News Broadcasting
Alpha’s Apna awards to heighten viewer loyalty
NEW DELHI: The countrys first private regional language channel in non-southern states of India, Alpha Marathi, turns five on 15 August and wants to celebrate in style by adopting the triple A or the Apna Alpha Awards.
The triple A is a concept that seeks to further increase interactivity between the channel and its viewers who get to vote their favourite serials, actors etc on this Marathi language channel, which has claimed that in terms of TRPs, it runs neck and neck with Star Plus.
We conceived the Apna Alpha Award event not only to celebrate completion of five years, but also reward our viewers and involve them more in the functioning of the channel, Alpha Marathi channel Nitin Vaidya says.
A gala event, after the whole voting process is over, would be held in Mumbai on 11 August and televised on Alpha Marathi on 15 August. On the same day, names of 10 winning families will be announced and will be crowned the Alpha Marathi families. These families will get surprise gift hampers and recognition from the channel.
Alpha Marathi business head Nitin Vaidya
Pointing out that Alpha Marathi has become a household name not only in Maharashtra, but also in Marathi speaking pockets of India, Vaidya says the channel caters to almost six million cable and satellite homes in Maharashtra only.
Zee Telefilms Ltd, which owns the Alpha Marathi channel and brand, does see an opportunity in Triple A as it could be built up into a big TV event, something to the effect that Star India has done with Star Parivaar Awards on Star Plus.
Though Vaidya is loathe to admit that his brain-child has resemblance to a rivals product, he does admit with candour that there are plans to make the Triple A event an annual feature from this year, which would be promoted and televised in a big way.
For this year, we are positioning the awards as a mini general elections as it is appropriately placed after the Lok Sabha (parliamentary) elections and before the state assembly elections in Maharashtra, Vaidya said.
Though a primary part of the promotional activities would be on-air, some on-ground initiatives too have been lined up, all of which would start in about 10 days. Apart from Mumbai, on-ground promotional activities would be held in most other cities in the state with population of over a million.
There are three ways by which viewers can vote — through physical ballot papers that will be available at the all the 1,000 Playwin counters and through cable operators (900 head ends in Maharashtra would be used for this); through SMS on 7575 and through IVRS (interactive voice recording system).
Close to 10 lakh ballot papers will be available for the viewers, Vaidya said, adding that producers of programmes on Alpha Marathi have been mobilised to create awareness about their respective programmes amongst their viewer segment.
What would be the budget of an event like this be? Vaidya goes mum on this, preferring to say that considering that other award shows like Alpha Gaurav draw good attention and recognition for advertisers from viewers, Apna Alpha Award too will be another step in the same direction. We are in the process of tying up sponsors, he adds.
Would the triple A event deliver the TV ratings for Alpha Marathi? One would have to wait and see.
News Broadcasting
WITT Summit 2026 concludes in New Delhi
Babar Azam’s comical diving attempt goes viral as league introduces anti-dew measures.
MUMBAI: The WITT Summit just wrapped up with enough big ideas to fill a policy playbook because when India’s leaders, thinkers and icons gather under one roof, even the conversations hit sixes. The eighth edition of TV9 Network’s flagship What India Thinks Today (WITT) Summit 2026 concluded on Saturday after two days of dynamic discussions at its New Delhi venue. India’s largest multi-domain public policy and culture summit brought together political leaders, policymakers, sports icons, artists and technology innovators to examine the forces shaping contemporary India and its global standing.
Prime minister Narendra Modi delivered the keynote address on the theme “India and the World” for the third consecutive year. In a wide-ranging speech, he addressed the ongoing conflict in West Asia, calling for restraint and compassion while highlighting India’s continued development trajectory despite global turmoil.
The summit featured candid conversations with state leaders. Telangana Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy articulated a people-first governance model and contrasted it with other development approaches. Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav declared that Left-wing extremism had been effectively eliminated in his state and highlighted preparations for the upcoming Kumbh Mela. Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann defended his government’s record, citing the closure of 19 toll plazas and creation of the Sadak Suraksha Force. Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar expressed confidence in Congress prospects in Assam and addressed recent allegations against him.
On geopolitics and national security, Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia outlined India’s ambition to become a builder of trusted digital infrastructure for the world, citing the rapid 5G rollout and village-level 4G connectivity.
Cricket received significant attention. Former India captain Sourav Ganguly praised player freedom and trust as hallmarks of great leadership and named MS Dhoni as the greatest captain due to his World Cup successes. India women’s team bowling coach Aavishkar Salvi credited the BCCI and Women’s Premier League for building a pipeline of world-class talent behind the team’s recent ODI World Cup triumph.
The summit also hosted the inaugural AI² Awards 2026, celebrating the convergence of human creativity and machine intelligence in storytelling and content creation. Poet and kathavachak Kumar Vishwas delivered a nuanced take on India’s concept of Dharma and criticised the recent arrest of an 80-year-old Shankaracharya. Veteran lyricist Sameer Anjaan and storyteller Neelesh Misra reflected on changing music trends and artistic responsibility in the wake of a recent controversy involving Nora Fatehi.
In a country where conversations often run as deep as the Ganges, the WITT Summit proved once again that when leaders, thinkers and storytellers come together, the real winner is public discourse lively, layered and refreshingly unafraid to tackle the big questions shaping India’s tomorrow.
