News Broadcasting
BBC’s 70th anniversary celebration includes live broadcast from India
MUMBAI: The 70th anniversary of the BBC World Service includes a three-hour broadcast of live entertainment and performances from musicians in India, Senegal, Great Britain, Afghanistan and Mexico. On Thursday 19 December, the actual birthday, BBC World Service will present the day’s programmes live from Table Mountain in Cape Town, South Africa.
In Mumbai, the global party celebrations on 15 December, will be led by the well-known Indian musicians Trilok Gurtu and Adnan Sami. The party will be broadcast live from the five venues across the world on Red FM radio channel (India) and the BBC World Service. The acquisition of this programme by Living Media’s Red FM channel marks the introduction of a novel concept wherein Indian listeners can be part of a global broadcast.
BBC World Service Director, English Networks and News Phil Harding said: “Seventy years ago a switch was thrown on a new wireless transmitter in Northamptonshire and messages were beamed to Canada, Australia and other parts of the Empire. As part of the 70th anniversary programmes BBC World Service plans an ambitious concert for listeners around the world with live links to five centres,” in an official statement.
“It is an example of the way BBC World Service, which now has a global audience of 150 million and an internet presence in 43 languages, continues to stretch itself and to embrace the future,” Harding was quoted as saying in the official press release.
Among the major special broadcasts that BBC Worldwide service has scheduled for the week:
a World Service 70th Birthday Lecture delivered by UN secretary general, Kofi Annan;
a World Service Global Party , a special live concert taking place in five countries across four continents;
and a day of special programming on the birthday itself presented from the site of the World Service’s first re-broadcast – the top of Table Mountain in Cape Town, South Africa.
UN secretary general Kofi Annan had delivered a 70th birthday lecture from the United Nations building in New York and answered questions from listeners around the world on 11 December to begin the fortnight of special programmes.
Similar to the one being planned in Mumbai’s Oberoi Towers Hotel, another huge party will be hosted at Bush House, London, by DJs John Peel and Emma B. Senegalese superstar Youssou N’dour and Mercury Music award winner Ms Dynamite are slated to perform.
In Dakar, Baaba Maal tops the bill. Afghan musicians will play in Kabul and enable their countrymen to enjoy a musical revival after years of music being banned during the Taliban regime.
In Mexico, the eight-piece semi-acoustic tropi-punk bank, Los de Abajo will perform.
On Thursday 19 December, the actual birthday, BBC World Service will present the day’s programmes live from Table Mountain in Cape Town, South Africa.
Presenters Heather Payton (Outlook) and Ben Malor (Africa Live) will introduce 14 hours of programmes, from dawn to dusk, and read listeners’ e-mails.
Once an hour A Day in the Life of the World will highlight people connected to the BBC worldwide, including an engineer who services a transmitter in the mid-Atlantic.
The other highlights in the fortnight of celebration include:
a special edition of Pick of the World;
an extended Newshour with a daily in-depth interview with a key international figure;
and new analysis of significant world events in From Our Own Correspondent by BBC correspondents who covered the stories at the time including Kate Adie, Mark Tully, Brian Barron and Mike Wooldridge.
Listeners’ Tales, a series of short vox pops with celebrities and listeners whose lives have been affected by the BBC World Service, will be broadcast throughout December 19.
This is London, throughout the week of Monday 16 December, will examine key moments in the life of the BBC World Service over the last 70 years.
The other programmes will explore the birth of the Empire Service (as the BBC World Service then was); the story of the Arabic Service; the Cold War days; and the BBC World Service since 9/11.
The votes cast by listeners around the world will determine The World’s Top 10 records and will be announced by Steve Wright on Saturday 21 December in Wright Round the World.
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.
