News Broadcasting
Fox ups American Idol age limit
MUMBAI: Fox has announced that the age limit to audition for its Popstar-hunt show American Idol has been raised by two years – from 26 to 28.
Fox programming chief Gail Berman is quoted in reports as saying, “the change came about after producers grew tired of turning talented individuals away due to their age.”
“I’m sure there are people who are tremendously talented above that, but we’re talking about people who hope to have pop careers afterwards,” said he.
Auditions for the fourth season of Idol begin on 4 August in Cleveland. Additional tryouts are scheduled in Washington, D.C.; Orlando; St. Louis; New Orleans; Las Vegas; Anchorage; and San Francisco and will continue through 5 October.
Season three winner 19-year-old Fantasia has been riding high at the top of the charts with her first single, “I Believe”/”Chain of Fools,” besting the most recent efforts of fellow Idol alums Clay Aiken and Diana DeGarmo, according to Nielsen SoundScan figures.
American Idol has three Emmy nominations this year — two in technical categories and one for outstanding reality competition program.
News Broadcasting
Uma Sudhir signs off from NDTV after 27 years
The executive editor shaped NDTV’s southern reportage for nearly three decades
NEW DELHI: Senior journalist Uma Sudhir has retired from NDTV, bringing to a close a 27-year association with the network.
Sudhir served as executive editor, heading NDTV’s south India editorial operations. Over nearly three decades, she emerged as one of the most recognisable faces of on-ground reporting from the region, with sustained coverage of politics, governance and social issues across Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.
At NDTV, Sudhir played a central role in strengthening regional journalism within national television news. Her reporting consistently connected local developments to the national conversation, ensuring stories from the field shaped policy debates beyond studio discussions. Known for her boots-on-the-ground approach, she came to represent a generation of reporters whose authority rested on fieldwork rather than prime-time punditry.
An award-winning journalist, Sudhir is a recipient of the Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism Award and the Chameli Devi Jain Award. Her body of work has been widely recognised for its public-interest focus, spanning elections, governance, gender issues, rural distress, environmental reporting and social justice.
