News Broadcasting
Coudert Brothers eyes Asian markets
MUMBAI: You can’t fault Coudert Brothers partner Edward S Labowitz for spending time in Asia these days.
Based in Los Angeles, he chairs the firm’s Entertainment Practice Group and thus has the responsibility of helping expand Coudert into the Asian market and servicing existing clients in the US who are foraying into Asia. Ed, as he likes to be called, is slated to speak at the Asia Television Forum and the Film Market which is being held in Singapore’s famed Shangri-La’s Rasa Sentosa Resort in early December.
“I will also be trying to understand the Asian market,” he says. “We have offices in nine cities in Asia. And I am here to try and see and understand the market firsthand. There are many models in the film business – be it financing or ventures- which have been used and have worked in the US and Europe and I am here to talk about those.”
Labowitz points out that the Asian TV and film market is maturing in Asia both in terms of distributing Asian products across the continent and in the US and in terms of productions and co-productions between US and European companies and Asian ones.
His firm has recently represented a Hollywood director, Jack Scholder who directed a movie which was shot in Ramoji Rao’s Film City and financed by Usha Kiron movies. The movie has been produced by Morris Riskind and Victoria Pikles of Shorline Entertainment. “I represented Jack in a first of its kind deal wherein Director’s Guild of America guidelines were followed when he was directing in India,” says Ed.
He is also extremely excited by China’s potential. “I salivate over the kind of capacity China has for a huge film and television market. Both for US and Chinese product for the US market,” he says. “My next hot favourite is Korea which is producing films which have the chance to travel outside.”
In fact, a Korean producer CJ Entertainment has recently released a film The Way Home through Paramount in the US, a deal in which Coudert was involved in.
Ed says he would like to know more about India. “It is the second largest film base outside of the US. But I believe the restrictions on exports still make it a little difficult,” he reveals.
What about television? Does Labowitz see a market for cross overs for TV productions? “In the area of television formats, there is scope both in Asia and India,” he elaborates.
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.
