News Broadcasting
BBC launches ‘Home Movie’ initiative in the UK
MUMBAI: The BBC director of television Jana Bennett has announced the launch of Home Movie. The BBC claims that this is its biggest and most inclusive public participation event ever staged. It will give people in the UK the chance to make and star in their own television film.
This is the first new project to come out of Jana Bennett’s 10m Think Big initiative. The aim is to encourage ambitious thinking and multi-faceted programme events that reach under served audiences. Home Movie is a pan-BBC collaboration across arts, drama , BBC Talent and BBCi.
The beeb will search the UK for a cast and crew of 100. None of them will have worked in film or TV before. The aim is to offer people the chance to re-train in a totally different field of expertise.
Meanwhile BBCi will host an online questionnaire to shortlist crew applicants, with interviews and auditions for cast and crew taking place in seven locations around the UK. All the 100 people chosen will benefit from a comprehensive training scheme, whilst a substantial outreach programme of master-classes and workshops will offer thousands of people advice and information aboutembarking on their own retraining programme.
Once selected, the amateur cast and crew will make their own movie, led by a professional producer and director, under the guidance of a team of industry expert mentors. BBC Three will follow the trials and tribulations of the casting and interview process while BBC Two will go behind-the-scenes in a ten part documentary series following every step of the process with these first-time film-makers. The world premiere of the film will take place on the BBC and will include live link-ups around the country to special cinema screenings.
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.
