News Broadcasting
BBC Worldwide ups Alix Tidmarsh as marketing director
MUMBAI: BBC Worldwide has announced the appointment of Alix Tidmarsh as marketing director. Alix has been heading the company’s intellectual property management (IPM) unit responsible for the marketing of factual programmes.
The IPM unit will now be merged with the marketing services department under Farhana Gani to create an integrated, full service marketing operation for BBC Worldwide. Farhana will report to Alix with the new title of Head of Creative Services, informs a company release.
Reporting to Mike, Alix and her team will act as the company’s central marketing hub, facilitating company-wide marketing projects, and expanding to include all non-children’s TV and consumer-publishing related projects and will help shape the company’s investment strategy.
The team will continue to account manage the BBC specialist factual departments, working with producers and BBC marketing and communications to develop programming with a global multi-media potential and coordinating and managing the global exploitation of those brands across media. The team will continue to develop and manage special projects such as the feature film, Deep Blue and the forthcoming Planet Earth movie, bringing the BBC brand to new audiences, adds the release.
“The role brings, for the first time, our strategic market planning and the creative execution of campaigns together under a single management, with a clear remit that will be more easily understood by our partners in the BBC and in the wider production community,” said BBC Worldwide managing director international television Mike Phillips.
“Alix’s experience and skills are perfect to further develop our marketing strategy and bringing the strategy team together with our highly regarded Creative Services team will enhance our world class capability,” he said.
Alix joined BBC Worldwide in 1998 as Brand Manager for the BBC natural history unit. In her role as director of IPM – factual, she developed the role of marketing factual landmark series on a global basis.
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.
