News Broadcasting
Apurva Purohit to head Times TV project
MUMBAI: Apurva Purohit, the soon to be former employee of the Subhash Chandra-promoted Zee Telefilms, is joining the Times Group as head of its television project.
Purohit is currently serving out her notice following her resignation as Zee TV president last month and has her last day at the office on 31 January.
When contacted by indiantelevision.com Purohit said, “The final details would be known when I reach there. But my repsonsibilities would include charting out positioning of the entertainment channel(s), detailing the distribution aspects and other things that go to make a TV channel a reality.”
Though Purohit was not ready to spelll out the details, Times sources that as the COO of the TV venture, she would be responsible for more than one channel – one entertainment and one news channel, initially. Purohit, who’ll be reporting to Bennet, Coleman & Co. Ltd. executive director Arun Arora, also did not spell out a time frame for the launch of the proposed channel(s).
“Those things would become clear once I join formally,” she added. Though Purohit’s notice period at Zee Telefilms runs through January till the 31st, industry sources indicated that she’s trying to work out a deal whereby Subhash Chandra’s company lets go of her before the deadline so that she’d get some time off before she plunges headlong again into the media business, probably, from February.
According to the information available with indiantelevision.com, Times Group managing director Vineet Jain is quite gung ho about the TV project and has reportedly pushed the effort into high gear. Some alliance with a UK-based broadcaster is also being talked about in this regard.
A management graduate from IIM Bangalore, Purohit has been in the advertising and media business for nigh on 17 years. She joined Zee in mid-June 2002 from FCB Ulka’s media unit Lodestar where she was media director. Starting with client servicing, Purohit crossed over to media planning in the mid-90s.
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.
