very first female finance minister, Nirmala Sitharaman on February 1.

    CNBC-TV18 provided content and information via an integrated newsroom comprising CNBC-TV18, CNBC Awaaz, CNBC Bajar and www.cnbctv18.com with utmost authenticity and perspective from market experts ensuring that the investor is kept abreast of the day’s events. The Finance Minister’s very first interview to CNBC-TV18 saw a remarkable share of 100%

  • All news channels, except biz news, see viewership slump in BARC week 5

    All news channels, except biz news, see viewership slump in BARC week 5

    MUMBAI: Despite the biggest financial event in the country – Budget 2020, the viewership of news channels of across genre, except business news channels, slowed down in week 5 (1-7 February) as compared to week 4, according to the data released by Broadcasting Audience Research Council India.

    Week 4 (25-31 January) had seen many national importance events such as Republic Day, Delhi Assembly poll campaigns, pre-budget preparation, and Shaheen Bagh firing. The news channels across genre had buzzing news information almost every day during week 4 of BARC.

    Hindi News

    The TV Today Group’s Hindi news channel Aaj Tak, leading the race in the viewership in the Hindi category, has retained its position at the top among peers. However, the viewership of the channel has dropped by 12.3 per cent to 117478 weekly impressions in week 5 as against 133942 in week 4.

    In week 5, news channels had no major or national importance event except budget 2020. However, the Delhi poll campaign being one of the buzzing events was concluded by the evening of 6 February as per the model code of conduct of Election Commission of India.

    Not just Aaj Tak, in the Hindi news segment, all other channels featured in the list of the week 5 saw a slump in viewership pattern as against week 4’s viewership. Zee News maintaining its second spot in the list of week 5 fell by 8 per cent to 97652 weekly impressions as compared to 106097 impressions in week 4.

    Moreover, News18 India, which also retained its spot on the third position, saw a drop by 5.2 per cent to 95139 weekly impressions in week 5 versus 100395 impressions in week 4. Whereas India TV maintaining its fourth position but fell by 3.3 per cent to 88477 weekly impressions as compared to 91481 weekly impressions in week 4.

    Replacing Republic Bharat, ABP News has bagged the fifth spot in the list of week 5 with weekly impressions of 87015. However, Republic Bharat tried to clinch a fifth spot in the urban segment of Hindi news channel with 51613 weekly impressions in week 5.

    English News

    In the English news category, Republic TV has maintained its lead in week 5, however, it slumped by over 12.5 per cent to 654 weekly impressions as compared to 749 impressions in week 4. Despite out throwing DD India from second spot, Times Now has also dropped by 3.3 per cent to 515 weekly impressions in week 5 compared to 534 impressions in week 4.

    Meanwhile, India Today Television, taking Times Now last week’s spot, has dropped by 17.7 per cent to 303 weekly impressions in week 5 versus 368 impressions in week 4. Moreover, DD India falling to fourth position this week has substantially dropped by 74.6 per cent to 181 weekly impressions in week 5 as against 713 impressions in week 4.

    DD India, a government-owned news broadcaster, was able to gain exponential impressions in week 4 due to 71st Republic Day event, which was authorised to show the exclusive footage of the event and also share it with other news channels by giving give courtesy to DD India.

    Similarly, CNN News18 maintaining its position at the last spot but also fell substantially by over 30 per cent to 163 weekly impressions in week 5 as compared to 237 weekly impressions in week 4.

    Business News

    Budget being the most important event for the business news channels, Both CNBC TV18 of Network18 group and ET Now of Times News Network, in the English category, grew by over 100 per cent to 727 and 266 weekly impressions in week 5 respectively. CNBC TV18, leading between the two, had garnered 275 weekly impressions and ET had achieved 123 weekly impressions in week 4.

    Similarly, in the Hindi business news category, Both CNBC Awaaz and Zee Business grew by 21 per cent and 41 per cent respectively. The former garnered 2492 weekly impressions, whereas the latter settled at 2131 impressions in week 5 as compared to 1965 and 1249 impressions in week 4 respectively.