News Broadcasting
Kkusum nominated for ‘favourite drama’ on Cable TV Awards in UK
Kkusum, the long suffering soap on Sony has made it to the nominations for the ‘favourite drama on cable’ in the fifth edition of the Cable TV Awards for viewers in the UK.
Presented by Scorpio Multimedia, publishers of Cable Guide also sees the Big three broadcasters of Indian television – Star, Zee and Sony competing in the ‘Favourite International Channel’ category.
Kkusum locks horns with ER (E4), Dream Team (Sky One),Judging Amy (Hallmark), Now And Again (Sci Fi) and Coronation Street (ITV2). Favourite children’s/teen channel sees kids’ channel Cartoon Network going head to head with Disney Channel, Fox Kids, Nickelodeon and Toon Disney.
B4U pops up in the ‘favourite film channel’ along with TCM which was replaced by Cartoon Network in India a while ago. Star News, the Indian news channel of the Star group competes in the ‘favourite news channel’ category, pitted against the the world’s major news broadcasters BBC and CNN.
Nikki Bedi, who hosts ‘The Studio News’ has been nominated for ‘Favourite Presenter on Cable’ (first run). Bedi reviews the latest cinematic releases in the UK and across the world on the show every week. ‘Cable Guide’s International Star of Stars Special’ sees Jennifer Aniston of ‘Friends’ fame and ‘Soprano’ James Gandolfini compete. Both air in the UK on E4, while in India they air on Zee English.
Online votes can be cast by UK citizens for the awards on http://www.cableguide.co.uk/awards/. Polling ends on 8 July.
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.
