News Broadcasting
Media gives AAP an upper hand as Delhi goes to poll
MUMBAI: With 12 million voters, 70 seats and four major national parties contesting elections, New Delhi has become the focal point for all the news channels for the next four days. The entire news fraternity is covering the election with esteem supervision, with not even a single incident staying unreported. Interviews, analysis, opinion polls, poll of polls, panel discussions and debates are the daily offerings.
Narrating the political significance of Delhi, NDTV co-founder Prannoy Roy during his show ‘Battleground Delhi’ where he was joined by Shekhar Gupta and Dorab Soopariwala said, “Delhi election is a big big election and the whole question is will there be a continuation of the impact of Modi juggernaut or the Modi juggernaut will hit the pot holes and take a setback.”
The growth of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the downfall of Indian National Congress (INC) have made life difficult for Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). No clear picture is evolving from the battle ground and that makes pollsters’ job extremely difficult. Soliciting tweet came from veteran journalist Rajdeep Sardesai, “Suprabhatam! Feel sorry for pollsters. get it wrong, will be accused of being bazaaru if they get it right, will be called tukka!” is what he tweeted.
When asked about the relevance of opinion polls and exit polls BAG Network chairperson and MD Anuradha Prasad told Indiantelevision.com, “Election is a festival of democracy and the surveys are a part of it. The opinion polls do leave a small impact on voters mind.” On the credibility quotient Prasad added, “We have our own team of surveyors consisting of 70 to 80 specialists who are working hard day and night to get the most relevant figures.”
ABP News managing editor Milind Khandelkar added, “We don’t do any on field survey; Ac Nielsen conducts the survey for us which we telecast on all of our channels. We have a distinguished panel consisting of different expertise, and we analyse the numbers to come to a relevant conclusion.”
With elections, comes opinion polls and this time, like every other time, news channels have given out their verdict much before the counting day. As per the ABP + Nielsen opinion polls, Delhi could see a hung assembly with AAP closest to victory with 35 seats followed by BJP with 29 and Congress with 6 seats.
NDTV on its analysis predicts an absolute majority for AAP with 37 seats, followed by BJP with 29 and Congress with 4.
India Today analysis also gives an upper hand to AAP. The venture predicted 38 – 46 seats for AAP, 19 – 25 seats for BJP and 3 – 7 seats for Congress.
The IMRB survey has got a different data. Its data indicated absolute majority for BJP with 36 seats followed by AAP with 29 and Congress with 4.
The ET/ TNS survey gives Kiran Bedi lead BJP an upper hand with 36 – 40 seats. AAP is predicted to get 28 – 32 while Congress was restricted to mere 3 by the surveyors.
Arvind Kejriwal tweeted, “Sources- BJP workers have given up in many places, similar to how cong workers gave up in last elections. They are completely demoralized.”
Prime Minister Modi urged the youth to cast their votes by tweeting, “As Delhi votes today, urging voters to go out & vote in large numbers. I particularly call upon my young friends to vote in record numbers.”
At the time of filing the report, 64 per cent voters had successfully registered their opinion.
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.
