News Broadcasting
After Latin America, Endemol launches MMS soap in Oz, New Zealand
MUMBAI: Until now viewers relied on the boob tube to watch soaps. But it won’t remain so for long as now with soaps being made available on mobile phones, people can watch them on their phone where ever they are.
Global production factory Endemol has sold its comic strip-style MMS (multimedia service) soap FanTESStic to territories like – Australia, New Zealand and Mexico. The company sold FanTESStic into Spain, the UK, Ireland, Chile and Argentina earlier this year.
Produced by Endemol Netherlands, the interactive mobile series was initially brought to the Spanish market by the mobile arm of Endemol’s parent company Telefonica.
Endemol has also previously sold to the UK and Ireland (via Vodafone) and Italy, and is now set for a Mexican launch later this year following a deal recently closed with mobile content provider Naranja.
The Australian and New Zealand deals are with Slice Wireless.
The interactive photo/comic strip series is a subscription-based service, comprising three MMS messages and five images a week. It is especially made for MMS phones and is currently not available in any other format.
The series consists of 80 episodes, in which a real person with genuine human emotions tells her story against the backdrop of a virtual world, with virtual scenery and virtual situations. Endemol says that FanTESStic is flexible in that it allows the storyline and type of subscription to be suited to suit local preferences and target groups.
FanTESStic will cost $6.60 for three episodes per week.
Following the launch in Australia and New Zealand, FanTESStic is now available in seven countries. Story lines and forms of subscription can be adapted to local preferences and target groups.
News Broadcasting
CNN-News18 to host Kolkata Town Hall on Hooghly River
‘Bhalobasa Bengal Inspiring Bharat’ event on April 20 brings cultural icons, trailblazing women and leaders aboard a cruise to celebrate Bengal’s enduring influence.
MUMBAI: Bengal is about to make fresh waves on the Hooghly and this time the current is pure conversation. CNN-News18 is taking its iconic Town Hall format to the waters of the iconic Hooghly River on 20 April 2026 with a special edition titled ‘Bhalobasa Bengal – Inspiring Bharat’. The floating event will celebrate the state’s rich cultural legacy and how its ideas, creativity and spirit continue to shape the rest of the country.
The unique riverside setting draws on Bengal’s history as a cradle of reform, art and intellectual thought. The speaker line-up mirrors that diversity: cultural heavyweights Mithun Chakraborty and Sreenanda Shankar will share the stage with trailblazing “Devis” such as Tanya Sanyal (India’s first woman firefighter in aviation), Ipsita Chakraborty (Kolkata’s first woman bartender) and Reshma Nilofer Visalakshi (Nari Shakti awardee and marine pilot). Music will flow through the celebrated pianist-vocalist duo Sourendro and Soumyojit, while public life and governance will be represented by Smriti Irani, Leander Paes, Saira Shah Halim, Keya Ghosh, Rekha Patra, Roopa Ganguly and Babul Supriyo.
CNN-News18, editorial affairs director, Rahul Shivshankar, said the event honours voices that carry Bengal’s legacy forward. Smriti Mehra, CEO – English & Business News, Network18, added that Bengal’s stories resonate far beyond its borders, especially as the state heads into polls.
From the first woman to battle flames in the skies to legendary actors who shaped Indian cinema, the gathering promises a rich mix of inspiration, courage and candid dialogue. In a city where culture has always flowed as freely as the river itself, CNN-News18 is turning the Hooghly into a floating forum for ideas that matter.
Tune in on 20 April on CNN-News18, CTV and YouTube to catch Bengal’s heartbeat in full flow.
