News Broadcasting
Network18 announces elevations and appointments within the group
MUMBAI: The media conglomerate Network18 announced important elevations and appointments within the group. The changes, which come into effect immediately, are also a consequence of the dynamics of integration which is the future of the news.
The group in its press statement said that the organisational changes are a move towards the new way in which the two arms of the news organisation—TV and digital—will work in collaboration.
Smriti Mehra is being elevated as chief operating officer-business news cluster, and will be responsible for the P&L of this cluster. She will also be responsible for the P&L of CNBC digital as well as display and focus revenue for the same.
Sohan Singh will be responsible for the display business of the business news cluster as well as English news and will report to Mehra. Preeti Sahni has been elevated as chief operating officer-Forbes India, with the responsibility of its P&L.
To drive TV-digital integration further, the group has mandated Azim Lalani, chief operating officer – brand solutions & convergence. He will also take additional charge of branded content for CNN-News18.
The group is bolstering its government business team, which has been led by Amit Tripathi. Amit will continue to be responsible for Hindi-regional and national channels.
To give a fillip to digital and vernacular, Abhinay Chauhan has joined the network recently and will be responsible for government revenues for language channels, digital, Forbes and AETN18.
For the non-sales part of the focus business, Siddharth Saini will be responsible for the English news, business news, and Forbes verticals as well as international business.
The group has appointed Sujeet Mishra to give additional thrust to the Hindi and regional languages focus business. Mishra. who has joined from the Zee group, will be responsible for non-sales backend of focus for the Hindi and language verticals, notably News18 India.
The above will report to Avinash Kaul for television news with a direct line to Puneet Singhvi for the digital business of the group.
News Broadcasting
Book Cricket gets a digital century on News18 amid T20 fever
Nostalgic classroom game revamped in English, Hindi plus Telugu on web and app.
MUMBAI: When the T20 World Cup fever hits fever pitch, News18 decides to flip the script straight back to the classroom. The digital news platform has revived the timeless schoolyard favourite Book Cricket as an interactive online game, perfectly timed to ride the cricket wave gripping fans across the globe. The reimagined Book Cricket ditches textbooks for smartphones, blending old-school nostalgia with modern gameplay. Once a sneaky recess pastime played by flicking book pages to score runs, the digital version now offers seamless fun for anyone craving a quick cricket fix between overs.
Available in English, Hindi and Telugu (with more languages planned across News18’s network), the game sits within the platform’s fast-growing gaming portfolio of over 20 titles, all built in-house. It joins event-driven hits like ‘Kursi Catcher’ and ‘Result Rewind’ during the 2025 Bihar Assembly Elections, plus festive specials such as ‘Durga’s Astras’ for Durga Puja and ‘Mouse Modak’ for Ganesh Chaturthi.
News18 Digital CEO Mitul Sangani said, “Gaming is a key pillar of our engagement strategy. At News18, we uniquely combine our newsroom agility with immersive gaming experiences. By blending credible content with interactive formats, we are creating meaningful engagement in an era defined by shrinking attention spans and evolving consumption habits.”
Select titles have expanded beyond News18.com to CNBC-TV18.com and Firstpost.com, reflecting the network’s push to deepen user interaction across platforms. The Book Cricket game is live now at https://www.news18.com/games/book-cricket/.
In a tournament where every boundary counts, News18’s digital Book Cricket proves the simplest games can still deliver the biggest smiles no syllabus required, just pure cricket joy one page-flip at a time.
