News Broadcasting
BARC ratings: CNN-News18 races ahead of competitors to become No.1 on counting day
Mumbai: According to the latest data by the Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC), CNN-News18 has emerged as the undisputed leader in the English news genre on the counting day of 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
The channel amassed a 41.1 per cent market share on the crucial counting day, whereas its closest competitor on the second position captured a distant 24 per cent market share. (Source: BARC | Metric: Market Share per cent | TG:15+ AB | Period: 4 June 24, 24 Hrs | Market Share: 7 Channels Considered)
The impressive performance of CNN-News18 is attributed to its precise reporting, real-time updates from counting centres, expert views and insightful analysis of the results throughout the day. With quality production, engaging graphics and news television’s top anchors such as Zakka Jacob, Anand Narasimhan, Shivani Gupta and Rahul Shivshankar, CNN-News18’s presentation elucidated complex trends and data, making it easily accessible to the audience.
With 5.5 lakh concurrent views on YouTube, CNN-News18 recorded the highest YouTube viewership during the crucial counting hour. (Source: DataBeings, 4 June, 2024, 1:00 PM)
CNN-News18’s programming on counting day started at 6 AM, bringing the most accurate trends throughout the day. Combined with live on-ground reportage, the Counting Day coverage stayed on top of all key developments and reactions as they came in.
News Broadcasting
Rajesh Sundaram joins NDTV Profit as senior editor, assignment
The 32-year newsroom veteran has launched channels on three continents and covered everything from 9/11 to South African television
MUMBAI: NDTV Profit has bolstered its newsroom with a hire who has done rather more than most. Rajesh Sundaram, a journalist with over three decades of editorial, managerial and consultative experience across India and international markets, joins as senior editor, assignment, tasked with sharpening the network’s newsgathering and real-time response.
Sundaram’s career reads like a tour of Indian media’s most formative moments. He began at Businessworld in 1994, moved to Zee News as bureau chief across Mumbai and Chennai, then joined NDTV in 2002 as part of its political bureau during a particularly febrile period in Indian politics. A stint as India correspondent for Al Jazeera International followed, where he covered key geopolitical developments and got his first serious taste of the global newsroom.
What sets Sundaram apart, however, is his serial channel-launching habit. At NewsX, he helped get the operation off the ground. At Headlines Today, part of the India Today Group, he served as editor. At News Nation, he helped launch the Hindi news channel and its digital ecosystem. He then crossed continents to lead the launch of ANN7 in South Africa as editor-in-chief, overseeing both television and digital. Back in India, he launched Tamil news channels News7 Tamil and Cauvery News, and later served as principal consultant for the launch of Marathi channel Lokshahi. Most recently, he helped build and lead the Press Trust of India’s video service and content studio, before stints consulting for Business Today and The Himalayan Times.
Rahul Kanwal, chief executive and editor-in-chief of NDTV, left little doubt about what Sundaram is expected to deliver. “The assignment desk is where a newsroom’s intent becomes action,” he said. “Rajesh brings a rare combination of field experience and leadership in building news operations at scale.”
Sundaram has reported from across India and the world, covering elections, civil conflicts, the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks and the 2008 US presidential election.
At NDTV Profit, he will lead the assignment desk, driving editorial coordination and real-time response across markets and breaking developments. For a business news network sharpening its focus on speed and multi-platform delivery, it has hired a man who has built newsrooms from scratch on three continents. The assignment desk is in good hands.
