News Broadcasting
Star’s second bouquet channels off Indian Cable Net
MUMBAI: Star India’s second bouquet of channels will not be visible on Indian Cable Net, Kolkata’s largest multi system operator, which was bought out by Siticable earlier this year.
The second Star bouquet includes Star One, Hungama TV and the two Walt Disney channels — Disney Channel and Toon Disney.
Speaking to Indiantelevision.com, a Star India spokesperson confirmed that the second bouquet of channels would not be available on Indian Cable Net.
When contacted,a senior executive of Siticable stated that the boxes were distributed by Star for promotional activity between the period September to November 2005. This was mainly undertaken to give the feel of the second bouquet of channels.
Pointing out that Siticable later realised that Star was billing them from September onwards only, the Siticable senior executive said over phone from Delhi, “We realised this (billing) was a breach of an understanding reached between MSO and the broadcaster. Since we could not could not pay the subscription money from our own pockets, we decided to return the decoder boxes.”
The executive further pointed out that the Kolkata market was “not ready” for a paid second bouquet of channels. Indian Cable Net has a subscriber base of approximately 300,000 cable homes.
Star’s first bouquet of channels, including Star Plus, however, is available on Indian Cable Net.
News Broadcasting
Times Network to air JVC Exit Poll across 5 regions on April 29
Four-hour broadcast spans states and Puducherry with data-led analysis
MUMBAI: Times Network is set to roll out what it calls one of its most expansive election programming efforts yet, culminating in the JVC Exit Poll on 29 April, with a multi-hour broadcast spanning key poll-bound regions.
The exit poll will air across Times Now and Times Now Navbharat, beginning at 5pm and 4pm respectively. Co-powered by Vedanta and Jindal Stainless, the programming aims to combine on-ground reportage with data-driven projections across West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Assam and Puducherry.
The network has deployed over 50 journalists across these regions, gathering voter sentiment and local insights in the run-up to polling. The effort builds on its ongoing election formats such as Election Yatra and Election Premier League, which have tracked campaign narratives and community-level issues.
In parallel, Times Now Navbharat has focused on constituency-level reporting in West Bengal through its Jan Gan ka Mann series, capturing voter opinions across diverse segments.
The coverage has also featured interviews with prominent political leaders. Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Congress leaders Ramesh Chennithala and V D Satheesan have appeared on the network’s election specials. From Tamil Nadu, voices including deputy chief minister Udhayanidhi Stalin, DMK MP Dayanidhi Maran, BJP leader K Annamalai and NTK’s Seeman have also featured in discussions.
On the day of the exit poll, the network’s primetime anchors, including Navika Kumar, Zakka Jacob and Sumit Awasthi, will lead the coverage. They will be joined by a panel of political analysts, psephologists and senior journalists offering real-time insights and interpretation of trends.
The programming will integrate grassroots reportage with analytics from the JVC Exit Poll, aiming to give viewers an early sense of electoral outcomes ahead of the official results on 4 May.
With its combined English and Hindi broadcast reach, Times Network is positioning this effort as a comprehensive look at voter sentiment, blending field reporting, data and debate to decode what could lie ahead when the final mandate is revealed.
