News Broadcasting
BBC’s new media director outlines broadband vision
MUMBAI: The BBC director of new media and technology, Ashley Highfield, has outlined the corporation’s vision for a broadband Britain.
Highfield has called upon the collaboration and co-operation of the UK government and industry to avoid a digital underclass. Delivering the keynote speech at the Broadband Britain Summit, Highfield described broadband as a new era in the world of content delivery, and explained that the BBC was already working on an on-demand strategy that would use the potential of broadband to deliver its content in new ways.
He added that a higher speed of connection could offer both the BBC and the UK media industry new ways of involving audiences and providing them with choice.
“The BBC sees broadband as a means of enabling us to place greater emphasis on community and individuals’ contribution. It will open up new ways to involve people in civic process and institutions. Let us create personalised learning tools and tailored services for minority groups, as well as enabling more convenient way to watch and listen to our programmes and services.”
However, Highfield stressed that the BBC alone could not drive broadband take up. The UK government and industry will need to work together more closely if they were to surmount the three key barriers to broadband adoption: affordability, accessibility and awareness.
The BBC could play a key role in helping to drive broadband, said Highfield, through its high-quality original content, as well as its rich archive of programmes. But a fully connected digital Britain could only be achieved through collaboration and co-operation.
In order to explain his point, Highfield called for key players to initiate a digital literacy campaign in 2005 “to target those members of society who might find themselves on the wrong side of the digital divide”.
News Broadcasting
News18 India to air Sabse Bada Dangal on 4 May counting day
Channel promises fastest results, live trends and analysis across five states.
MUMBAI: Ballots will do the talking and screens will do the shouting. As counting day approaches for high-stakes Assembly elections across West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Assam and Puducherry, News18 India is gearing up for an all-day broadcast of its flagship election show, Sabse Bada Dangal, on 4 May from 6 am onwards. The Hindi news channel plans to deliver continuous, real-time updates as votes are tallied, combining live counting data with on-ground reporting and studio analysis. With political fortunes set to shift through the day, the coverage will track every swing, surge and surprise as trends turn into results.
The broadcast will feature a mix of senior political leaders, analysts and experts, offering instant reactions and decoding the evolving electoral picture. Expect heated debates, quick takes and detailed breakdowns as the numbers settle across all five states.
For News18 India, counting day has long been a high-visibility moment. The network is banking on its reporting reach, editorial bandwidth and technology-driven coverage to stay ahead in what is often a fiercely competitive news cycle.
With multiple battlegrounds and shifting narratives, the day promises both drama and data in equal measure. And if all goes to plan, Sabse Bada Dangal will once again turn the counting of votes into prime-time spectacle.
