News Broadcasting
Aaj Tak launches online opinion poll
News channel Aaj Tak has scored another first by launching an all India live-online opinion poll.
The first poll begun on 29 April has had over one and half lakh respondents answering the question being simultaneously debated in Parliament – ‘Should Narendra Modi resign?’ The fully automated poll has no human intervention. The poll is novel in terms of technological convergence as it can be accessed through the net, via SMS and through a landline.
According to the channel, this is the biggest ever on-line opinion poll conducted in the country, which tries to ascertain the opinion of Aaj Tak viewers on issues of direct relevance to them. The first poll received an overwhelming response from netizens as well as mobile phone users and people using their landlines to register their vote, the channel claims. The poll will close at the same time as the debate in the Lok Sabha on Gujarat comes to an end. Till 6 pm, over 1,67,000 voters cast their votes and there was not much of a gap between those in favour and those against Modi resigning. At 6 pm, 45 per cent of voters wanted Modi to resign as opposed to 55 per cent who favoured his continuance.
Aaj Tak says it will use this reach to try and ascertain the opinions of its viewers on issues that are being hotly debated in the country. This poll covers that section of population that has access to a telephone line, mobile phone or has a net connection. Consequently, ‘Aaj Ka Saval’ is certain to become a valuable barometer to gauge the public mood, it claims. Responses have come in from not just metropolitan cities but from Amritsar, Bhavnagar, Raipur and 85 other cities in the country, it says.
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.
