News Broadcasting
Australia Network set to launch on DD Direct+
MUMBAI: DD Direct+ consumers, starting November, will have an added network to their channel list. Following a recent agreement between ABC International and Doordarshan, Australia Network is all set to launch on DD Direct+.
Australia Network is a 24/7 entertainment and news channel offering viewers a mix of content from around Australia and the region covering news, sport, science, education, arts, children’s programming, drama and English language learning. The channel is available in 45 countries across the Asia and Pacific region.
To mark the launch of the new service, the ABC’s agenda-setting panel discussion programme, Q&A, wasl broadcast live from Delhi on Monday 18 November. Q & A’s host, Tony Jones, led a high profile panel which included India’s Minister of State for Human Resource Development Shashi Tharoor; former Australian cricketer Stuart MacGill; Australian-born Bollywood star Pallavi Sharda; outspoken conservative commentator Swapan Dasgupta; Tehelka editor Shoma Chaudhury and award-winning TV host and journalist Karan Thapar. The panel discussed issues of mutual interest to both countries in front of an audience comprising both Indians and Australians.
ABC International is also set to launch a new website for India, AustraliaPlus.com/India – the new digital home of the best of Australian content covering arts and culture, business, education, health, lifestyle, news and current affairs, science, sports, technology and travel. The website will offer content in both English and Hindi as well as will have an Indian news feed from Doordashan. The website’s launch closely follows the introduction of ABC International’s Chinese mobile phone app into the China market last month.
“As 2013 nears an end, we are seeing an enormous growth in the sharing of content between India and Australia through a number of channels,” said ABC International CEO Lynley Marshall.
Marshall said the initiatives reflected the growing demand for more information about contemporary Australian life, the growing connections in business, education and tourism and the people to people links.
DD Direct+ CEO Jawhar Sircar said, “We really look forward to having ABC hosted on our DD Direct+ as it helps Indians to understand and appreciate Australia and its culture in a far better manner, and with more depth than at present.”
“We also look forward to ABC assisting and guiding us in telling Australian audiences more about India, its people, and its culture,” he added.
Australia Network is also available in key metropolitan markets across the Indian sub-continent via a number of regional cable and satellite television operators.
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.
