News Broadcasting
BBC buys UK rights to Stephen King series from SPTI
LONDON: The BBC has acquired exclusive UK TV rights from Sony Pictures Television International to broadcast the new series, Stephen King’s Kingdom Hospital.
It is based on Danish director Lars Von Trier’s 1994 and 1997 Danish TV mini-series Riget (The Kingdom). The show has been described as a blend of the popular hospital series ER and the Stephen King classic The Shining. It stars Ed Begley Jr, Andrew McCarthy Diane Ladd and Bruce Davison. The supernatural drama is set in a modern hospital built on the site of an ancient mill and the Old Kingdom hospital Both were destroyed by fire. In this location ghosts from the past invade the present.
The director is Craig Baxley, who also directed Stephen King’s Rose Red. BBC’s acquisitions controller George McGhee added, “We are very pleased that the BBC has exclusive first UK rights to this smart and edgy series from Stephen King, the master of suspense. The BBC will broadcast Stephen King’s Kingdom Hospital later this year.” Series one will air in the US with a 90 minutes premiere in February 2004.
News Broadcasting
Times Network to air JVC Exit Poll across 5 regions on April 29
Four-hour broadcast spans states and Puducherry with data-led analysis
MUMBAI: Times Network is set to roll out what it calls one of its most expansive election programming efforts yet, culminating in the JVC Exit Poll on 29 April, with a multi-hour broadcast spanning key poll-bound regions.
The exit poll will air across Times Now and Times Now Navbharat, beginning at 5pm and 4pm respectively. Co-powered by Vedanta and Jindal Stainless, the programming aims to combine on-ground reportage with data-driven projections across West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Assam and Puducherry.
The network has deployed over 50 journalists across these regions, gathering voter sentiment and local insights in the run-up to polling. The effort builds on its ongoing election formats such as Election Yatra and Election Premier League, which have tracked campaign narratives and community-level issues.
In parallel, Times Now Navbharat has focused on constituency-level reporting in West Bengal through its Jan Gan ka Mann series, capturing voter opinions across diverse segments.
The coverage has also featured interviews with prominent political leaders. Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Congress leaders Ramesh Chennithala and V D Satheesan have appeared on the network’s election specials. From Tamil Nadu, voices including deputy chief minister Udhayanidhi Stalin, DMK MP Dayanidhi Maran, BJP leader K Annamalai and NTK’s Seeman have also featured in discussions.
On the day of the exit poll, the network’s primetime anchors, including Navika Kumar, Zakka Jacob and Sumit Awasthi, will lead the coverage. They will be joined by a panel of political analysts, psephologists and senior journalists offering real-time insights and interpretation of trends.
The programming will integrate grassroots reportage with analytics from the JVC Exit Poll, aiming to give viewers an early sense of electoral outcomes ahead of the official results on 4 May.
With its combined English and Hindi broadcast reach, Times Network is positioning this effort as a comprehensive look at voter sentiment, blending field reporting, data and debate to decode what could lie ahead when the final mandate is revealed.
