News Broadcasting
Hanuman, Chhota Birbal next on Cartoon Network
MUMBAI: Hanuman and Chhota Birbal will be the latest additions this year to the seven locally acquired animation series on Cartoon Network in the last two years.
A Pentamedia creation Alibaba will also go on air on the channel by 27 July, according to Turner Entertainment Network senior VP Ian Diamond. This follows the launch of Tenali Raman, the antics of the popular minister in the court of Krishnadevaraya, a 13 part series that kicked off on 14 June and will be aired weekends. Tenali Raman is produced by the Hyderabad based Toonz Animation for Cartoon Network.
Cartoon Network globally has in fact set aside an amount of $500 million over a period of five years for the creation of original animation, says Diamond. Locally produced animation with themes revolving around Indian mythical and historical characters has in fact been a hit with Indian audiences and viewership now touches 18 million households, as against 15 million last year, according to Diamond.
Chhota Birbal is the product of an agreement with Climb Media and is a fictional take on a time when Mughal Emperor Akbar and his minister, friend and wisest counsel, Birbal were kids. The series showcases their fictional baby-sized adventures. Alibaba on the other hand, comes from the Pentamedia stable, which earlier produced Pandavas and Sinbad series for Cartoon Network.
“We are very serious about cartoons,” says Diamond, maintaining that the channel is concentrating on a strong mix of Japanese, Indian and Chinese animation in addition to the eternal Western favourites that are run on the channel.
The rise of India as an ‘animation hub’ has helped the channel source more content from within the country, avers Diamond. The high cost per episode has however impeded the introduction of longer series thus far. All the series thus far have had runs of a maximum of 13 episodes.
News Broadcasting
News18 India to air Sabse Bada Dangal on 4 May counting day
Channel promises fastest results, live trends and analysis across five states.
MUMBAI: Ballots will do the talking and screens will do the shouting. As counting day approaches for high-stakes Assembly elections across West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Assam and Puducherry, News18 India is gearing up for an all-day broadcast of its flagship election show, Sabse Bada Dangal, on 4 May from 6 am onwards. The Hindi news channel plans to deliver continuous, real-time updates as votes are tallied, combining live counting data with on-ground reporting and studio analysis. With political fortunes set to shift through the day, the coverage will track every swing, surge and surprise as trends turn into results.
The broadcast will feature a mix of senior political leaders, analysts and experts, offering instant reactions and decoding the evolving electoral picture. Expect heated debates, quick takes and detailed breakdowns as the numbers settle across all five states.
For News18 India, counting day has long been a high-visibility moment. The network is banking on its reporting reach, editorial bandwidth and technology-driven coverage to stay ahead in what is often a fiercely competitive news cycle.
With multiple battlegrounds and shifting narratives, the day promises both drama and data in equal measure. And if all goes to plan, Sabse Bada Dangal will once again turn the counting of votes into prime-time spectacle.
