News Broadcasting
CBS unveils five series with familiar stars
MUMBAI: CBS has crafted a traditionalist’s schedule, bringing in Jason Alexander, Rob Lowe and John Goodman to anchor new series.
The nation’s most popular network unveiled three new dramas and two new comedies in a schedule presented to advertisers yesterday. Its five new series that are scripted features many recognizable stars, says an official press release.
Alexander will try to break the Seinfeld curse that has doomed new series featuring himself, Michael Richards and Julia Louis-Dreyfus in the last few years. In Listen Up,he’ll play a character based on Washington Post sportswriter Tony Kornheiser.CBS also gave him a comfortable time slot among its hit Monday comedies.”This is a very commercial vehicle for him,” said CBS Chairman Leslie Moonves. Lowe, who played a lawyer last year in NBC’s short-lived The Lyon’s Den, will be a doctor at a Las Vegas casino in Dr. Vegas.
In Center of the Universe, Goodman plays a security company owner with Ed Asner portraying his father, Olympia Dukakis his mother and Jean Smart his wife.
The spinoff CSI: NY which was set up in a highly rated episode of CSI: Miami on Monday, will compete against NBC’s franchise show Law and Order in the same Wednesday time slot. Gary Siniseand Melina Kanakaredes are the new CSI stars.
CBS is canceling the dramas Hack, ,The District and The Guardian. The comedy Yes, Dear is off the schedule, but CBS has ordered 13 episodes for a midseason replacement.The network also said it will make a midseason comedy starring Jenna Elfman, made by the creator of Dharma and Greg.
CBS also becomes the latest network to essentially punt on Saturday nights, the least-watched night of the week on broadcast television. Instead of three costly dramas, it will go a less expensive route with the news magazine 48 Hours Mysteries, the reality show The Amazing Race and CSI reruns.
With 60 Minutes founder Don Hewitt stepping down, CBS is stripping the ‘II’ from the Wednesday spinoff 60 Minutes II.
The fifth new series will be Clubhouse,a feel-good drama about a 16-year-old boy who becomes a batboy for the mythical New York Empires.
CBS also stepped up its rivalry with NBC on the eve of the springtime buying frenzy known as the upfront, when advertisers are expected to spend some $9 billion on commercials for next season.
CBS used personalities like Pete Rose, former California Gov. Gray Davis and Liza Minnelli in skits, and concluded their Carnegie Hall presentation with a performance by The Who.
Although CBS has the most viewers, NBC earns more ad revenue because it has more of the younger fans that advertisers prefer.
Moonves said “CBS, more than NBC, has become the network of quality programming”.
Before Wednesday’s sales presentation to ad buyers, CBS executives met to tone down the references they planned to make to Friends departing NBC’s schedule.
They couldn’t resist, however, bringing out Beatles imitators to sing They No Longer Have `Friends’ to the tune of With a Little Help From My Friends.
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.
