News Broadcasting
BBC World makes two ‘key’ appointments in Asia
MUMBAI: BBC World has made two key appointments to its Asian advertising sales teams.
BBC World deputy director airtime sales Sunita Rajan was quoted as saying: ‘I am delighted to have two great people join our teams in Asia at a very exciting period of growth for the channel in this key region. Both Sarah, with her considerable experience working for BBC World in London; and Simon with his in-depth knowledge of the market, will be great assets to grow our airtime sales operation here.”
Simon Page has been appointed as the new account director, North Asia based in Hong Kong and Sarah Green has been appointed as account manager, airtime sales based in Singapore.
A press release says that Page will work closely with BBC World deputy director airtime sales Rajan, as part of the pan-Asian sales team. His mandate will be to build on BBC World’s existing client base and attract new advertisers and sponsors to the channel. He will team up with north Asia account manager Pierre Cheung.
Page had earlier worked with the Dow Jones group for a period of seven years. His responsibilities during that particular stint included handling advertising sales for the Far Eastern Economic Review and developing advertising markets such as Japan, Korea, Taiwan and Vietnam.
The release adds that Green has been transferred from BBC World’s London headquarters where she had a three-year stint as senior account executive. She will seek to apply the skills and experience gained while working in the London market and on PETV accounts to the Asian and Australasian markets.
Green, an ex-ad agency executive, will assist Rajan in driving the channel’s international business from Australia and New Zealand. She will also work with the media buying agency MCn. Green had earlier worked with Zenith Media in London.
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.
