News Broadcasting
CNN sees integration of services as way to maintain position as global news leader
Three weeks into his new role at the helm of CNN’s operations in the south Asian region, Ian Macintosh, senior vice-president, CNN International, was at pains to point out how far down the road the organisation had come in its attempts to become a television news service with truly global perspective.
To maintain its position as the world’s preeminent news breaking channel, CNN is integrating its traditional news gathering activities with cutting edge interactive technologies on all platforms in the Asia Pacific, Macintosh said.
The regional newsgathering and production centre in Hong Kong provides network programming and on-line production for CNN’s 34 television, radio and new media services worldwide, Macintosh said.
Macintosh stressed that being multi-skilled is central to the digital age. And CNN is using that strategy to position itself strongly in the market.
Macintosh is in India to get an overview of the channel from various quarters. He dwelt at length with media persons at an informal interaction in Mumbai today on the effort at CNN to become truly global in its perspective.
He admitted that his organisation still had a way to go to get rid of the perception that it saw the world through American eyes. “It’s not just a quantitative shift in that CNN International has 50 non-Americans in key positions, but a qualitative one which is reflected in how we cover events,” Macintosh said.
As a case in point, he mentioned some of the reports on Afghanistan that the CNN team had carried out which went much beyond the coverage of the Taliban and its excesses.
Talking specifically on the South Asia channel which was launched last year, Macintosh said the aim was to develop it into one sensitive to the needs of the subcontinent. To achieve that goal, one must understand the market in the region, and his visit was an effort in that direction, he added.
On the question of penetration of the channel in India, Anshuman Misra, who oversees the distribution and marketing of CNN International, said after the channel was encrypted it reached five and a half million homes, mainly in urban centres. Mumbai was where CNN has its highest viewership, Mishra said.
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.
