News Broadcasting
BBC to kick off search for anthem for 2012 Olympics
MUMBAI: UK pubcaster the BBC has announced that its radio station BBC London’s Anthem for 2012 Olympics competition launches next week inviting all Londoners to compose an anthem for the capital.
BBC London in conjunction with Sing London – a festival to take place this summer to is looking for the song which will become synonymous with London.
Each year from now until 2012, a song will be chosen by BBC London viewers and listeners to compete to be BBC London’s Anthem for 2012. This the BBC is hopinh will be the tune on everyone’s lips when the Olympics take place.
This year’s winner will be arranged and performed by professionals and will also get huge exposure this summer during the Sing London Festival. It will form part of the programme of singing events around the city in such prestigious venues as The Roundhouse and the South Bank.
It will also be sung in schools across London as we move towards the Olympics and will be available for download at bbc.co.uk/london and singlondon.org.
The closing date for entries for this year’s competition is 5 April 2007. bbc.co.uk/london for all entry details. The song should be no longer than three minutes.
A panel of experts, including BBC London 94.9’s Robert Elms, will select a shortlist of five songs.
In early May the BBC London audience will hear all five shortlisted songs, arranged and performed by professionals. BBC London listeners and viewers will vote for the winner.
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.
