News Broadcasting
Europe’s first HDTV service launches in Jan ’03
PARIS: The trend towards high definition television (HDTV) is growing steadily.
In the US, 2.5 million HD sets will be sold this year according to the American Consumer Electronics Association. Not one to be left behind, Europeans will also experience HDTV from next year.
Europe’s first HDTV channel Euro1080 will commence broadcast from 1 January 2004. It will launch from SES-Astra’s 19.2-degree East orbital position. The European dimension of the station will eliminate all language barriers, with a program consisting of sport, music, shows and cultural venues. Highlights will include the European and the World Soccer Championships, the Olympic Summer, Winter Games. The first programme on the anvil is the New Year’s Concert from Vienna.
The two-channel service is operated by Belgian production company Alfacam. The Main Channel will offer four hours of programmes a day. This will be a mix of live and recorded stuff. It will go to European households and to small venues (sports bars, hotel chains, airports, etc). It will be free-to-air via satellite, with a footprint between Norway, Portugal and Greece, covering over 30 countries.
The second Euro1080 channel, the Event Channel, will be distributed to theatres. Event programmes, either live or delayed live, are sent out to Event Cinemas. These are theatres equipped with electronic projection and 5.1 surround sound systems. The content will range from big events to specific regional programming.
As a result of this hardware, companies will feel the need to innovate and launch their products on the European market. Internationally, the impact of HDTV will also get heavier, since it will be present on all continents except Africa.
The European service will offer more lines, more pixels and more colours. The number 1080 refers to the number of lines on the screen. Standard Definition offers only 625 lines.
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.
