News Broadcasting
Daniel Puder triumphs on WWE’s ‘Tough Enough’ initiative
MUMBAI: The American fans of World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) have spoken. Daniel Puder has been named the winner of the $1,000,000 Tough Enough competition
In India the WWE airs on Ten Sports.
In the emotional culmination of the intense competition Puder, a former mixed martial arts and cage fighter, has been awarded a WWE contract worth a million dollars. In the final round of voting by the fans Puder defeated Mike The Miz Mizanin, a former star of MTVs Real World: Return to New York.
The eight-week competition by the WWE to find a new wrestling talent began in October. Eight finalists were selected from the thousands of hopefuls that applied hoping they were Tough Enough. Each week on Smackdown!, Tough Enough Trainer Al Snow led the Tough Enough competitors through a ritual of training and challenges.
The competitors were assigned various tasks including a WWE style Capture the Flag competition, a paddle match on pedestals, an arm wrestling match, and a sex test. As part of the competition, the contestants interacted in the ring with WWE superstars that included Kurt Angle, The Basham Brothers, Torrie Wilson and Big Show.
Fans voted each week, exclusively on WWE.com, for their favourite contestant, until the field was narrowed down to only Mizanin and Puder. Their final task was a special Dixie Dog Fight at the Armageddon pay-per-view, where Puder beat Mizanin in a close and competitive match.
Putting the icing on the cake, Puder was informed that he will be competing in the Royal Rumble Match at the Royal Rumble in California. The winner of the match is awarded a championship shot at WrestleMania – a prize most wrestlers can only dream of.
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.
