News Broadcasting
NDTV on recruitment drive for Hindi channel
MUMBAI / NEW DELHI: Prannoy Roy’s New Delhi Television (NDTV) has made official its intent to launch its Hindi news channel after March 2003, with advertisements in a national daily today.
According to the advertisement in The Times of India, NDTV will be launching its Hindi news channel , early next year.
The ad specifies that the channel is looking to hire reporters, correspondents, anchors, junior and senior editorial staff, camerapersons, engineers, graphic artists and designers. No details of the qualifications or the minimum experience required for the various posts are mentioned.
The production company obviously requires manpower only for the Hindi channel, as an entire team is already in place for the English channel it is reportedly simultaneously launching. With Aaj Tak also having advertised for personnel in various positions last month, the proposed news channels are now gearing for a hefty recruitment drive.
The ad also gives a hint towards the probable name of the Hindi news channel, NDTV World.
Efforts made by indiantelevision.com to get in touch with NDTV to know the details of the proposed news channel yielded no results.
According to broadcasting industry sources, the advertisement’s wordings also makes it clear that NDTV is likely to launch its own channels instead of tying up with a media company for Star-type contract. It is now an open secret in the industry that the NDTV-AOL Time Warner tie-up, being talked about some time back during former AOL Time Warner chief Gerald Levin’s India visit, is a closed chapter.
Industry sources also pointed out that NDTV has opened up talks with Sony Entertainment Television India for a possible distribution deal for the proposed Hindi news channel. Sony ideally would like to have a news channel in its bouquet as CNBC India’s exit from the Sony bouquet is now just a matter of time. The Sony-TV-18 (one of the shareholders in CNBC India) distribution deal also comes to an end in March, 2003.
In the meantime, NDTV has already made a start for its news channel having recruited senior TV journalist, Dibang, from Aaj Tak. It is being rumoured that some more anchors may follow Dibang to NDTV.
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.
