News Broadcasting
HARDtalk celebrates tenth anniversary
MUMBAI: BBC World’s flagship current affairs interview programme HARDtalk , will celebrate its tenth anniversary this week and will air repeat telecasts of interviews of some people who have made history.
Known for its interviews with politicians and newsmakers from around the world, the special anniversary episodes will put the spotlight on Dr Naji Sabri and Sir Jeremy Greenstock on 16 April, Meles Zenawi on 17 April and Romeo Dallaire on 18 April.
Presenter Stephen Sackur says, “I’ve met many world leaders who have enormous respect for HARDtalk, and I can think of no bigger programme with which to be involved. I’ve had pretty much the best job in the BBC as a foreign correspondent, and the only way of topping that was through HARDtalk, putting tough questions to the people who shape our world.”
Stephen took over from former presenter Tim Sebastian in January 2005. Tim presented HARDtalk since it began in March 1997 and recorded more than 1500 editions.
Tim adds, “It was an enormous privilege to be in a position to ask leading questions and to travel the world trying to get answers. We left some bruised political egos in our wake, and some important feathers ruffled.”
HARDtalk is broadcast on BBC World daily from Monday to Thursday, with five showings per day in Europe, the Americas and Africa and three in Asia, Australasia and the Middle East. The programme has gained an international reputation for asking tough questions of global leaders, political figures, the military, campaigners and representatives of the world’s leading organisations. HARDtalk is edited by Carey Clark.
News Broadcasting
Book Cricket gets a digital century on News18 amid T20 fever
Nostalgic classroom game revamped in English, Hindi plus Telugu on web and app.
MUMBAI: When the T20 World Cup fever hits fever pitch, News18 decides to flip the script straight back to the classroom. The digital news platform has revived the timeless schoolyard favourite Book Cricket as an interactive online game, perfectly timed to ride the cricket wave gripping fans across the globe. The reimagined Book Cricket ditches textbooks for smartphones, blending old-school nostalgia with modern gameplay. Once a sneaky recess pastime played by flicking book pages to score runs, the digital version now offers seamless fun for anyone craving a quick cricket fix between overs.
Available in English, Hindi and Telugu (with more languages planned across News18’s network), the game sits within the platform’s fast-growing gaming portfolio of over 20 titles, all built in-house. It joins event-driven hits like ‘Kursi Catcher’ and ‘Result Rewind’ during the 2025 Bihar Assembly Elections, plus festive specials such as ‘Durga’s Astras’ for Durga Puja and ‘Mouse Modak’ for Ganesh Chaturthi.
News18 Digital CEO Mitul Sangani said, “Gaming is a key pillar of our engagement strategy. At News18, we uniquely combine our newsroom agility with immersive gaming experiences. By blending credible content with interactive formats, we are creating meaningful engagement in an era defined by shrinking attention spans and evolving consumption habits.”
Select titles have expanded beyond News18.com to CNBC-TV18.com and Firstpost.com, reflecting the network’s push to deepen user interaction across platforms. The Book Cricket game is live now at https://www.news18.com/games/book-cricket/.
In a tournament where every boundary counts, News18’s digital Book Cricket proves the simplest games can still deliver the biggest smiles no syllabus required, just pure cricket joy one page-flip at a time.
