News Broadcasting
Moratorium on non-Kannada films: 21 theatres announce closure
BANGALORE: Protesting a government committee’s decision to delay the entry of non-Kannada films in Karnataka for seven weeks after release, a section of the state’s film theatre owners have stopped screening films from today.
A total of 21 theatres have announced their decision to stop functioning.
The theatres which have shuttered their ticket windows as per the Karnataka Cinema Theater Owners Association (KCTOA), include: Innovative Multiplex, Symphony, Rex, Abhinay, Kailash, Tribhuvan, Menaka, Cauvery, Urvashi, Natraj, Sampige, Naga, Lavanaya, Sri Balaji, Vaibhav, Pradeep, Parimala, Pushpanjali, Radhakrishna, Movieland and Sangeet.
As reported by Indiantelevision.com early last week, under pressure from Karnataka Film Producers Association (KFPA) and Karnataka Film Directors Association (KFDA), a government sponsored panel headed by the chief secretary K P Pandey had recommended that non-Kannada Films be screened in Karnataka only after seven weeks from the release date in their own states and that only six prints of each film be permitted for the state.
Non-Kannada film theater owners and exhibitors are also unhappy about the fact that they didn’t have adequate and proper representation on the Pandey committee.
Of the 21 theaters that have decided to close down, 12 were major contributors to the Rs 330 million collected by the state by way of entertainment tax last year. It is this very entertainment tax that is doled out by the government largesse as subsidy for the original Kannada film every year. Entertainment tax is not levied on Kannada films in Karnataka.
For the past three weeks since the beginning of the agitation, collections of theaters have dropped by more than 90 per cent. Some theaters have been forced to resort to rerun old sleaze movies to garner a paying audience, but, have been unsuccessful in improving box-office collections.
Media reports allege that some Kannada producers have been demanding double or more charges in advance for screening their films, hitting the viability of the theaters further. The Kannada Film Industry churns out award winners no doubt, but most of its wares are lackluster and low box-office draws.
Meanwhile, a Bollywood delegation comprising of Samajawdi Party leader Amar Sngh, Jaya Bachchan, Yash Chopra, L. Suresh and Boney Kapoor had met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and the Information and Broadcasting Minister Jaipal Reddy at New Delhi on Friday and expressed concern about the happenings in the state pertaining to the film industry.
The Bollywood film fraternity is worried that these protectionist measures of the Karnataka government could affect the export and release of their films in the other countries, and could also adversely affect export of other goods and services from India. According to reports, a delegation from the center is expected to arrive in Bangalore and discuss the issues with the government shortly.
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.
