News Broadcasting
CNN International Appoints Ravi Agrawal as New Delhi Bureau Chief
MUMBAI: CNN International today announced Ravi Agrawal as the New Delhi Bureau Chief. Agrawal will commence in this role with effect from April 1, 2014.Based in the country’s capital,Agrawal will manage and oversee CNN’s multi-platform newsgathering operations from India.
Agrawal is an award-winning CNN producer and has worked with the network across its London and US offices for eight years. He assumes this new role from being the senior producer of CNN’s flagship Sunday program on world affairs ‘Fareed Zakaria GPS’.
“India has the world’s interest and CNN has had a long standing presence and robust operations in the countryfor well over two decades now. Ravi’s appointment is very timely as we prepare to coverthe world’s largest democracy going to the polls in the coming months,” said Ellana Lee, Vice President and Managing Editor, CNN International Asia Pacific. “The wealth of talent and experience at CNN has enabled us to recruit the strongest candidate from inside the company for this vital role.With a combination of Ravi’s deep knowledge, understanding of India and his in-depth experience with the network’s global shows and operations, we will continue our comprehensive coverage from this country,” she added.
Before GPS, Agrawal was the senior producer for ‘Connect the World’, CNN International’s daily primetime show.Previously, he produced key news programs from the London bureau including Business International, CNN Today and World Business Today. Having joined the network in 2006, Agrawal rose to become a producer in a very short span gaining extensive “live” and in-field production experience from around the world including, Davos, Delhi, London, Mumbai, New York and Washington.
While Agrawal was its senior producer, ‘Fareed Zakaria GPS’ won a Peabody Award and garnered three Emmy nominations. In 2013, Agrawal was named a “Young Global Shaper” by the World Economic Forum. He received his Bachelor of Arts in International Relations from Harvard College where he was elected to the editorial board of The Harvard Crimson in his freshman year.
News Broadcasting
CNN-News18 to air live counting day coverage for five state election results on May 4
The channel is rolling out its biggest election coverage machinery yet for results day on 4th May
NOIDA: The votes have been cast. Now comes the reckoning. CNN-News18 is pulling out all the stops for results day on 4th May, when counting begins across five battleground states — West Bengal, Assam, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and the Union Territory of Puducherry — in what promises to be one of the most closely watched electoral verdicts in recent memory.
The channel’s coverage, titled Battle for the States: The Verdict, kicks off at 7am and runs through the day across linear TV, connected television and YouTube. It is the culmination of CNN-News18’s multi-format editorial initiative, Battle for the States, which has tracked the polls from the beginning under the theme Road to Power.
At the operational heart of the coverage will be the Live Results Hub, the channel’s central command centre built to collate, verify and process real-time data flowing in from reporters stationed at counting centres across constituencies. The hub combines newsroom intelligence, analytics and on-the-ground reporting to deliver what the channel promises will be the fastest and most accurate results coverage in English news.
Leading the on-air charge will be primetime anchors Rahul Shivshankar, Anand Narasimhan, Aman Sharma, Nabila Jamal and Shivani Gupta. They will be joined by a wide panel of commentators including author Chetan Bhagat; GVL Narasimha Rao, senior leader of the BJP; Smita Prakash, editor of ANI; activist Saira Shah Halim; political analyst Sumanth C Raman; Abhijit Iyer Mitra, senior fellow at IPCS; Amitabh Tiwari, founder of VoteVibe; columnist Abhijit Majumdar; Nalin Mehta, managing editor of MoneyControl; political analyst Tehseen Poonawalla; senior journalist Subir Bhaumik; and political analyst Manojit Mandal.
Shivshankar, who serves as editorial affairs director at CNN-News18, set out the stakes plainly. “Counting day is one of the most watched events in the electoral cycle, where speed and credibility are tested in real time,” he said. “Battle for the States: The Verdict is built on that promise, combining ground reporting, sharp analysis and cutting-edge election technology to give viewers the clearest and fastest route to the verdict. On May 4, CNN-News18 will once again be the nation’s most trusted channel to witness democracy in action.”
Smriti Mehra, chief executive of English and Business News at Network18, framed the coverage in broader terms. “Elections are defining national events, and audiences turn to brands they trust in moments that matter,” she said. “CNN-News18 has consistently led from the front in every election coverage, and this special programming reflects the scale of our ambition and editorial strength.”
The channel has form here. It claims to have been India’s most preferred English news destination for election results for the past 20 years, covering everything from the 2024 general elections to the Delhi, Maharashtra, Bihar and BMC polls on the back of what it calls an “Always First, Always Right” record. Five states, one day, and a nation waiting for answers. The clock starts at 7am on 4th May.
