News Broadcasting
ABC to air ‘Ugly Betty’ full season
MUMBAI: The American version The Ugly Betty or the original Colombian show Yo Soy Betty La Fea or the Indianised version Jassi Jaissi Koi Nahin has charmed audiences of all territories.
The US network ABC has given a full-season order to Ugly Betty, which has emerged as the most-watched new series of the 2006-07 season.
Produced by Salma Hayek and stars America Ferrera as Betty Suarez, the show has already established itself a solid second to CBS’ Survivor at 8 pm.
Among the age bracket of 18-49 years, the show Ugly Betty has drawn an average rating/share of 4.7/13, while holding the top position on average with adults 18-34 year (4.0/12). The show has improved the time period for ABC by 96 per cent in total viewers (15.3 million against 7.8 million) and by 92 per cent in adults 18-49 (4.8/14 against 2.5/7) over the same nights last year, according to media reports.
ABC Entertainment president Stephen McPherson noted, “In just two weeks Ugly Betty has given us an impressive foothold leading into the Grey’s Anatomy hour on Thursday night. The show has proven to be competitive in a very strong time period, and we’re thrilled with Ugly Betty’s performance.”
In India, the version Jassi Jaissi Koi Nahin aired on Sony and had won 3.6 average TVR for the first week of its launch in 2003. The show and the lead character Jassi had become the unofficial mascot for Sony.
SET CEO Kunal Dasgupta told to indiantelevision.com in 2004, that Jassi had fetched Sony four million new viewers in the general entertainment category, while the slot sampling too has grown by 300 per cent in the first one year. “The TVRs, naturally, have also shot up by over 300 per cent,” he 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.
