News Broadcasting
Blockbuster, Coca-Cola announce global marketing alliance
Video-rental chain Blockbuster and Coca-Cola have announced a multi-million dollar, five-year global marketing and product alliance.
The global alliance builds on a distribution agreement the two companies have had since 1995, an official release states. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Blockbuster will continue distributing Coca-Cola products in up to 8,000 Blockbuster stores worldwide. Under the expanded agreement, Coca-Cola will purchase media assets and incentives from the home entertainment provider. The agreement also includes provisions for promotions in America.
From spring 2002, Coca-Cola will purchase space in the video company’s marketing resources, including the in-store television network and direct mail, point-of-sale coupon system.
The first national campaign, the “Steal the Scene” promotion, launches this week, the release states. It features an instant-win game on more than 90 million specially- marked packages of Diet Coke. Additionally, the promotion will extend to customers purchasing Coca-Cola at concession stands at more than 1,400 US movie theaters.
The grand prize is a star-treatment trip to Los Angeles with a walk-on movie role. Other prizes include Club Med vacations, DVD players and a year of free DVD rentals at Blockbuster, digital cameras and free diet Coke product the release states.
A new Diet Coke television ad entitled “Casting Call” has been developed to support the promotion. The ad is a continuation of the successful Diet Coke “Poetry” campaign that debuted in February. There is both a 30-second television spot and a special 60-second version for in-cinema use.
The promotion will also be supported by print and electronic media, including the Blockbuster Entertainment Network and direct mailers, as well as special packaging and point-of-sale materials.
Blockbuster is a publicly traded subsidiary of Viacom. It claims to currently have long-term partnerships with brands including Coca-Cola Company, AOL Time Warner, Daimler Chrysler, H&R Block, MCI and Panasonic.
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.
