News Broadcasting
DD Bharati gets serious about original content with in house shows
Prasar Bharati has apparently decided to give the fledgling DD Bharati a shot in the arm with some original content.
The channel has commenced a live phone in show titled Meri Baat in association with several schools across the country. Open to students in the age group of eight to 20 years, the programme is telecast five days a week from Wednesdays to Sundays, between 6 and 7 pm. The forum includes an audience of 25 children and 10 parents and teachers, besides three panelists who could be educationists, counsellors and doctors.
DD Bharati has also launched the shooting of an in house programme titled Kisse Ek Hazar, a series of stories sourced from across the world. Touted as an ‘endless world of stories, games, puzzles’, the series will also see a set of itinerant story tellers travelling villages and towns, singing old and contemporary tales of great deeds. The 13 episode series is directed by Irpinder Bhatia, while music has been composed by eminent musician B V Karanth.
The channel is also sprucing up its cultural segment, the second in its three-prong vision of projecting the health-culture-children wealth of the country. It has launched a weekly cultural show Kala Parikrama, a Sunday evening show that is a round up of cultural events in the fields of art, culture, music and literature in and around Delhi. The programme, produced by Vimal Issar and presented by Shivani Wazir Pasrich, is telecast Sundays at 8 pm and repeated on Mondays at 10 am.
One point. If DD Bharati is being promoted as a national channel, celebrating India’s culture, how does a weekly round-up of the cultural events in the capital qualify for a special slot.
News Broadcasting
UDF poised to return to power in Kerala, says Manorama-CVoter survey
Massive opinion poll projects shift in Kerala politics ahead of 2026 Assembly elections.
MUMBAI: The winds of change appear to be blowing through Kerala’s political landscape and this time, they seem to favour the United Democratic Front. A comprehensive mega opinion survey conducted by Manorama News in partnership with CVoter projects a potential comeback for the UDF in the upcoming Kerala Legislative Assembly Elections 2026. The survey, covering all 140 constituencies with a massive sample size of nearly 90,000 respondents, predicts the UDF could win between 69 and 81 seats.
The ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF) is expected to secure 57 to 69 seats, a significant drop from the 99 seats it won in the 2021 elections. This would mean the LDF losing 30 to 42 of its sitting seats. Meanwhile, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), which drew a blank in 2021, is projected to open its account with 1 to 5 seats.
Region-wise, the UDF is expected to make strong gains in Malabar, winning 25 to 34 out of 48 seats, and in Central Kerala, where it could bag 29 to 33 out of 53 seats. In South Kerala, the LDF is likely to retain an edge with 21 to 25 seats, while the UDF may improve to 12 to 16 seats. The NDA could pick up 1 to 3 seats in the southern region.
The survey was conducted between 14 and 26 March 2026, with additional tracker and snap polls carried out from December 2025 to March 2026. A total of 89,693 respondents participated, ensuring representation across all demographics and social segments.
Manorama News has a strong track record of accuracy, with its previous projections closely matching the actual results of the 2019 and 2024 Lok Sabha elections as well as the 2021 Kerala Assembly polls.
In Kerala’s famously fierce political battles, this survey suggests the pendulum may be swinging back. Whether the final verdict matches these numbers or throws up another surprise, one thing is clear, the 2026 Assembly elections are shaping up to be one of the most keenly watched contests in the state’s history.
