News Broadcasting
Discovery US probing the reality genre
MUMBAI: Last year Discovery US entered the reality genre with American Chopper. The documentary style reality series chronicled a family-owned motorcycle building business in a small upstate New York town. Encouraged by the response the broadcaster is said to be developing 12 primetime pilots.
A Reuters report indicates that the broadcaster is trying to find new ways to innovate its Discovery genres. Discovery already has begun airing pilots on Friday nights and gauging their ratings performance in consideration of a full-series order. Gold Star Racing a three-episode arc about the world of go-kart competition is being tested, with Discovery expected to make a decision soon. Another potential series being prepared focuses on a family in the Alaskan crab fishing business.
Meanwhile film and video production company Hoggard Films will produce Forbidden Zone for the broadcaster. The show is expected to go on air during the last quarter of the year. This 13-part series will explore the culture of urban exploration. It will go into abandoned structures, tunnels, bridges, towers, the hidden zones in American cities where people fear to walk into or at least have no idea that they exist.
Hoggard Films is in the process of assembling a team comprising of four individuals with plenty of flair, expertise and character. They will set out on various exotic urban adventures. At each stop they will meet members of the local urban exploration community, who will help them along their way.
The company has announced a casting call. People interested have to submit tapes of themselves by 13 February. The people being sought are
– An adventurous, dynamic, structural engineer –interest in urban exploration & archeology is a plus.
– A hip, buff female rock climber/extreme athlete
– A dynamic, young caver
– A quirky cutting-edge electronics whiz.
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.
